SS Torrington was a British cargo steamship that was built in England in 1905, owned and registered in Wales, and sunk by a German U-boat in 1917.

She was a turret deck ship: an unusual hull design that was developed by William Doxford & Sons of Sunderland in the 1890s.

Werner evaded prosecution, later became a senior officer in the SS, and died just after the Second World War.

[1][2][6][7] Early in 1917 Torrington took coal from Wales to Savona, Italy, for Italian State Railways.

At about 11.30 am, at a position around 150 nautical miles (280 km) southwest of the Scillies, her lookout sighted lifeboats in the distance.

[8] Torrington's Captain, Anthony Starkey, changed course toward the boats, which carried survivors of Umvoti, a Bullard, King & Co steamship that U-55 had sunk.

[8] Having pulled 1⁄4 nautical mile (460 m) from Torrington, U-55 fired a shell from her deck gun that exploded above Starkey's lifeboat.

[14] Whilst aboard Starkey, later noted that he had seen two other British ships sunk and their crews murdered.

[9] U-55 reached Germany on 23 April after a cruise in which she sank 10 ships, totalling 29,568 GRT, and killed 100 seafarers.

[10] Starkey was held in an internment camp and thought he had only been allowed to live because Werner did not suspect he knew the truth about the murders.

He later joined the Nazi Party and served in the SS, and was promoted to the rank of Brigadeführer in Heinrich Himmler's personal staff.