SS Malda (1913)

Malda had several encounters with German submarines during her World War I service, but as she was lightly armed to protect herself against such threats, she was able to outgun two U-boats on 20 June 1916 and 16 October 1916 respectively, both of which these incidents had occurred in the Mediterranean Sea. A third encounter followed on 11 November 1916 in the English Channel, but Malda was able to escape unscathed due to the weather conditions at the time. The final non-fatal encounter occurred on 30 December 1916, when a U-boat fired a torpedo at Malda, but ended up missing the ship.^[2]

Malda was travelling from Boston, United States to London, United Kingdom under the command of Captain Charles Davidson while carrying general cargo, when she was hit by a torpedo from SM U-70 130 nautical miles (240 km) west of the Bishop Rock, Isles of Scilly in the Atlantic Ocean on 25 August 1917 at 1.40 pm during a gale. The torpedo struck the ship on the port side and the explosion killed four crew members and ended up flooding the engine room. The crew abandoned the ship in her lifeboats while the U-boat surfaced and attempted to communicate with the surviving crew, but were prevented from it because of the ongoing gale. The lifeboat commanded by Captain Davidson set sail for the Isles of Scilly but was encountered by an eastbound convoy, who picked them up and landed them at Milford Haven. Meanwhile, the lifeboat commanded by the first officer stayed with slowly foundering Malda and contemplated to board the ship again in order to attempt to save her. But he was prevented from reboarding by the still present SM U-70, who remained with the ship until it sank the following morning. The remaining lifeboats reached land at several places in the United Kingdom, and it was later revealed that a total of 64 crew were lost alongside Malda.^[5]

The wreck of Malda lies 130 nautical miles (240 km) west of the Bishop Rock, Isles of Scilly in the Atlantic Ocean. The current condition of the wreck is unknown.^[5]