before U-65 encountered her next victim. At 16:05 on 21 December, the unescorted (neutral) Panamanian steam tanker Charles Pratt was hit amidships by a single torpedo. Although Stockhausen noted that the neutral flags painted on her sides were clearly visible, he decided to attack without warning as it was clear (based on her position and heading) that she was bound for an enemy port. The tanker's fire suppression system was damaged in the attack, the crew abandoned their vessel in two portside lifeboats. A second torpedo hit on the starboard side just forward of the midship house about 20 minutes later, showering the surrounding water with debris, some of which barely missed the lifeboats. Although this second attack extinguished the fire, the flooding was too much and the ship sank with a heavy list. The survivors were picked up a few days later by the British merchantmen Gascony and Langleegorse and landed at Freetown. On Christmas Eve U-65 encountered the steam tanker , a straggler from convoy SLS-60. Two torpedoes sealed her fate at 16:41 ; she was sunk about southwest of Freetown. The ship's master, thirty crew and a gunner were lost in the sinking. Of the thirteen survivors, nine were picked up on 3 January 1941 by and landed at Freetown. The other four drifted in an open boat for 41 days (25 of those without food) before being rescued by . Three days later, the unescorted Norwegian steam merchant vessel Risanger () was sighted. At 11:31 a single torpedo fired from U-65s stern hit her amidships. U-65 surfaced and fired 70 rounds from the deck gun to finish off the merchant ship, which sank with her screw still turning. All 29 men aboard abandoned ship and were picked up a few days later by the Norwegian motor tanker Belinda. They were landed at Cape Town, South Africa on 10 January 1941. On 31 December, U-65 sighted the motor tanker British Zeal traveling on a non-evasive course at 10.5 knots east of the Cape Verde Islands. The submarine fired two torpedoes at 17:52, one of which became hot in the tube and had to be launched manually; both of these shots missed. At 23:00 a lookout spotted another torpedo track and the helm was thrown hard to starboard, but the torpedo struck the tanker squarely on the starboard side under the bridge, rupturing Number 2 tank. Despite rough