1940 she left Milford Haven with Convoy OB 211. She called at Cape Town on 9–10 October, Adelaide on 2–3 November and Melbourne on 5–7 November. She left Melbourne bound for Sydney and Brisbane. At 2300 hrs on 7 November 1940 Cambridge was about southeast of Wilsons Promontory when she struck one of the mines that the German auxiliary cruiser Passat laid in the Bass Strait. The mine struck the after part of the ship, flooding her engine room. The flood disabled the ship's electricity generators, and hence her main wireless transmitter. Her wireless operator used her emergency wireless set to transmit a distress signal. There was no reply. Cambridges Master, Captain Paddy Angell, ordered his crew to abandon ship. Three of Cambridges lifeboats were launched. Her carpenter, J Kinnear, returned to his cabin to retrieve money. He failed to escape, and his crewmates' efforts to rescue him were unsuccessful. Kinnear was the only fatality. Cambridge sank, stern-first, in 45 minutes. The auxiliary minesweeper rescued the occupants of the three lifeboats and took them to Port Welshpool. Cambridge was one of the first ships to be sunk by enemy action in Australian waters in the Second World War. The next day another of Passats mines sank off Cape Otway. Wreck Cambridges wreck was found in 1988. It is protected by the Commonwealth of Australia's Historic Shipwrecks Act 1976. See also References Bibliography 1916 ships Maritime incidents in November 1940 Ships built in Bremen (state) Ships sunk by mines Shipwrecks of Victoria (Australia) Steamships of Germany Steamships of the United Kingdom World War II merchant ships of the United Kingdom World War II shipwrecks in the Pacific Ocean