Kiel, U-198 scored her first success of the war, torpedoing and sinking the British steam merchant ship Northmoor northeast of Durban on 17 May. Two anti-submarine trawlers and an escorting aircraft retaliated furiously, dropping about 55 depth charges but U-198 escaped without damage. Two days later, the submarine was spotted and attacked by a British PBY Catalina aircraft. The U-boat was not damaged, but effective anti-aircraft fire hit the flying boat, forcing it to return to base on one engine. POWs On the evening of 29 May 1943, U-198 torpedoed the unescorted British motor merchantman Hopetarn about east of Durban. 37 souls survived this attack, although the second officer was taken prisoner by the submarine crew. At the end of the patrol he was sent to the POW camp at Milag Nord. While tracking a small convoy on 31 May, U-198 was sighted by the escorts. Attacks from one of the corvettes drove the submarine deep but caused no serious damage. A little while later, the submarine drove off an approaching British Catalina with gunfire and then crash-dived to escape, losing the convoy in the process. The morning of 5 June 1943 found U-198 stalking her next victim, the unescorted British motor merchant vessel Dumra. Two torpedoes at 07.50 hours destroyed the merchant ship's bow, but she remained afloat. A coup de grâce ten minutes later hit amidships, causing her to sink immediately. This final torpedo killed the ship's master (who was blown overboard by the blast) and 24 men in a lifeboat that had already abandoned the sinking freighter. The chief engineer, Henry Townsend Graham, was taken prisoner. At 13.18 hours the U-boat hit the American Liberty Ship William King with one of two torpedoes as she traveled on a zig-zag course about east of Durban. A coup de grâce about 45 minutes later caused her to sink by the stern in about ten minutes. After questioning the survivors, the ship's master (Owen Harvey Reed) was taken prisoner. He and the chief engineer of Dumra were transferred to the German supply ship Charlotte Schliemann and handed over to the Japanese at Batavia (in modern Indonesia) in August. Both men died in captivity on 18 September 1944 when the Japanese hell ship that was transporting them, Junyo Maru, was sunk by the British submarine . A month passed before U-198 encountered her next victim, the Greek steam merchantman Hydraios. A