 In mid @-@ October , Nicholson was part of the destroyer escort , for the eastbound convoy HS 14 . At 0850 , an SOS was received from SS J. L. Luckenbach , traveling independently some 90 nmi ( 100 mi ; 170 km ) ahead of the convoy . Commander Alfred W. Johnson on USS Conyngham ( DD @-@ 58 ) , the commander of the escorting destroyer unit , dispatched Nicholson to steam ahead to assist J. L. Luckenbach , which was being shelled by a German submarine . J. L. Luckenbach was equipped with guns of her own , but they were outranged by the pair of 8 @.@ 8 cm ( 3 @.@ 5 in ) deck guns on her attacker , U @-@ 62 . By the time Nicholson arrived on the scene at about 1230 , U @-@ 62 had been shelling J. L. Luckenbach for over three hours . Despite many rounds fired , only about a dozen had hit the American steamer ; some of the hits , however , had ignited J. L. Luckenbach 's cargo of cotton . Nicholson trained her 4 in ( 100 mm ) guns on the U @-@ boat and , by the time her gunners had fired a second round , U @-@ 62 submerged and disappeared . The destroyer transferred a damage control party aboard J. L. Luckenbach which helped extinguish the fire and repair some of the damages to the ship . A few hours later , J. L. Luckenbach and Nicholson joined and rejoined the convoy , respectively . 
