 The following month , Nicholson had a more successful encounter with a U @-@ boat . Operating as the destroyer division 's flagship , Nicholson - under the command of Lieutenant Commander Frank D. Berrien - and her group had joined the eastbound convoy OQ 20 on the afternoon of 17 November . At about 1615 , Fanning was steaming to her position at the rear of the eight @-@ ship convoy when her lookouts spotted a periscope just ahead . The periscope belonged to U @-@ 58 under the command of Kapitänleutnant Gustav Amberger , who was lining up a torpedo shot on the British steamer SS Welshman . 
