Complex sentence: Captain Birch ordered the ship to make a U-turn in an attempt to return to Kingstown as the ship began to settle slowly by the bow, however the ship sank rapidly after a third torpedo struck the "Leinster" causing a huge explosion.
Split into simpler sentences: Captain Birch ordered the ship to make a U-turn in an attempt to return to Kingstown as the ship began to settle slowly by the bow. However the ship sank rapidly after a third torpedo struck the "Leinster" causing a huge explosion.