 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.
