 At 0715 the two vessels returned to the main body of the convoy, having rescued Boatswain's Mate 2nd Class Melvin A. Baldwin and Seaman 1st Class Raymond F. O'Malley Jr., and having found the body of LT Prause.The entire crew of 13 officers and 92 men was lost to the explosion or to rapid hypothermia in the water with the exception of Baldwin and O'Malley, whose survival was attributed to their soaked clothing having frozen their unconscious bodies to floating debris, which prevented them from following their shipmates to the bottom.The exact cause of the explosion could not be determined at the time, but was commonly attributed to a torpedo fired by one of several U-Boats which were in the area at the time.