During a snowstorm on the 21^st January 1942 while in convoy and escorted by HMS Monbretia, she plus Orminster (Minster S.S.), Asiatic (W.H.Cockerline) and Bronxville (A.F.Klaveness) grounded head on near Ballyquintin Point, on the Ards Peninsula, County Down, near the entrance to Belfast Lough. All were eventually refloated. Browning went to Barrow-in Furness for bottom repairs. On the 1^st October 1942 she left Liverpool under sealed orders, loaded with military stores, as part of a 56 ship convoy of which she was Vice-Commodore. At Gibraltar they steamed on southwards for 300 miles, as if bound for West Africa. The sealed orders were then opened and their destination was Oran, as part of Operation Torch, the Allied invasion of North Africa. The convoy moved into two abreast, covering ten miles, and went through the Straits of Gibraltar at midnight. On the 11^th November at 08.00 hours, the Oran section of the convoy broke away. Browning being, now, the Commodore ship. Her landing point being Arzew Bay. On the 12^th November at 11:00 hours, Browning and five others were ordered to sail in single line down the mine swept channel into the now captured Oran. At 12.45 hours with only ten miles to go, she was torpedoed forward by U-595 and a blaze engulfed her. The ship was immediately abandoned and she was blown to bits by successive explosions. One crewman was killed when blown overboard when the torpedo struck. The survivors, 43 crew, 16 gunners and 2 naval signallers, were picked up by HM Trawler Fluellen and came home in the Empress of Scotland (Canadian Pacific). U-595 was attacked by an RAF aircraft and, on Nov 14^th, had to be beached at Cap Tenes, Algeria.