“Convoy EN23, which consisted of around 30 ships, departed from Methil at 5:00am on 11th November and steaming out of the Forth before turning north along the east coast of Scotland intending to pass through the Pentland Firth and then south through The Minch to Oban.

By 3:00pm that day the convoy was off Montrose steaming in the swept channel some ten miles off shore in a moderate swell when a lone aircraft was spotted ahead of the convoy. The gunners on the Creemuir, and indeed on the other ships in the convoy, thought the plane was British and did not open fire immediately until the plane dropped a stick of bombs towards the rear of the convoy. Only two ships in the convoy managed to fire on the German bomber and, although it was immediately attacked by an Avro Anson of Coastal Command, it disappeared unharmed towards the south. On this first attack the bombs failed to make a direct hit on any of the ships but the steamship Harlaw was damaged by a bomb which exploded in the water causing buckling of her hull plating serious enough to force her to head for shore and safety. Two hours later, with the convoy just north of Stonehaven, another German plane, this time a seaplane surprisingly again mistakenly identified as friendly, made a second attack firing a torpedo from a mere 150 yards which struck the Creemuir close to the engine room. The huge explosion rocked the ship causing fatal damage and she sank by the stern within three minutes. Only thirteen of her crew survived.”

 [https://www.scottishshipwrecks.com/creemuir, retrieved 5/12/22]