 "U-502" departed Kiel on 29 September 1941, and ventured out into the mid-Atlantic.On 7 October, south of Iceland, she torpedoed the 14,795 ton British ship "Svend Foyn", a straggler from Convoy HX 152 en route from New York to Liverpool, carrying fuel oil and aircraft and tanks as deck cargo.The former whale factory ship was damaged, but managed to escape and assisted by the , reached Reykjavík on 11 October.