After two weeks in Baltimore, Empire Simba headed to Hampton Roads, Virginia, to take on another load of scrap iron for the UK. After making her way to Halifax by early February, she sailed on 9 February as a part of Convoy HX-108, but dropped out and joined up with Convoy SC-22, a slower convoy that had left Halifax a day earlier. Off the Northern Ireland coast, the convoy escorts broke off and Empire Simba and three other ships sailed into the Irish Sea. Headed to her destination of Port Talbot, Empire Simba was at the back of the line of the four ships. At 1300 hrs on 1 March, a Heinkel He 111 bomber of Kampfgeschwader 27, Luftwaffe attacked the column, and had a near miss on Empire Simba. The force of the explosion shattered the main water injection pipe in the engine room, flooding her engine room and leaving the ship dead in the water. The German bomber, with smoke trailing from it after being hit by bullets from one of Empire Simbas two Hotchkiss Mark I machine guns, headed off for Ireland. There were no towing vessels immediately available for Empire Simba, so as darkness approached, Empire Simbas crew abandoned the ship for the escorting trawler. Taking the ship's two machine guns, the chronometer, and some personal belongings, the crew were landed at Milford Haven. Empire Simba was saved and towed into Birkenhead, where the officers rejoined with their erstwhile ship. During an overnight bombing raid on the night of 12/13 March, German bombers parachuted land mines on Birkenhead. One landed on Empire Simba and exploded, causing significant damage to the ship.
