Roger B. Taney was laid down on 21 June 1941, under a Maritime Commission (MARCOM) contract, MCE hull 17, by the Bethlehem-Fairfield Shipyard, Baltimore, Maryland; and was launched on 6 December 1941.^[2][1]

She was allocated to Waterman Steamship Corp., on 29 January 1942.^[4]

On 8 February 1943, she was attacked by German submarine U-160, at 22°0′S 7°45′W / 22.000°S 7.750°W / -22.000; -7.750. A torpedo wake had been spotted at midnight 20 yd (18 m) ahead of the bow of the unescorted Roger B. Taney. The ship made a 90° turn but U-160 was able to maneuver into position to fire another torpedo that struck Roger B. Taney in the starboard side at the engine room. Her Armed guards, while remaining onboard while the crew abandoned ship, fired five rounds in the direction the torpedo had come from. Around 02:30 another torpedo struck the #4 hold causing a tremendous explosion. The Armed guard abandoned ship after this last attack.^[5]

U-160 then surfaced, and after questioning the survivors, left the area.^[5]

In total, eight officers, twenty-nine crewmen, one passenger, and nineteen Armed guards had managed to abandon the ship in two lifeboats before it sunk.

One officer and two crewmen had been killed in the initial attack. While the two boats tried to stay together, after 36 hours they became separated. The British MV Penrith Castle was able to rescue one of the boats on 1 March 1943, and dropped the crew off at Bahia, 6 March 1943. On 22 March 1943, the Brazilian merchant ship Bagé was able to rescue the other lifeboat 10 mi (16 km) off the coast of Brazil. The boat had traveled more than 2,000 mi (3,200 km) from the sinking location.^[5]