On 28 Jan, 1941, the Tafelberg was damaged by a mine in 51°21N/03°16W. The ship was rebuilt as steam tanker, renamed Empire Heritage by Ministry of War Transport (MoWT) and returned to service in February 1943. 

At 05.51 hours on 8 Sep, 1944, U-482 fired a torpedo spread at the convoy HXF-305 north-northeast of Tory Island and heard a detonation and sinking noises. The same happened after firing a Gnat at 05.59 hours. Apparently both torpedoes hit the Empire Heritage. At 06.37 hours, the U-boat fired a Gnat at a stopped ship, which sank shortly after the hit. The stopped vessel was the rescue ship Pinto, which was rescuing the survivors of the torpedoed tanker when attacked.

The Empire Heritage (Master James Campbell Jamieson OBE) was hit on the starboard side just abaft of the bridge and the stern. The ship settled by the stern and soon thereafter capsized before sinking. 50 crew members, eight gunners, one army storekeeper and 53 passengers (DBS) were lost. Two crew members already picked up by the Pinto were lost when she was sunk. The master, 24 crew members, three gunners, 20 passengers (DBS) and one signalman were picked up by HMS Northern Wave (FY 153) (Lt F.J.R. Storey) and landed at Londonderry.