At 19.51 hours on 23 May, the Berhala was hit by one torpedo from U-38 in the engine room at the port side, killing the third engineer J. Brons, the fifth engineer Manuhutu and the donkeyman 1st class Chan Kau. The port lifeboat was destroyed and immediately after the hit Chinese crew members cut through the ropes of the other lifeboat and rowed away in it. At 20.20 hours a second torpedo struck the vessel and the remaining crew members had to jump overboard, because the ship sank within eight minutes about 250 miles off Freetown. Shortly after the sinking, the survivors were picked up by a British warship and taken to Freetown.