At 22.13 hours on 19 Oct 1940, U-38 fired a torpedo at convoy HX-79 and missed the intended target but hit a vessel behind it, the Matheran. At 22.19 hours, U-38 fired another torpedo, which struck the Bilderdijk. Liebe then prepared to attack the next ship in the column but had to evade U-47 (Prien), which had set its sights on the same ship, the Uganda and sank her with one torpedo at 22.27 hours.

The master of the Bilderdijk (Master J. Munnik) observed the hit on the Matheran and had to evade her to avoid a collision. Before the turn was completed, she was hit by the second torpedo from U-38. An inspection revealed that there was no hope of saving the vessel and the entire crew went into the lifeboats. They were picked up after 30 minutes by HMS Jason (J 99) (LtCdr R.E. Terry, RN) and landed at Methil five days later.