At 11.24 hours on 3 June 1942 the unescorted Høegh Giant (Master Finn Ager Madsen) was hit by one torpedo amidships out of a three torpedo spread from U-126 about 400 miles east of Guiana. 30 minutes later, the U-boat surfaced about 4000 metres away, as the ship proceeds and tried to stop the tanker with gunfire, but before it can be realised the first shots from the tanker´s defensive gun laid near the U-boat, which had to submerge immediately and followed the ship to get in a favorable attack position.
At 01.40 hours on 4 June, U-126 fired a two torpedo spread in 07°32N/44°36W and hit the tanker amidships and in the bow. The ship then stopped and all 39 crew members abandoned ship in the lifeboats. The U-boat then tried to sink the wreck by gunfire but the attempts failed and she had to be sunk by a coup de grâce at 04.24 hours in 07°17N/43°06W. According to Norwegian reports the U-boat then questioned the master and when he did not understand what was being said, a series of bullets were sent over the lifeboat, injuring one man in the arm.

Four survivors were rescued after 15 days in a gig. The remaining 35 survivors in two lifeboats landed after ten days at Devil Island where they were taken care of by those who were interned there. After six days they were given the choice of staying there as internees until the end of the war or leave, whereupon they quickly chose the latter. On 20 June, they landed in Paramaribo, from there they were taken to Trinidad on board the Lindvangen. In Trinidad they get aboard the Robert E. Lee, which was sunk by U-166 (Kuhlmann) en route to New Orleans with 268 passengers (mostly survivors of other sinkings) on 30 July. All Norwegian passengers were saved.