At 23.25 hours on 10 Feb 1943, U-81 fired a spread of four torpedoes at the Saroena (Master W.L. Happee), which was escorted by an armed trawler and observed a hit in the stern that set the tanker on fire. Two Chinese crewmen and three gunners panicked and jumped overboard, two of them drowned. She was beached after four hours near Beirut and the crew reached the shore. After the fire was extinguished, the ship was refloated on 12 February and after temporary repairs towed to Port Said, where further repairs were made before the ship went to Calcutta for permanent repairs and then returned to service.