At 19.53 hours on 19 Jun, 1944, the unescorted Garoet (Master Pleun de Raadt) was hit on port side in #2 hold and aft by two torpedoes from U-181 while steaming on a non-evasive course at 10 knots in a moonless night about 600 miles northeast of Mauritius. The ship sank within two minutes in moderate seas, too fast for the 45 crew members, 44 Lascars and nine gunners (the ship was armed with one 4in, one 40mm and six 20mm guns) aboard to send distress signals or to launch the lifeboats. Two of the boats were dragged down with the sinking ship and only a few men survived climbing on two rafts that had floated free. The U-boat surfaced five minutes later and questioned the survivors, asking the usual questions about the name, tonnage, cargo and port of destination and left the area after they got no reply when asking for the master, chief officer and chief engineer. Initially the two rafts were lashed together, but after 24 hours it was decided to drift independently and they lost touch. Three Dutch crewmen, one Australian radio officer and one Lascar on one raft were picked up by the British mule transport Nirvana on 30 June and were landed at Durban. At 05.00 hours on 4 July, the five Lascars on the other raft were picked up by the British steam merchant Daldorch in 11°00S/55°50E and were landed at Mauritius on 9 July.