At 22.30 hours on 5 Oct 1943 the Britannia (Master Johan Karsten Hallén) was hit on the starboard side in the after deck by one torpedo from U-188 in the Gulf of Oman. The tanker caught fire but the crew managed to extinguish it and she escaped at high speed on a zig-zag course. All crew members and five passengers survived and the tanker reached Bandar Abbas on the evening of the next day. She was examined by the master and the 1st mate William Taxt in swimming trunks and it was discovered that she was barely hanging together. The master gave orders for the two parts to be sewn together and before they took her to Bombay for more repairs the master had earned the nickname The crazy Norwegian from the British naval authorities after they had inspected the improvised repairs (all manner of wire and chains had been used). She was temporarily repaired in a dock in Bombay before she departed on 19 December for Abadan, where she loaded a cargo of 6000 tons of oil in the undamaged tanks.

On 2 Jan 1944, she was on her way out from the Persian Gulf, when she picked up 72 men from the American Liberty ship Albert Gallatin, which had been sunk by the Japanese submarine I-26 in 21°21N/59°58E that same morning. They were brought to Aden, while Britannia continued with her cargo to Neapel, before heading for Baltimore, where she arrived in March for permanent repairs.