At 05.51 hours on 8 September 1944, U-482 fired a torpedo spread at convoy HX-305 north-northeast of Tory Island and heard a detonation and sinking noises. The same happened after firing a Gnat at 05.59 hours. Apparently both torpedoes hit the Empire Heritage. At 06.37 hours, the U-boat fired a Gnat at a stopped ship, which sank shortly after the hit. The stopped vessel was the rescue ship Pinto, which was picking up the survivors of the torpedoed tanker when attacked.

The master, eight crew members, six gunners and one signalman from the Pinto (Master Lawrence Stanley Boggs, MBE) and two survivors from the Empire Heritage were lost when the rescue ship sank. 29 crew members, eight gunners, one surgeon, two sick berth attendants and one signalman were rescued: most were picked up by HMS Northern Wave (FY 153) (T/Lt F.J.R. Storey, RNVR) along with the survivors from Empire Heritage and taken to Londonderry on 8 September. Five survivors were picked up after a couple of hours by HMS Inman (K 571) (LtCdr P.S. Evans, RN) and landed at Londonderry on 13 September.