After an initial patrol in the Arctic Ocean off Norway, "Sahib" sailed to Gibraltar, then patrolled the Alboran Sea, sinking one ship and damaging another. "Sahib" then transited to Malta, from which she conducted three war patrols. One the second one, "Sahib" sank the Italian transport , which was transporting Allied prisoners of war; "Scillin" sank with the loss of 787 men. On her next patrol, "Sahib" sank a large Italian merchant ship, then damaged a coastal trading vessel. The submarine was then assigned to join another submarine flotilla and operated from Algiers in French North Africa. In her next patrols, "Sahib" sank the , two Italian merchant ships, and two small sailing vessels.