The operation to sink the rafts and wreckage was not hugely successful, but the submarine was able to evade pursuit, and managed to sink the British cargo ship SS "Dahomian" off Cape Town on 1 April, this time hastily leaving the scene rather than pausing. A few weeks later on 30 April the boat was spotted by a Vickers Wellington bomber flying from Aden, which managed to damage her with depth charges, thus preventing her from diving. Eck went to the Somali coast and beached "U-852" on a coral reef while under attack from six bombers of 621 Squadron Royal Air Force. Of Eck's crew of 65, seven were killed and the remaining 58 made it to shore. They were captured by the Somaliland Camel Corps and local militia and sent to prison camps to await the end of the war.