''Empire Comet'' was a cargo ship that was built in 1940 by Lithgows Ltd, Port Glasgow for the

Ministry of War Transport The Ministry of War Transport (MoWT) was a department of the British Government formed early in the Second World War to control transportation policy and resources. It was formed by merging the Ministry of Shipping and the Ministry of Transport ...

(MoWT). She was

torpedo A modern torpedo is an underwater ranged weapon launched above or below the water surface, self-propelled towards a target, and with an explosive warhead designed to detonate either on contact with or in proximity to the target. Historically, s ...

ed and sunk by in June 1941.

Description

''Empire Comet'' was built by Lithgows Ltd, Port Glasgow as yard number 941. She was launched on 21 November 1940, and completed in January 1941. ''Empire Comet'' was long, with a beam of and a depth of . She had a GRT of 6,914 and a NRT of 4,162.''Empire Comet'' was propelled by a 4-stroke Single Cycle Single Acting

diesel engine The diesel engine, named after Rudolf Diesel, is an internal combustion engine in which ignition of the fuel is caused by the elevated temperature of the air in the cylinder due to mechanical compression; thus, the diesel engine is a so-ca ...

, which had eight cylinders of diameter by 59 (151 cm) stroke. The engine was built by J G Kincaid & Co Ltd, Greenock.

History

''Empire Comet'' was built for the MoWT. She was placed under the management of Dodd, Thompson & Co Ltd. Her port of registry was Greenock. She was allocated the United Kingdom Official Number 166990 and Code Letters GPFU were allocated. ''Empire Comet'' was a member of a number of convoys during the Second World War. ;HX 118 Convoy HX 118 departed Halifax,

Nova Scotia Nova Scotia ( ; ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the four Atlantic provinces. Nova Scotia is Latin for "New Scotland". Most of the population are native Eng ...

on 31 March 1941 and arrived at

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a populat ...

on 18 April. ''Empire Comet'' was carrying a cargo of

wheat Wheat is a grass widely cultivated for its seed, a cereal grain that is a worldwide staple food. The many species of wheat together make up the genus ''Triticum'' ; the most widely grown is common wheat (''T. aestivum''). The archaeologi ...

. ;HX 174 Convoy HX 174 departed Halifax on 7 February 1942 bound for Liverpool. ''Empire Comet'' was carrying a cargo of

linseed Flax, also known as common flax or linseed, is a flowering plant, ''Linum usitatissimum'', in the family Linaceae. It is cultivated as a food and fiber crop in regions of the world with temperate climates. Textiles made from flax are known in W ...

manganese Manganese is a chemical element with the symbol Mn and atomic number 25. It is a hard, brittle, silvery metal, often found in minerals in combination with iron. Manganese is a transition metal with a multifaceted array of industrial alloy use ...

ore Ore is natural rock or sediment that contains one or more valuable minerals, typically containing metals, that can be mined, treated and sold at a profit.Encyclopædia Britannica. "Ore". Encyclopædia Britannica Online. Retrieved 7 Apr ...

peanut The peanut (''Arachis hypogaea''), also known as the groundnut, goober (US), pindar (US) or monkey nut (UK), is a legume crop grown mainly for its edible seeds. It is widely grown in the tropics and subtropics, important to both small and ...

s and

tea Tea is an aromatic beverage prepared by pouring hot or boiling water over cured or fresh leaves of ''Camellia sinensis'', an evergreen shrub native to East Asia which probably originated in the borderlands of southwestern China and north ...

. She had departed from

Bombay Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the second-m ...

, India on 12 November 1940 and sailed via

Table Bay Table Bay (Afrikaans: ''Tafelbaai'') is a natural bay on the Atlantic Ocean overlooked by Cape Town (founded 1652 by Van Riebeeck) and is at the northern end of the Cape Peninsula, which stretches south to the Cape of Good Hope. It was named b ...

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the Atlantic Ocean, South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the ...

and Halifax. She was bound for

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...

. ''Empire Comet'' straggled behind the convoy. At 22:17 (German time) on 17 February 1942, ''Empire Comet'' was hit by two torpedoes fired by the German submarine under the command of Heinrich Zimmerman. She sank at . All 38 crew and eight DEMS gunners were lost. The crew are commemorated on panel 39 of the Tower Hill Memorial, London.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Empire Comet 1940 ships Ships built on the River Clyde Ministry of War Transport ships Empire ships Steamships of the United Kingdom Merchant ships of the United Kingdom Ships sunk by German submarines in World War II World War II shipwrecks in the Atlantic Ocean Ships lost with all hands Maritime incidents in February 1942