''Empire Caribou'' was a

cargo ship A cargo ship or freighter is a merchant ship that carries cargo, goods, and materials from one port to another. Thousands of cargo carriers ply the world's seas and oceans each year, handling the bulk of international trade. Cargo ships are usu ...

which was built in 1919 for the

United States Shipping Board The United States Shipping Board (USSB) was established as an emergency agency by the 1916 Shipping Act (39 Stat. 729), on September 7, 1916. The United States Shipping Board's task was to increase the number of US ships supporting the World War ...

(USSB) as ''Waterbury''. She was sold in 1920 to the American Star Line and renamed ''Northern Star''. In 1923, she was sold to American Sugar Transporters Inc and renamed '. In 1941 she was passed to 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) and renamed ''Empire Caribou''. On 10 May 1941, 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, su ...

ed and sunk by .

Description

The ship was built by Downey Shipbuilding Corporation, Arlington,

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

, as yard number 10. She was launched in 1919, and completed in November that year. The ship was long, with a beam of and a depth of . Her GRT was 4,800, with a NRT of 2,999. Her DWT was 7,814. In 1940, her GRT was recorded as 4,861 and her NRT as 2,994. She was propelled by a

triple expansion steam engine A compound steam engine unit is a type of steam engine where steam is expanded in two or more stages. A typical arrangement for a compound engine is that the steam is first expanded in a high-pressure ''(HP)'' cylinder, then having given up he ...

, which had cylinders of , and diameter and stroke. The ship could make .

History

''Waterbury'' was built for the USSB. She was launched on 23 July 1919. The United States Official Number 219134 was allocated. In 1920 she was sold to the American Star Line Inc and renamed ''Northern Star''. In 1923, she was sold to American Sugar Transporters Inc and renamed '. The

Code Letters Code letters or ship's call sign (or callsign) Mtide Taurus - IMO 7626853"> SHIPSPOTTING.COM >> Mtide Taurus - IMO 7626853/ref> were a method of identifying ships before the introduction of modern navigation aids and today also. Later, with the i ...

LTKB were allocated. In 1934, her Code Letters were changed to KOKC. On 18 March 1940, ' was given to the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

. She was passed to the MoWT and renamed ''Empire Caribou''. The United Kingdom

Official Number Official numbers are ship identifier numbers assigned to merchant ships by their flag state, country of registration. Each country developed its own official numbering system, some on a national and some on a port-by-port basis, and the formats hav ...

167431 and the Code Letters GQBN were allocated. ''Empire Caribou'' was a member of a number of convoys during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. ;SC 25 Convoy SC 25 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 10 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 popul ...

on 29 March. ''Empire Caribou'' was carrying a cargo of

steel Steel is an alloy made up of iron with added carbon to improve its strength and fracture resistance compared to other forms of iron. Many other elements may be present or added. Stainless steels that are corrosion- and oxidation-resistant ty ...

bound for

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

. ;OB318 Convoy OB 318 departed Liverpool on 2 May 1941 and arrived at Halifax on 10 May. ''Empire Caribou'' was carrying a cargo of 2,020 tons of

chalk Chalk is a soft, white, porous, sedimentary carbonate rock. It is a form of limestone composed of the mineral calcite and originally formed deep under the sea by the compression of microscopic plankton that had settled to the sea floor. Chalk ...

and was bound for Boston, Massachusetts. On 10 May, she was torpedoed and sunk by at , with the loss of 29 members of her 40-member crew. Eleven survivors were rescued by . They were landed at

Reykjavík Reykjavík ( ; ) is the capital and largest city of Iceland. It is located in southwestern Iceland, on the southern shore of Faxaflói bay. Its latitude is 64°08' N, making it the world's northernmost capital of a sovereign state. With a po ...

Iceland Iceland ( is, Ísland; ) is a Nordic island country in the North Atlantic Ocean and in the Arctic Ocean. Iceland is the most sparsely populated country in Europe. Iceland's capital and largest city is Reykjavík, which (along with its s ...

and transferred to which took them to

Greenock Greenock (; sco, Greenock; gd, Grianaig, ) is a town and administrative centre in the Inverclyde council areas of Scotland, council area in Scotland, United Kingdom and a former burgh of barony, burgh within the Counties of Scotland, historic ...

. Those lost on ''Empire Caribou'' are commemorated at the

Tower Hill Memorial The Tower Hill Memorial is a pair of Commonwealth War Graves Commission memorials in Trinity Square Gardens, on Tower Hill in London, England. The memorials, one for the First World War and one for the Second, commemorate civilian, merchant seaf ...

, London.

References

External links

Photo of ''Empire Caribou''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Empire Caribou 1919 ships Ships built in New York (state) Steamships of the United States Merchant ships of the United States Ministry of War Transport ships Empire ships Steamships of the United Kingdom Ships sunk by German submarines in World War II Shipwrecks in the Atlantic Ocean Maritime incidents in May 1941 Design 1025 ships