''Empire Arnold'' was a 7,045-ton

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 1942 for the Ministry of War Transport. Launched in March and completed in May, she was torpedoed by ''U-155'' on 4 August 1942.

History

''Empire Arnold'' was built by William Gray & Co. Ltd.,

West Hartlepool West Hartlepool was a predecessor of Hartlepool, County Durham, England. It developed in the Victorian era and took the name from its western position in the parish of what is now known as the Headland. The former town was originally formed in ...

. She was yard number 1127 and launched on 6 March 1942 and completed in May 1942. ''Empire Arnold'' was built for the Ministry of War Transport and managed by Sir R Ropner & Co Ltd. ''Empire Arnold'' was a member of Convoy ON 99, which sailed from

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 May 1942 and arrived in

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

on 12 June. ''Empire Arnold'' was in ballast for this journey. On 11 June, ''Empire Arnold'' lost the convoy in thick fog at 05:30, regaining the convoy at 17:00.

Sinking

On 4 August 1942, ''Empire Arnold'' was a member of Convoy EF 6, which was sailing from

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 * '' ...

via

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and

Cape Town Cape Town ( af, Kaapstad; , xh, iKapa) is one of South Africa's three capital cities, serving as the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. It is the legislative capital of the country, the oldest city in the country, and the second largest ...

and then through the Suez Canal to

Alexandria Alexandria ( or ; ar, ٱلْإِسْكَنْدَرِيَّةُ ; grc-gre, Αλεξάνδρεια, Alexándria) is the second largest city in Egypt, and the largest city on the Mediterranean coast. Founded in by Alexander the Great, Alexandria ...

. She was carrying 10,000 tons of cargo including

aircraft An aircraft is a vehicle that is able to fly by gaining support from the air. It counters the force of gravity by using either static lift or by using the dynamic lift of an airfoil, or in a few cases the downward thrust from jet engines ...

and

tank A tank is an armoured fighting vehicle intended as a primary offensive weapon in front-line ground combat. Tank designs are a balance of heavy firepower, strong armour, and good battlefield mobility provided by tracks and a powerful engin ...

s. At 16:15 hrs

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, ''Empire Arnold'' was torpedoed and sunk in the Atlantic off the South American coast () by ''U-155'', captained by Adolf Piening. Nine crew members were killed and the captain, Frederick Tate, was taken prisoner. The 49 surviving crew members and two passengers were rescued by the Norwegian ship SS ''Dalvanger''. They were landed in Georgetown,

British Guiana British Guiana was a British colony, part of the mainland British West Indies, which resides on the northern coast of South America. Since 1966 it has been known as the independent nation of Guyana. The first European to encounter Guiana was S ...

on 14 August. Tate was landed at Lorient on 15 September and interned at Milag Nord POW camp, Westertimke. During his time as a POW, Tate was a signatory to a document praising the

Pilots An aircraft pilot or aviator is a person who controls the flight of an aircraft by operating its directional flight controls. Some other aircrew members, such as navigators or flight engineers, are also considered aviators, because they a ...

of the

Panama Canal The Panama Canal ( es, Canal de Panamá, link=no) is an artificial waterway in Panama that connects the Atlantic Ocean with the Pacific Ocean and divides North and South America. The canal cuts across the Isthmus of Panama and is a conduit ...

system for their efficiency, courtesy and reliability in assisting ships passing through the canal. Those lost on ''Empire Arnold'' 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.

Official number and code letters

Official Numbers were a forerunner to

IMO Numbers IMO or Imo may refer to: Biology and medicine * Irish Medical Organisation, the main organization for doctors in the Republic of Ireland * Intelligent Medical Objects, a privately held company specializing in medical vocabularies * Isomaltooligosa ...

. ''Empire Arnold'' had the UK

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 ...

168939 and used 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 ...

BDSV.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Empire Arnold 1942 ships Ships built on the River Tees Steamships of the United Kingdom Empire ships Ministry of War Transport ships Ships sunk by German submarines in World War II World War II shipwrecks in the Atlantic Ocean Maritime incidents in August 1942