''Empire Dryden'' was a cargo ship that was built in 1941 by William Doxford & Sons Ltd, Sunderland, Co Durham, United Kingdom 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). Completed in February 1942, she had a short career, being

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 on 20 April 1942 by .

Description

The ship was built in 1942 by William Doxford & Sons Ltd, Sunderland. She was yard number 682. The ship was long, with a beam of . She had a depth of and a draught of . She was assessed at , . As built, the ship was propelled by a 511

nhp Horsepower (hp) is a unit of measurement of power, or the rate at which work is done, usually in reference to the output of engines or motors. There are many different standards and types of horsepower. Two common definitions used today are the ...

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 by stroke. The engine was built by Fairfield & Co Ltd,

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...

. It could propel the ship at .

History

''Empire Dryden'' was launched on 22 October 1941 and completed in February 1942. The United Kingdom Official Number 169010 and Code Letters BCTN were allocated. Her port of registry was Sunderland and she was placed under the management of Sir R Ropner & Co Ltd. She was armed with a four-inch gun, a 20 mm gun and four machine guns. Her crew totalled 51 officers and men, including six DEMS gunners. ''Empire Dryden'' made her maiden voyage on 27 February 1942, departing from Sunderland to join Convoy FN 642, which had departed from

Southend Southend-on-Sea (), commonly referred to as Southend (), is a coastal city and unitary authority area with borough status in southeastern Essex, England. It lies on the north side of the Thames Estuary, east of central London. It is bordered ...

Essex Essex () is a county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the River Thames to the south, and Grea ...

the previous day and arrived at Methil, Fife on 28 February. She then joined Convoy EN 53, which departed on 1 March and arrived at Oban, Argyllshire on 4 March. ''Empire Dryden'' was in ballast. She left the convoy at

Loch Ewe Loch Ewe ( gd, Loch Iùbh) is a sea loch in the region of Wester Ross in the Northwest Highlands of Scotland. The shores are inhabited by a traditionally Gàidhlig-speaking people living in or sustained by crofting villages, the most notab ...

on 3 March. She then joined Convoy ON 74, which departed 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 populat ...

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a historic county, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significantly. The non-metropolitan county of Lancash ...

on 9 March and arrived at 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 ...

, Canada on 25 March. She then joined Convoy XB 5, which departed on 27 March and arrived at Boston, Massachusetts, United States on 29 March. She left the convoy at the Cape Cod Canal that day and sailed to New York, arriving on 1 April. ''Empire Dryden'' departed from New York on 17 April, laden with of general cargo and military stores. She was bound for

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, Alexandri ...

, Egypt 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. On 19 April, she reported the position of some from the survivors of the Argentine tanker to , which was nearby. At 03:06 (German time) on 20 April, ''Empire Dryden'' was hit by one of the three

es which had been fired by . She was north west of Bermuda (). The torpedo hit the starboard side of the No. 2 hold, blowing off the bow and causing the ship to start sinking. All on board took to the

lifeboats Lifeboat may refer to: Rescue vessels * Lifeboat (shipboard), a small craft aboard a ship to allow for emergency escape * Lifeboat (rescue), a boat designed for sea rescues * Airborne lifeboat, an air-dropped boat used to save downed airmen A ...

, with some difficulty as the engine was still running. The next day, the smallest of the three lifeboats had to be abandoned as it was taking on water. The survivors in that lifeboat were divided between the other two lifeboats. One lifeboat with 25 of the crew and the three DEMS gunners on board was last seen on 22 April, and is presumed to have foundered in a gale sometime during the next two days. The other lifeboat, with 22 crew and three DEMS gunners on board, sailed for until the survivors were spotted by the American passenger ship at and rescued. They were landed in Bermuda on 8 May. Those lost from ''Empire Dryden'' are commemorated on the Tower Hill Memorial,

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, 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 dow ...

References

External links

Survivors' account of the sinking and time on board the lifeboat
{{DEFAULTSORT:Empire Dryden 1941 ships Ships built on the River Wear Empire ships Ministry of War Transport ships Steamships of the United Kingdom World War II shipwrecks in the Atlantic Ocean Ships sunk by German submarines in World War II Maritime incidents in April 1942