MV Empire Day
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MV ''Empire Day'' 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 ...
that was built in 1941 as a CAM ship by William Doxford & Sons Ltd,
Sunderland, Co Durham Sunderland () is a port city in Tyne and Wear, England. It is the City of Sunderland's administrative centre and in the Historic counties of England, historic county of County of Durham, Durham. The city is from Newcastle-upon-Tyne and is on t ...
,
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 ...
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). In 1943, she was converted to a standard cargo ship. She served until August 1944 when 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 in 1941 by William Doxford & Sons Ltd,
Sunderland, Co Durham Sunderland () is a port city in Tyne and Wear, England. It is the City of Sunderland's administrative centre and in the Historic counties of England, historic county of County of Durham, Durham. The city is from Newcastle-upon-Tyne and is on t ...
. She was
yard number __NOTOC__ M ...
673. The ship was long, with a
beam Beam may refer to: Streams of particles or energy *Light beam, or beam of light, a directional projection of light energy **Laser beam *Particle beam, a stream of charged or neutral particles **Charged particle beam, a spatially localized grou ...
of . She had a depth of and a draught of . She was assessed at , . Her
deadweight tonnage Deadweight tonnage (also known as deadweight; abbreviated to DWT, D.W.T., d.w.t., or dwt) or tons deadweight (DWT) is a measure of how much weight a ship can carry. It is the sum of the weights of cargo, fuel, fresh water, ballast water, provi ...
(DWT) was 10,255. The ship was propelled by a 516
nominal horsepower 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 ...
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-call ...
.which had three cylinders of diameter by stroke. The engines was built by William Doxford & Sons Ltd, Sunderland.


History

''Empire Day'' was built for the MoWT as an
Empire ship An Empire ship is a merchant ship that was given a name beginning with "Empire" in the service of the Government of the United Kingdom during and after World War II. Most were used by the Ministry of War Transport (MoWT), which owned them and co ...
. Yard number 673, she was launched on 27 March 1941 and completed in July. She was initially placed under the management of Stephens Sutton Ltd. Management would later pass to Lyle Shipping Co Ltd. 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 ...
168914 was allocated and
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 ...
BCMG were allocated. Her port of registry was Sunderland. Built as a CAM ship, ''Empire Day'' could embark and operate a
Hawker Sea Hurricane The Hawker Hurricane was a British single-seat fighter aircraft designed and predominantly built by Hawker Aircraft Ltd. Some versions were built in Canada by the Canada Car and Foundry Co Ltd British variants Hurricane Mk I ; Hurricane Mk I ( ...
aircraft. The ship was armed with one gun, one
12-pounder gun 12-pounder gun or 12-pdr, usually denotes a gun which fired a projectile of approximately 12 pounds. Guns of this type include: *12-pounder long gun, the naval muzzle-loader of the Age of Sail *Canon de 12 de Vallière, French cannon of 1732 *Cano ...
and two guns. ''Empire Day'' sailed from
Sunderland Sunderland () is a port city in Tyne and Wear, England. It is the City of Sunderland's administrative centre and in the Historic counties of England, historic county of County of Durham, Durham. The city is from Newcastle-upon-Tyne and is on t ...
to the Tyne on 21 July 1941. Five days later, she joined Convoy EC 50, 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 G ...
on 25 July and arrived at the
Clyde Clyde may refer to: People * Clyde (given name) * Clyde (surname) Places For townships see also Clyde Township Australia * Clyde, New South Wales * Clyde, Victoria * Clyde River, New South Wales Canada * Clyde, Alberta * Clyde, Ontario, a tow ...
on 28 July. ''Empire Day'' lost her anchor and chain, and did not arrive until 30 July. She departed the Clyde on 4 August and sailed to
Belfast Belfast ( , ; from ga, Béal Feirste , meaning 'mouth of the sand-bank ford') is the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan on the east coast. It is the 12th-largest city in the United Kingdo ...
,
County Antrim County Antrim (named after the town of Antrim, ) is one of six counties of Northern Ireland and one of the thirty-two counties of Ireland. Adjoined to the north-east shore of Lough Neagh, the county covers an area of and has a population o ...
. On 12 August, she departed from
Belfast Lough Belfast Lough is a large, intertidal sea inlet on the east coast of Northern Ireland. At its head is the city and port of Belfast, which sits at the mouth of the River Lagan. The lough opens into the North Channel and connects Belfast to th ...
to join Convoy ON 6, which had 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 popul ...
,
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 Lancashi ...
the previous day and dispersed at sea on 11 August. Her destination was
Halifax, Nova Scotia Halifax is the capital and largest municipality of the Canadian province of Nova Scotia, and the largest municipality in Atlantic Canada. As of the 2021 Census, the municipal population was 439,819, with 348,634 people in its urban area. The ...
,
Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...
, where she arrived on 26 August. Loaded with a cargo of
grain A grain is a small, hard, dry fruit (caryopsis) – with or without an attached hull layer – harvested for human or animal consumption. A grain crop is a grain-producing plant. The two main types of commercial grain crops are cereals and legum ...
, she departed Halifax on 4 September as a member of Convoy HX 148, which arrived at Liverpool on 17 September. ''Empire Day'' departed from Liverpool on 28 September as a member of Convoy ON 21, which dispersed at sea () on 14 October. Her destination was Halifax, where she arrived on 16 October. A cargo of grain was loaded and she departed from Halifax on 22 October as a member of
Convoy HX 156 Convoy HX 156 was the 156th of the numbered series of World War II HX convoys of merchant ships from Halifax, Nova Scotia to Liverpool.Hague 2000 p.127 Forty-three ships departed Halifax on 22 October 1941, and were met two days later by United ...
, which arrived at Liverpool on 5 November. She departed from Liverpool in ballast on 13 November as a member of Convoy ON 36, which dispersed at sea () on 25 November. Her destination was Halifax, where she arrived on 28 November. Loaded with grain, she departed Halifax on 8 December as a member of Convoy HX 164, which arrived at Liverpool on 23 December. ''Empire Day'' departed from Liverpool on 23 January 1942 as a member of Convoy ON 59, which dispersed at sea () on 6 February. She was carrying the convoy's vice-commodore. Her destination was Halifax, where she arrived the next day. Laden with grain, she returned with Convoy SC 70, departing on 15 February and arriving at Liverpool on 7 March. ''Empire Day'' was carrying the convoy's commodore. She departed from Liverpool on 17 March as a member of Convoy ON 77, which dispersed at sea () on 28 March. Her destination was Halifax, arriving the next day. She returned with a cargo of grain as a member of Convoy HX 184, which departed on 8 April and arrived at Liverpool on 20 April. ''Empire Day'' was noted as carrying her
Hurricane A tropical cyclone is a rapidly rotating storm system characterized by a low-pressure center, a closed low-level atmospheric circulation, strong winds, and a spiral arrangement of thunderstorms that produce heavy rain and squalls. Depend ...
, she was first CAM ship to leave Halifax carrying her aircraft for many weeks. ''Empire Day'' departed from Liverpool on 22 May as a member of Convoy ON 97, which arrived at Halifax on 5 June. Laden with grain, she departed from Halifax on 14 June as a member of Convoy HX 194, which arrived at Liverpool on 26 June. She left the convoy at the Belfast Lough on 25 June, to join Convoy BB 191, which departed the next day and arrived at
Avonmouth Avonmouth is a port and outer suburb of Bristol, England, facing two rivers: the reinforced north bank of the final stage of the Avon which rises at sources in Wiltshire, Gloucestershire and Somerset; and the eastern shore of the Severn Estuar ...
,
Somerset ( en, All The People of Somerset) , locator_map = , coordinates = , region = South West England , established_date = Ancient , established_by = , preceded_by = , origin = , lord_lieutenant_office =Lord Lieutenant of Somerset , lord_ ...
on 27 June. ''Empire Day'' departed from Avonmouth on 6 July and arrived at the Belfast Lough two days later. On 10 July, she joined Convoy ON 111, which had departed from Liverpool that day and dispersed at sea ( on 24 July. Her destination was Halifax, where she was to disembark her Hurricane. She arrived that day, and departed the next day for
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 * '' ...
,
United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
, where she arrived on 27 July. ''Empire Day'' departed from New York on 16 August for
Cape Cod Bay A cape is a clothing accessory or a sleeveless outer garment which drapes the wearer's back, arms, and chest, and connects at the neck. History Capes were common in medieval Europe, especially when combined with a hood in the chaperon. Th ...
,
Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett language, Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut assachusett writing systems, məhswatʃəwiːsət'' English: , ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is the most populous U.S. state, state in the New England ...
, from where she departed on 19 August as a member of Convoy BX 34, which arrived at Halifax on 22 August. Carrying general cargo and
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 ...
, she departed from Halifax the next day as a member of Convoy HX 204, which arrived at Liverpool on 4 September. ''Empire Day'' departed from Liverpool on 22 October to join Convoy KMS 1G, which departed from the Clyde that day and arrived at
Algiers Algiers ( ; ar, الجزائر, al-Jazāʾir; ber, Dzayer, script=Latn; french: Alger, ) is the capital and largest city of Algeria. The city's population at the 2008 Census was 2,988,145Census 14 April 2008: Office National des Statistiques ...
,
Algeria ) , image_map = Algeria (centered orthographic projection).svg , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Algiers , coordinates = , largest_city = capital , relig ...
on 8 November. She then sailed to
Gibraltar ) , anthem = " God Save the King" , song = " Gibraltar Anthem" , image_map = Gibraltar location in Europe.svg , map_alt = Location of Gibraltar in Europe , map_caption = United Kingdom shown in pale green , mapsize = , image_map2 = Gib ...
, from where she sailed on 24 November to join Convoy MKS 2, which had departed from Algiers on 21 November and arrived at Liverpool on 3 December. ''Empire Day'' departed from Liverpool on 31 December for the Clyde, arriving the next day. She departed the Clyde on 7 January 1943 as a member of Convoy KMS 7G, which arrived at Algiers on 21 January. She left the convoy at Gibraltar on 18 January. On 26 January, she joined Convoy TE 14, which arrived at
Bône Annaba ( ar, عنّابة,  "Place of the Jujubes"; ber, Aânavaen), formerly known as Bon, Bona and Bône, is a seaport city in the northeastern corner of Algeria, close to the border with Tunisia. Annaba is near the small Seybouse River ...
, Algeria on 30 January. She left the convoy at Algiers on 29 January, departing on 11 February to join Convoy ET 11, which had departed from
Bône Annaba ( ar, عنّابة,  "Place of the Jujubes"; ber, Aânavaen), formerly known as Bon, Bona and Bône, is a seaport city in the northeastern corner of Algeria, close to the border with Tunisia. Annaba is near the small Seybouse River ...
on 9 February and arrived at Gibraltar on 13 February. She departed Gibraltar on 22 February to join Convoy MKS 8, which had departed from Bône on 17 February and arrived at Liverpool on 1 March. She left the convoy in home waters, sailing to Newport,
Monmouthshire Monmouthshire ( cy, Sir Fynwy) is a county in the south-east of Wales. The name derives from the historic county of the same name; the modern county covers the eastern three-fifths of the historic county. The largest town is Abergavenny, with ...
where she arrived on 1 March. Loaded with a cargo of coal, ''Empire Day'' departed from Newport on 11 March for Milford Haven, arriving the next day and departing the day after that to join Convoy ON 173, which departed from Liverpool on 13 March and arrived at Halifax on 29 March. On 24 March, ''Empire Day'' was straggling behind the convoy. Laden with grain, she departed from Halifax on 14 April to join Convoy HX 234, which had departed from New York and arrived at Liverpool on 29 April She left the convoy at the Clyde on 28 April. ''Empire Day'' departed from the Clyde on 5 June for Milford Haven, arriving the next day and departing the day after that as a member of Convoy WP 351, which arrived at
Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port and city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. The city of Portsmouth has been a unitary authority since 1 April 1997 and is administered by Portsmouth City Council. Portsmouth is the most dens ...
on 9 June. She was the only merchant ship in the convoy, and was escorted by , , and . She left the convoy at
Falmouth, Cornwall Falmouth ( ; kw, Aberfala) is a town, civil parish and port on the River Fal on the south coast of Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. It has a total resident population of 21,797 (2011 census). Etymology The name Falmouth is of English or ...
on 8 June. ''Empire Day'' departed from Falmouth on 18 June and sailed to Gibraltar, arriving on 24 June. She then formed Convoy TE 23, of which she was the only ship. She arrived at Algiers on 26 June, departing on 11 July to join Convoy ET 22, which departed from Bône on 12 July and arrived at Gibraltar the next day. She departed from Gibraltar on 22 July to join Convoy GUS 10, which had departed from
Bizerta Bizerte or Bizerta ( ar, بنزرت, translit=Binzart , it, Biserta, french: link=no, Bizérte) the classical antiquity, classical Hippo, is a city of Bizerte Governorate in Tunisia. It is the List of northernmost items, northernmost city in Afri ...
, Algeria on 18 July and arrived at the
Hampton Roads Hampton Roads is the name of both a body of water in the United States that serves as a wide channel for the James River, James, Nansemond River, Nansemond and Elizabeth River (Virginia), Elizabeth rivers between Old Point Comfort and Sewell's ...
,
Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...
, United States on 9 August. ''Empire Day'' departed sailed on to New York, from where she departed on 2 September for the Hampton Roads, where she joined Convoy UGS 17, which departed on 3 September and arrived at
Port Said Port Said ( ar, بورسعيد, Būrsaʿīd, ; grc, Πηλούσιον, Pēlousion) is a city that lies in northeast Egypt extending about along the coast of the Mediterranean Sea, north of the Suez Canal. With an approximate population of 6 ...
,
Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediter ...
on 3 October. She left the convoy at Algiers, where she arrived on 25 September. She departed from Algiers on 16 November to join Convoy GUS 21, which had departed from Port Said on 7 November and arrived at the Hampton Roads on 5 December. Her destination was New York. ''Empire Day'' departed from New York on 2 January 1944 for the Hampton Roads, where she joined Convoy UGS 29, which arrived at Port Said on 31 January. She then sailed to
Suez Suez ( ar, السويس '; ) is a seaport city (population of about 750,000 ) in north-eastern Egypt, located on the north coast of the Gulf of Suez (a branch of the Red Sea), near the southern terminus of the Suez Canal, having the same boun ...
and
Aden Aden ( ar, عدن ' Yemeni: ) is a city, and since 2015, the temporary capital of Yemen, near the eastern approach to the Red Sea (the Gulf of Aden), some east of the strait Bab-el-Mandeb. Its population is approximately 800,000 people. ...
, arriving there on 7 February. She then joined Convoy AB 30, which departed that day and arrived at
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- ...
India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...
on 15 February. She departed from Bombay on 4 March as a member of Convoy BM 88, which arrived at
Madras Chennai (, ), formerly known as Madras ( the official name until 1996), is the capital city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost Indian state. The largest city of the state in area and population, Chennai is located on the Coromandel Coast of th ...
, India on 10 March. She left the convoy at
Colombo Colombo ( ; si, කොළඹ, translit=Koḷam̆ba, ; ta, கொழும்பு, translit=Koḻumpu, ) is the executive and judicial capital and largest city of Sri Lanka by population. According to the Brookings Institution, Colombo me ...
,
Ceylon Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...
on 9 March. She departed from Colombo on 25 March with Convoy JC 42, arriving at
Calcutta Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , List of renamed places in India#West Bengal, the official name until 2001) is the Capital city, capital of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of West Bengal, on the eastern ba ...
, India on 1 April and returning with Convoy CJ 24, which departed on 15 April and arrived at Colombo on 22 April. Two days later, she departed for
Lourenço Marques Maputo (), formerly named Lourenço Marques until 1976, is the capital, and largest city of Mozambique. Located near the southern end of the country, it is within of the borders with Eswatini and South Africa. The city has a population of 1,088 ...
,
Mozambique Mozambique (), officially the Republic of Mozambique ( pt, Moçambique or , ; ny, Mozambiki; sw, Msumbiji; ts, Muzambhiki), is a country located in southeastern Africa bordered by the Indian Ocean to the east, Tanzania to the north, Malawi ...
, where she arrived on 8 May. ''Empire Day'' departed from Lourenço Marques on 21 May for
Durban Durban ( ) ( zu, eThekwini, from meaning 'the port' also called zu, eZibubulungwini for the mountain range that terminates in the area), nicknamed ''Durbs'',Ishani ChettyCity nicknames in SA and across the worldArticle on ''news24.com'' from ...
,
South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...
, where she arrived the next day. She departed three days later as a member of Convoy DKA 18, which arrived at
Kilindini Harbour Kilindini Harbour is a large, natural deep-water inlet extending inland from Mombasa, Kenya. It is at its deepest center, although the controlling depth is the outer channel in the port approaches with a dredged depth of . It serves as the harbo ...
,
Kenya ) , national_anthem = "Ee Mungu Nguvu Yetu"() , image_map = , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Nairobi , coordinates = , largest_city = Nairobi , ...
on 3 June. She departed from Kilindini Harbour on 15 June with Convoy KD 5, which arrived at Durban on 24 June. She left the convoy at Lourenço Marques on 23 June. Carrying a cargo of coal bound for Adem and Port Said, she departed from Lourenço Marques on 31 July as a member of Convoy DK 21A, which dispersed off
Beira, Mozambique Beira is the capital and largest city of Sofala Province, where the Pungwe River meets the Indian Ocean, in the central region of Mozambique. It is the fourth-largest city by population in Mozambique, after Maputo, Matola and Nampula. Beira had a ...
on 2 August. On 7 August 1944, ''Empire Day'' 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 some east of
Dar es Salaam Dar es Salaam (; from ar, دَار السَّلَام, Dâr es-Selâm, lit=Abode of Peace) or commonly known as Dar, is the largest city and financial hub of Tanzania. It is also the capital of Dar es Salaam Region. With a population of over s ...
,
Tanganyika Tanganyika may refer to: Places * Tanganyika Territory (1916–1961), a former British territory which preceded the sovereign state * Tanganyika (1961–1964), a sovereign state, comprising the mainland part of present-day Tanzania * Tanzania Main ...
(). All 34 crew and eight DEMS gunners survived. Her chief officer was taken prisoner by ''U-198''. He was killed when ''U-198'' was sunk by and off the
Seychelles Seychelles (, ; ), officially the Republic of Seychelles (french: link=no, République des Seychelles; Creole: ''La Repiblik Sesel''), is an archipelagic state consisting of 115 islands in the Indian Ocean. Its capital and largest city, V ...
on 12 August. He is commemorated on 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 ...
. The survivors from ''Empire Day'' landed on
Zanzibar Zanzibar (; ; ) is an insular semi-autonomous province which united with Tanganyika in 1964 to form the United Republic of Tanzania. It is an archipelago in the Indian Ocean, off the coast of the mainland, and consists of many small islands ...
island, which they reached on 11 August and the sinking of ''Empire Day'' was then reported. Her loss had not been realised as she was unable to send out a
Mayday Mayday is an emergency procedure word used internationally as a distress signal in voice-procedure radio communications. It is used to signal a life-threatening emergency primarily by aviators and mariners, but in some countries local organiza ...
at the time of her sinking.


References


External links


Photo of ''Empire Day''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Empire Day 1941 ships Ships built on the River Tees Empire ships Ministry of War Transport ships Merchant ships of the United Kingdom CAM ships Maritime incidents in August 1944 Ships sunk by German submarines in World War II World War II shipwrecks in the Indian Ocean