''Empire Barracuda'' was a cargo ship which was built in 1918 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 ''Sacandaga''. She was sold to

American Diamond Lines Black Diamond Steamship Company (BDSC) operated passenger and cargo liners from New York City to Rotterdam and Antwerp. It was founded by J.E. Dockendorff in 1919, and named the American Diamond Line by the United States Shipping Board. The comp ...

in 1932 and renamed ''Black Heron''. In 1941 she 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 was renamed ''Empire Barracuda''. 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 on 15 December 1942 and sunk by ''U-77''.

History

''Sacandaga'' was built by American International Shipbuilding Co, Hog Island,

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

as yard number 494. She was laid down on 20 March 1918, launched on 20 October 1918 and completed on 12 January 1919. She was built for the USSB, but was sold in 1919 to the Carolina Co, and placed under the management of American Palmetto Line. In 1925 she was returned to the ownership of the USSB. In 1931, she was sold to American Diamond Lines Inc and in 1932 ''Sacandaga'' was renamed ''Black Heron''. In 1939, ''Black Heron'' was serving

Baltimore Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...

, Boston,

Newport News Newport News () is an independent city in the U.S. state of Virginia. At the 2020 census, the population was 186,247. Located in the Hampton Roads region, it is the 5th most populous city in Virginia and 140th most populous city in the Uni ...

, New York, and

Norfolk Norfolk () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in East Anglia in England. It borders Lincolnshire to the north-west, Cambridgeshire to the west and south-west, and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the No ...

in the United States and Antwerp, in

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

with

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the capital and most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population of 907,976 within the city proper, 1,558,755 in the urban ar ...

and

Rotterdam Rotterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Rotte'') is the second largest city and municipality in the Netherlands. It is in the province of South Holland, part of the North Sea mouth of the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta, via the ''"Ne ...

in the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

War service

On 10 January 1941, a fire broke out aboard ''Black Heron'' whilst she was moored at Brooklyn Pier, New York. Although some mattresses and medical supplies were destroyed, three

bomber A bomber is a military combat aircraft designed to attack ground and naval targets by dropping air-to-ground weaponry (such as bombs), launching torpedoes, or deploying air-launched cruise missiles. The first use of bombs dropped from an air ...

s being carried were undamaged. In 1941, ''Black Heron'' was transferred to the MoWT and renamed ''Empire Barracuda''. Her port of registry was London and she was placed under the management of Cunard White Star Line Ltd. ''Empire Barracuda'' was a member of a number of convoys in 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 opposi ...

. ;OB 297 Convoy OB 297 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 populat ...

on 12 March 1941 and dispersed at sea on 17 March. ''Empire Barracuda'' was in ballast and bound for Corpus Christi, Texas. ;ON 9 Convoy ON 9 which sailed from Liverpool on 20 August 1941 and dispersed at sea on 25 August. ''Empire Barracuda'' was bound for New York. ;HX 151 Convoy HX 151 sailed from Halifax, Nova Scotia on 22 September 1941 and arrived at Liverpool on 7 October. ;OS 11 Convoy OS 11 sailed from Liverpool on 7 November 1941 and arrived at

Freetown Freetown is the capital and largest city of Sierra Leone. It is a major port city on the Atlantic Ocean and is located in the Western Area of the country. Freetown is Sierra Leone's major urban, economic, financial, cultural, educational and po ...

, Sierra Leone on 21 November. ''Empire Barracuda'' was carrying a cargo of stores, outbound from 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 ...

and her final destination was

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 ...

Sinking

On 15 December 1941, ''Empire Barracuda'' was torpedoed by '' U-77'' under the command of Heinrich Schonder and sunk at while on a voyage from Gibraltar to

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

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 bou ...

. Nine crew members and four DEMS gunners were killed. Thirty eight crew members and one DEMS gunner were rescued by and landed at Gibraltar. Those lost on ''Empire Barracuda'' are commemorated at the Tower Hill Memorial, London.

Propulsion

She was powered by a double reduction geared steam turbine of which was built by General Electric Corp,

Schenectady, New York Schenectady () is a city in Schenectady County, New York, United States, of which it is the county seat. As of the 2020 census, the city's population of 67,047 made it the state's ninth-largest city by population. The city is in eastern New Y ...

. She could make .

Official number and code letters

Official Numbers were a forerunner to IMO Numbers. ''Sacandaga'' and ''Black Heron'' had the US Official Number 217429. ''Empire Barracuda'' had the UK Official Number 168073 and used the Code Letters GNPP.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Empire Barracuda Hog Islanders 1918 ships Steamships of the United States Merchant ships of the United States Steamships of the United Kingdom Design 1022 ships of the Ministry of War Transport Ships sunk by German submarines in World War II World War II shipwrecks in the Atlantic Ocean Maritime incidents in December 1941