SS ''Empire Adventure'' was a 5,787-ton steamship built in 1920 as the ''Eastney''. She was sold to France in 1924 and renamed ''Germaine L D''. In 1931 she was sold to Italy, being renamed ''Andrea'', being seized in 1940 and renamed ''Empire Adventure''. She was torpedoed on the night of 20/21 September 1940 and sank while under tow on 23 September 1940.

History

''Eastney'' was built by the Northumberland Shipping Co, Howdon,

Wallsend Wallsend () is a town in North Tyneside, Tyne and Wear, England, at the eastern end of Hadrian's Wall. It has a population of 43,842 and lies east of Newcastle upon Tyne. History Roman Wallsend In Roman times, this was the site of the fort of ...

, as yard number 356. She was owned and operated by the Romney Steamship Co,

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

. In 1924, ''Eastney'' was sold to L Dreyfus & Co,

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

, and renamed ''Germaine L D''. On 25 March 1929, she was in collision with in the

North Sea The North Sea lies between Great Britain, Denmark, Norway, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, and France. A sea on the European continental shelf, it connects to the Atlantic Ocean through the English Channel in the south and the Norwegian Se ...

off

Vlissingen Vlissingen (; ) is a Municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality and a city in the southwestern Netherlands on the island of Walcheren. With its strategic location between the Scheldt river and the North Sea, Vlissingen has been an importan ...

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

. She was beached at Rammekens for temporary repairs to be carried out. ''Germaine L D'' was refloated the next day. On 3 March 1931, she collided with at

Rotterdam Rotterdam ( , ; ; ) is the second-largest List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city in the Netherlands after the national capital of Amsterdam. It is in the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of South Holland, part of the North S ...

. ''Southborough'' sustained some damage but ''Germaine L D'' was undamaged. On 23 March 1932, she ran aground at

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires, controlled by the government of the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Argentina. It is located on the southwest of the Río de la Plata. Buenos Aires is classified as an Alpha− glob ...

Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...

, but was freed the next day with assistance from a tug. No damage was sustained. In 1932, ''Germaine L D'' was sold to Società Anonima di Navigazione Corrado,

Genoa Genoa ( ; ; ) is a city in and the capital of the Italian region of Liguria, and the sixth-largest city in Italy. As of 2025, 563,947 people live within the city's administrative limits. While its metropolitan city has 818,651 inhabitan ...

, and renamed ''Andrea''. In June 1940, ''Andrea'' was seized at

Newcastle upon Tyne Newcastle upon Tyne, or simply Newcastle ( , Received Pronunciation, RP: ), is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. It is England's northernmost metropolitan borough, located o ...

and renamed ''Empire Adventure''. ;Convoy OB 216 Convoy OB 216 departed from

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

on 19 September 1940. During the night of 20/21 September 1940, ''Empire Adventure'' was torpedoed by Ubootwaffe gives 21:26 on 20 September 1940 (German time), Uboatnet gives 02:27 on 21 September 1940 northwest of

Rathlin Island Rathlin Island (, ; Local Irish dialect: ''Reachraidh'', ; Scots: ''Racherie'') is an island and civil parish off the coast of County Antrim (of which it is part) in Northern Ireland. It is Northern Ireland's northernmost point. As of the 2021 ...

. Although taken in tow by HMS ''Superman'', ''Empire Adventure'' sank on 23 September 1940 at . A total of 21 of the 39 crew were killed. The survivors were picked up by and the Swedish merchantman ''Industria'' and landed at

Belfast Belfast (, , , ; from ) is the capital city and principal port of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan and connected to the open sea through Belfast Lough and the North Channel (Great Britain and Ireland), North Channel ...

. Those lost on ''Empire Adventure'' are commemorated at the Tower Hill Memorial, London.

Official number and code letters

Official Numbers were a forerunner to IMO Numbers. ''Eastney'' and ''Empire Adventure'' 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 ...

146165 ''Andrea'' had the Italian

1829. ''Andrea'' 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. Later, with the introduction of ...

NDAT and IBXA. ''Empire Adventure'' used the Code Letters GLXW.

References

External links

Photo of ''Germaine L D''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Empire Adventure 1920 ships Ships built on the River Tyne Steamships of the United Kingdom Empire ships Ministry of War Transport ships Steamships of France Merchant ships of France Maritime incidents in 1929 Steamships of Italy World War II merchant ships of Italy Ships sunk by German submarines in World War II World War II shipwrecks in the Atlantic Ocean Maritime incidents in September 1940 Shipwrecks of Northern Ireland