SS ''Empire Adventure'' was a 5,787 ton steamship which was 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 whilst under tow on 23 September 1940.

History

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

Howdon Howdon is a largely residential area in the eastern part of Wallsend, Tyne and Wear, England. It consists of High Howdon and the smaller settlement of East Howdon. Much of the High Howdon area was formerly called Willington prior to post-World W ...

Wallsend Wallsend is a town in North Tyneside, 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 Segedunum. This ...

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

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 ...

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

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan ar ...

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, Norway, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium. An epeiric sea on the European continental shelf, it connects to the Atlantic Ocean through the English Channel in the south and the Norwegian S ...

off

Vlissingen Vlissingen (; zea, label= Zeelandic, Vlissienge), historically known in English as Flushing, is a municipality and a city in the southwestern Netherlands on the former island of Walcheren. With its strategic location between the Scheldt river ...

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 ...

. 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 ( , , , 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 ''"N ...

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

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires ( or ; ), officially the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires ( es, link=no, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires), is the Capital city, capital and primate city of Argentina. The city is located on the western shore of the Río de la Plata ...

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, t ...

, but was freed the next day with assistance from a

tug A tugboat or tug is a marine vessel that manoeuvres other vessels by pushing or pulling them, with direct contact or a tow line. These boats typically tug ships in circumstances where they cannot or should not move under their own power, suc ...

. No damage was sustained. In 1932, ''Germaine L D'' was sold to Società Anonima di Navigazione Corrado,

Genoa Genoa ( ; it, Genova ; lij, Zêna ). is the capital of the Regions of Italy, Italian region of Liguria and the List of cities in Italy, sixth-largest city in Italy. In 2015, 594,733 people lived within the city's administrative limits. As of t ...

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

Newcastle upon Tyne Newcastle upon Tyne ( RP: , ), or simply Newcastle, is a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. The city is located on the River Tyne's northern bank and forms the largest part of the Tyneside built-up area. Newcastle is a ...

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

Liverpool Liverpool is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the List of English districts by population, 10th largest English district by population and its E ...

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 ( ga, Reachlainn, ; 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. ...

. 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 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 Kingd ...

. Those lost on ''Empire Adventure'' 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 sea ...

, 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 * Isomaltoolig ...

. ''Eastney'' and ''Empire Adventure'' had the UK

Official Number Official numbers are ship identifier numbers assigned to merchant ships by their 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 have sometimes ...

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 and today also. Later, with the i ...

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