''Empire Amethyst'' was an 8,032-ton tanker which was built in 1941. She was torpedoed and sunk by on 13 April 1942.

History

''Empire Amethyst'' was built by the

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as yard number 330. She was launched on 8 July 1941 and completed in December 1941. ''Empire Amethyst'' was built 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 Transpor ...

and operated under the management of the Hadley Shipping Co Ltd, Middlesbrough. ''Empire Amethyst'' was homeported in

Middlesbrough Middlesbrough ( ), colloquially known as Boro, is a port town in the Borough of Middlesbrough, North Yorkshire, England. Lying to the south of the River Tees, Middlesbrough forms part of the Teesside Built up area, built-up area and the Tees Va ...

. ''Empire Amethyst'' was a member of a number of convoys during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. ;ON 17 Convoy ON 17 sailed 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 17 September 1941 and

Loch Ewe Loch Ewe () 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 notable of which, si ...

on 19 September. The convoy dispersed on 29 September. On 23 January 1942, ''Empire Amethyst'' picked up five survivors from the Norwegian SS ''Innerøy'', which had been torpedoed and sunk by ''U-553''. The survivors were taken to Halifax,

Nova Scotia Nova Scotia is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada, located on its east coast. It is one of the three Maritime Canada, Maritime provinces and Population of Canada by province and territory, most populous province in Atlan ...

. ;HX 173 Convoy HX 173 sailed from Halifax for Liverpool on 1 February 1942, arriving on 14 February. ;OS 21 Convoy OS 21 sailed from Liverpool on 4 March 1942 and arrived at

Freetown Freetown () is the Capital city, 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, e ...

Sierra Leone Sierra Leone, officially the Republic of Sierra Leone, is a country on the southwest coast of West Africa. It is bordered to the southeast by Liberia and by Guinea to the north. Sierra Leone's land area is . It has a tropical climate and envi ...

on 24 March. ''Empire Amethyst'' was in ballast, having discharged her cargo at

Milford Haven Milford Haven ( ) is a town and community (Wales), community in Pembrokeshire, Wales. It is on the north side of the Milford Haven Waterway, an estuary forming a natural harbour that has been used as a port since the Middle Ages. The town was ...

. She had to call 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 ...

to allow a crew member to be discharged through illness and a replacement to be taken on board. On reaching Freetown, ''Empire Amethyst'' sailed for

New Orleans New Orleans (commonly known as NOLA or The Big Easy among other nicknames) is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city-parish located along the Mississippi River in the U.S. state of Louisiana. With a population of 383,997 at the 2020 ...

Final voyage and sinking

In mid-April 1942, ''Empire Amethyst'' left New Orleans bound for Freetown carrying a cargo of 12,000 tons of motor spirit. Her intended route took her via the

Lesser Antilles The Lesser Antilles is a group of islands in the Caribbean Sea, forming part of the West Indies in Caribbean, Caribbean region of the Americas. They are distinguished from the larger islands of the Greater Antilles to the west. They form an arc w ...

and then across the

Atlantic The Atlantic Ocean is the second largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, with an area of about . It covers approximately 17% of Earth's surface and about 24% of its water surface area. During the Age of Discovery, it was known for se ...

to Freetown. ''Empire Amethyst'' was spotted by the crew of on 12 April 1942. The U-boat captain, Walther Kölle, believed that she was being escorted by and did not attack. At 03:02 hrs ''Empire Amethyst'' received a distress call from the American SS ''Delvalla'' which had been torpedoed by ''U-154'' and was sinking. ''Prince Henry'' headed for the reported position of the ''Delvalla'' and a Catalina aircraft was despatched. The survivors were taken aboard ''Prince Henry''. ''U-154'' spotted ''Empire Amethyst'' again at 11:42 hrs; she was again under escort by ''Prince Henry'' but at 16:00 hrs the escort had been lost. As he was short of torpedoes, Kapitän Kölle decided to attack from the surface. The chase began at 20:00 hrs with ''Empire Amethyst'' zig-zagging but generally following a heading of 110° towards

Trinidad Trinidad is the larger, more populous island of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, the country. The island lies off the northeastern coast of Venezuela and sits on the continental shelf of South America. It is the southernmost island in ...

. ''Empire Amethyst'' managed to lose her pursuer at 00:24 on 13 April by making a sharp turn. At 01:27 hrs, Kölle ordered his engines stopped to try to ascertain where ''Empire Amethyst'' was. Kölle decided to head in the direction that ''Empire Amethyst'' was generally heading and by 04:30 had found her again. At 05:52, Kölle aimed the first of two torpedoes at ''Empire Amethyst'', which hit under the bridge. The second exploded forward of the engine room and she exploded in a mass of flames that were visible from away. ''Empire Amethyst'' sank with the loss of all 47 crew at . The crew of ''Empire Amethyst'' are 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 ...

Official number and code letters

Official Numbers were a forerunner to

IMO Numbers The IMO number of the International Maritime Organization is a generic term with two distinct applications: * the IMO ship identification number is a unique ship identifier; or, * the IMO company and registered owner identification number is us ...

. ''Empire Amethyst'' 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 ...

164848 and 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 ...

BCPL.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Empire Amethyst 1941 ships Empire ships Maritime incidents in April 1942 Ministry of War Transport ships Ships sunk by German submarines in World War II Steamships of the United Kingdom Tankers of the United Kingdom Ships built on the River Tees World War II shipwrecks in the Caribbean Sea World War II tankers Ships lost with all hands