''Empire Dew'' 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 List of seas, seas and Ocean, oceans each year, handling the bulk of international trade. ...

that was built in 1940 by Lithgows Ltd,

Port Glasgow Port Glasgow (, ) is the second-largest town in the Inverclyde council area of Scotland. The population according to the 1991 census for Port Glasgow was 19,426 persons and in the 2001 census was 16,617 persons. The most recent census in 2011 s ...

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for the Ministry of War Transport (MoWT) . She was torpedoed and sunk by in 1941.

Description

The ship was built in 1940 by Lithgows Ltd,

. She was yard number 940. The ship was long, with a beam of . She had a depth of and a draught of . She was assessed at . . The ship was propelled by a triple expansion steam engine, which had cylinders of , and diameter by stroke. The engine was built by Rankin & Blackmore Ltd,

Greenock Greenock (; ; , ) is a town in Inverclyde, Scotland, located in the west central Lowlands of Scotland. The town is the administrative centre of Inverclyde Council. It is a former burgh within the historic county of Renfrewshire, and forms ...

History

''Empire Dew'' was built for the MoWT. Launched on 21 November 1940, she was completed in January 1941. She was placed under the management of R Chapman & Son Ltd,

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 ...

. The

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 ...

166993 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. Later, with the introduction of ...

GPFM were allocated. Her port of registry was

. ''Empire Dew'' departed from the Clyde on her maiden voyage on 2 February 1941 as a member of Convoy OB 281, which 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 ...

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on 1 February and dispersed at sea on 5 February. Her destination was 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 ...

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, where she arrived on 24 February. From Halifax, a return trip was made to

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, arriving back at Halifax on 10 March. ''Empire Dew'' was a member of Convoy SC 26, which departed from Halifax on 20 March and arrived at Liverpool on 8 April. She was carrying a cargo of

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destined for

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. She left the convoy at the Clyde on 8 April. ''Empire Dew'' was a member of Convoy WN 114, which departed from the Clyde on 13 April and arrived at Methil,

Fife Fife ( , ; ; ) is a council areas of Scotland, council area and lieutenancy areas of Scotland, lieutenancy area in Scotland. A peninsula, it is bordered by the Firth of Tay to the north, the North Sea to the east, the Firth of Forth to the s ...

on 16 April. She departed from Methil on 28 April as a member of Convoy FS 475, which arrived at

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on 30 April. ''Empire Dew'' was a member of Convoy EC 27, which departed from Southend on 31 May and arrived at the Clyde on 6 June. She left the convoy at

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on 5 June, to join Convoy OG 64, which departed from Liverpool on 4 June and arrived at

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on 18 June. She detached from the convoy and headed for Father Point,

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, Canada. Her intended destination was

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. At 02:51 (German time) on 12 June, ''Empire Dew'' was torpedoed when north of the

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() by , under the command of Herbert Schultze. 23 crew members died. Seventeen crew and two DEMS gunners were rescued by . They were landed at Liverpool. Those killed serving on ''Empire Dew'' are commemorated on the Tower Hill Memorial, London.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Empire Dew 1940 ships Ships built on the River Clyde Steamships of the United Kingdom Empire ships Ministry of War Transport ships Maritime incidents in June 1941 Ships sunk by German submarines in World War II World War II shipwrecks in the Atlantic Ocean