Empire Hawksbill
Photo Courtesy of Library of Contemporary History, Stuttgart
| Name | Empire Hawksbill | ||
| Type: | Steam merchant | ||
| Tonnage | 5.724 tons | ||
| Completed | 1920 - South Western Shipbuilding Co, San Pedro CA | ||
| Owner | Walter Runciman & Co Ltd, Newcastle-upon-Tyne | ||
| Homeport | London | ||
| Date of attack | 19 Jul, 1942 | Nationality:  British | |
| Fate | Sunk by U-564 (Reinhard Suhren) | ||
| Position | 42.29N, 25.56W - Grid CE 3341 - See location on a map - | ||
| Complement | 47 (47 dead - no survivors) | ||
| Convoy | OS-34 | ||
| Route | Barry - Belfast - Capetown | ||
| Cargo | Government stores | ||
| History | Built as American West Nivaria for US Shipping Board, Los Angeles; 1928 renamed Golden Coast for Oceanic & Oriental Nav. Co, San Francisco; 1938 renamed Delawarean for American Hawaiian SS Co, New York. 1940 given to Britain and renamed Empire Hawksbill by Ministry of War Transport (MoWT). | ||
| Notes on loss | At 02.30 hours on 19 Jul, 1942, U-564 attacked the convoy OS-34 about 200 miles north of the Azores and observed four detonations between 1 minute 15 seconds and 1 minute 27 seconds after firing. Suhren thought that he had hit four ships. However, only the Empire Hawksbill and Lavington Court were hit at this time. There were probably two hits each on the two ships. The master, 37 crew members and nine gunners from the Empire Hawksbill (Master Harold Theodore Lamb) were lost. | ||
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