Empire Shackleton
Photo Courtesy of Library of Contemporary History, Stuttgart
| Name | Empire Shackleton | ||
| Type: | Catapult armed merchant (CAM) | ||
| Tonnage | 7.068 tons | ||
| Completed | 1941 - Lithgows Ltd, Port Glasgow | ||
| Owner | Houlder Brothers & Co Ltd, London | ||
| Homeport | London | ||
| Date of attack | 29 Dec, 1942 | Nationality:  British | |
| Fate | Sunk by U-435 (Siegfried Strelow) | ||
| Position | 43.20N, 27.18W - Grid BD 98 - See location on a map - | ||
| Complement | 69 (0 dead and 69 survivors). | ||
| Convoy | ONS-154 (straggler) | ||
| Route | Liverpool (18 Dec) - Halifax | ||
| Cargo | 2000 tons of general cargo, 1000 tons of ammunition and aircraft | ||
| History | Launched on 23 Jul, 1941 and completed in October for the Ministry of War Transport (MoWT) and given to G. Heyn & Sons, Belfast, later transferred to Houlder Brothers & Co Ltd. | ||
| Notes on loss | Between 23.53 and 23.56 hours on 28 Dec, 1942, U-225 (Leimkühler) fired four single torpedoes at the convoy ONS-154 north of the Azores in 43°23N/27°14W (grid BD 9869). One torpedo damaged the President Francqui and two struck the ship of the convoy commodore the Empire Shackleton. The fourth torpedo detonated after 2 minutes 15 seconds and Leimkühler thought that he had hit another ship, but this can not be confirmed by Allied sources. At 02.55 hours and 02.59 hours on 29 December, U-435 missed the Empire Shackleton (Master Henry Ellington Jones) twice. Four crew members, two gunners and a wireless mechanic were picked up by the HMCS Shediac (K 110) (Lt J.E. Clayton) and landed at Ponta Delgada, Azores. 13 crew members, two naval staff members and two gunners were picked up by the British merchant Calgary and landed at Freetown. | ||
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