Empire Endurance
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| Name | Empire Endurance | ||
| Type: | Steam merchant | ||
| Tonnage | 8.570 tons | ||
| Completed | 1928 - Deschimag Werk ´Vulcan´, Hamburg | ||
| Owner | Booth Steamship Co Ltd (Booth Line), Liverpool | ||
| Homeport | London | ||
| Date of attack | 20 Apr, 1941 | Nationality:  British | |
| Fate | Sunk by U-73 (Helmut Rosenbaum) | ||
| Position | 53.05N, 23.14W - Grid AL 8424 - See location on a map - | ||
| Complement | 94 (65 dead and 29 survivors). | ||
| Convoy | |||
| Route | Swansea - Capetown - Alexandria | ||
| Cargo | General cargo, military stores and two motor launches as deck cargo | ||
| History | Built as German Alster for Norddeutscher Lloyd, Bremen. On 18 Mar, 1940 taken over by Kriegsmarine and used as troop transport in operation Weserübung, the invasion of Norway. On 10 Apr, 1940, the Alster was captured by the HMS Icarus (D 03) (LtCdr W.N. Petch) in the Vestfjord, north of Bodö and was escorted to Britain by the British armed trawler HMS Ullswater (SubLt D.R. Stavert). The vessel was renamed Empire Endurance by the Ministry of War Transport (MoWT). | ||
| Notes on loss | At 03.32 hours on 20 Apr, 1941, the unescorted Empire Endurance (Master William Willis R.D. Torkington) was torpedoed and sunk by U-73 southwest of Rockall. The motor launches HMS ML-1003 and HMS ML-1037 were lost with the ship. The master, 63 crew members and one passenger were lost. Five crew members were picked up after 20 days by the British merchant Highland Brigade and landed at Liverpool. 20 crew members and four passengers were picked up on 21 April in position 52°50N/22°50W by the HMCS Trillium (K 172) (Lt P.C. Evan) and landed at Greenock on 25 May. | ||
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