Empire Ability
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| Name | Empire Ability | ||
| Type: | Steam merchant | ||
| Tonnage | 7.603 tons | ||
| Completed | 1931 - Deschimag Werk ´Weser´, Bremen | ||
| Owner | Elder Dempster Lines Ltd, Liverpool | ||
| Homeport | London | ||
| Date of attack | 27 Jun, 1941 | Nationality:  British | |
| Fate | Sunk by U-69 (Jost Metzler) | ||
| Position | 23.50N, 21.10W - Grid DT 3898 - See location on a map - | ||
| Complement | 109 (2 dead and 107 survivors). | ||
| Convoy | SL-78 | ||
| Route | Port Louis, Mauritius - Freetown (18 Jun) - Liverpool | ||
| Cargo | 7725 tons of sugar, 238 tons of rum, 400 tons of kernels and 35 tons of fibre | ||
| History | Built as German Uhenfels for Deutsche DG 'Hansa', Bremen. On 4 Nov, 1939, she was spotted by an aircraft of HMS Eagle (94) off Freetown and was captured by HMS Hereward (H 93) (LtCdr C.W. Greening). 1940 renamed Empire Ability by the Ministry of War Transport (MoWT). At 01.45 hours on 27 Feb, 1941, the Italian submarine Bianchi (Giovannini) attacked the convoy OB-290 in 54°N/14°W and reported a probable hit one the Empire Ability but the ship was in fact undamaged. | ||
| Notes on loss | At 01.19 hours on 27 Jun, 1941, U-69 fired a spread of two torpedoes at two overlapping steamers in convoy SL-78 about 200 miles southeast of the Azores and heard one detonation, but no hit can be confirmed from Allied sources. At 01.49 hours, another torpedo was fired that hit the River Lugar amidships, which broke in two and sank within seconds. In a third attack at 02.37 hours, the Empire Ability was hit by a torpedo, caught fire and sank after 21 minutes. The master, 60 crew members, two gunners, 17 military personnel and 27 passengers from the Empire Ability (Master Herbert Flowerdew) were picked up by the Amerika, transferred to HMS Burdock (K 126) (Lt H.J. Fellowes SANVR) and landed at Milford Haven. | ||
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