Empire Wildebeeste
British Steam merchant
Empire Wildebeeste under her former name West Ekonk. US Naval Historical Center Photograph #NH65041-A
| Name | Empire Wildebeeste | ||
| Type: | Steam merchant | ||
| Tonnage | 5,631 tons | ||
| Completed | 1918 - Skinner & Eddy Corp, Seattle WA | ||
| Owner | George Nisbet & Co, Glasgow | ||
| Homeport | London | ||
| Date of attack | 24 Jan 1942 | Nationality:  British | |
| Fate | Sunk by U-106 (Hermann Rasch) | ||
| Position | 39° 30'N, 59° 54'W - Grid CB 6192 | ||
| Complement | 43 (9 dead and 34 survivors). | ||
| Convoy | ON-53 (dispersed) | ||
| Route | Hull - Loch Ewe - Halifax - Baltimore | ||
| Cargo | Ballast | ||
| History | Completed in July 1918 as West Ekonk for US Shipping Board (USSB) and acquired by the US Navy as cargo transport USS West Ekonk (ID # 3313) for the Naval Overseas Transportation Service, making her maiden voyage with a cargo of flour to Brest, France. The ship made two trips from France to Italy between September 1918 and April 1919 and was then decommissioned and returned to the US Shipping Board. 1933 sold to Lykes Bros SS Co Inc, New Orleans. 1941 transferred to Britain and renamed Empire Wildebeeste by the Ministry of War Transport (MoWT). | ||
| Notes on event | At 06.53 hours on 24 Jan 1942 the unescorted Empire Wildebeeste (Master Hugh Cameron Stewart), dispersed from convoy ON-53, was torpedoed and sunk by U-106 east of New York. Seven crew members and two gunners were lost. The master, 25 crew members and eight gunners were picked up by USS Lang (DD 399) (LtCdr E.A. Seay, USN) after being spotted by a Catalina flying boat and landed at Bermuda. | ||
| On board | We have details of 43 people who were on board. | ||
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