SS Empire Kestrel

SS Empire Kestrel was a 2,674 GRT, 5,050 DWT cargo ship built by Great Lakes Engineering Works of Ecorse, Michigan. Completed in 1919 as SS Lake Ellithorpe for the United States Shipping Board (USSB), she was sold to the New England, New York & Texas Steamship Corporation of New York in 1927, then to the Newtex Steamship Corporation of New York City in 1928. In 1932, she was renamed Texas Trader. In 1940 she was sold to the Ministry of War Transport. Reflagged as a British ship and renamed Empire Kestrel,[3] she was managed by William Reardon Smith & Sons Co.[4]

History
United States
Name:
  • SS Lake Ellithorpe (1919–1932)
  • SS Texas Trader (1932–1940)
Owner:
  • United States Shipping Board (1919–1927)
  • New England, New York & Texas Steamship Corp. (1927–1928)
  • Newtex Steamship Corporation (1928–1940)
Builder: Great Lakes Engineering Works, Ecorse, Michigan[1]
Yard number: 230[1]
Launched: 28 August 1919[2]
Completed: November 1919[1]
In service: 1919
Out of service: 1940
Identification: US Official number: 219019[2]
Fate: Sold to UK, 1940
United Kingdom
Name: SS Empire Kestrel
Owner: Ministry of War Transport
Operator: William Reardon Smith & Sons
Acquired: 1940
Identification: UK Official number: 167612[2]
Fate: Torpedoed and sunk, 16 August 1943
General characteristics
Type: Cargo ship
Tonnage:
Length: 253 ft 5 in (77.24 m)[2]
Beam: 43 ft 10 in (13.36 m)[2]
Depth: 26 ft (7.9 m)[2]

She was attacked on 16 August 1943 by an Italian Savoia-Marchetti S.79 aircraft, piloted by Lt. Vezio Terzi, and sunk by an aerial torpedo off the coast Algeria, near Bgayet, in position 37°10′N 04°35′E[5] while part of Convoy UGS-13.[6]

References
  1. Colton, Tim (2011). "Great Lakes Engineering". shipbuildinghistory.com. Archived from the original on 16 February 2012. Retrieved 15 November 2012.
  2. Lewis, Walter (2012). "Empire Kestrel". Maritime History of the Great Lakes. Retrieved 15 November 2012.
  3. "EmpireK". mariners-l.co.uk. 2011. Retrieved 15 November 2012.
  4. "William Reardon Smith & Sons". theshipslist.com. 2012. Retrieved 15 November 2012.
  5. Mitchell, W. H.; Sawyer, L. A. (1995). The Empire Ships. London: Lloyd's of London Press Ltd. ISBN 1-85044-275-4.
  6. Hague, Arnold (2007). "Convoy UGS-13". Convoy Database. Retrieved 15 November 2012.


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