View source for SS Empire Tower

{{short description|World War II merchant ship of the United Kingdom}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2017}}
{{Use British English|date=May 2017}}
{|{{Infobox ship begin}}
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{{Infobox ship career
|Ship name           = '''SS ''Roxburgh'''''<ref name=WreckSite>{{cite web |url= http://www.wrecksite.eu/wreck.aspx?15392 |title=SS Empire Tower [+1943] |last1=Allen |first1=Tony |last2=Vleggeert |first2=Nico |date=29 January 2010 |work=The Wreck Site |publisher= |accessdate=31 May 2011}}</ref>
|Ship namesake       = [[Roxburgh]], Scotland
|Ship country        = [[United Kingdom]]
|Ship flag           = {{shipboxflag|UK|civil}}
|Ship owner          = [[Arthur Sutherland|B.J. Sutherland & Co.]]<ref name=WreckSite/>
|Ship operator       = 
|Ship registry       = {{flagicon|UK|civil}} Newcastle-upon-Tyne
|Ship route          = 
|Ship ordered        = 
|Ship builder        = [[Burntisland Shipbuilding Company]] Ltd, [[Fife]], Scotland<ref name=LR>{{cite book |url= https://plimsoll.southampton.gov.uk/shipdata/pdfs/43/43b0322.pdf |year=1943 |title=Lloyd's Register, Steamships and Motorships |location=London |publisher=[[Lloyd's Register]] |accessdate=30 March 2013}}</ref>
|Ship original cost  = 
|Ship yard number    = 
|Ship way number     = 
|Ship laid down      = 
|Ship launched       = March 1935<ref name=LR/>
|Ship completed      = 
|Ship christened     = 
|Ship acquired       = 
|Ship maiden voyage  = 
|Ship in service     = 
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|Ship identification =*UK [[official number]] 161579<ref name=LR/>
*[[Maritime call sign|Call sign]] GYFP<ref name=LR/>
*{{ICS|Golf}}{{ICS|Yankee}}{{ICS|Foxtrot}}{{ICS|Papa}}
|Ship fate           = Sold 1937<ref name=LR/>
|Ship notes          = 
}}
{{Infobox ship career
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|Ship name           = '''SS ''Tower Field'''''<ref name=WreckSite/>
|Ship namesake       = 
|Ship owner          = Tower Steamship Co.
|Ship operator       = [[Counties Ship Management]], London<ref name=WreckSite/>
|Ship registry       = {{flagicon|UK|civil}} London
|Ship route          = 
|Ship christened     = 
|Ship acquired       = 
|Ship in service     = 
|Ship out of service = 19 October 1941<ref name=WreckSite/>
|Ship identification =*UK [[official number]] 161579<ref name=LR/>
*[[Maritime call sign|Call sign]] GYFP<ref name=LR/>
*{{ICS|Golf}}{{ICS|Yankee}}{{ICS|Foxtrot}}{{ICS|Papa}}
|Ship fate           = Ran aground & broke in two<ref name=U2717>{{cite web |url= http://www.uboat.net/allies/merchants/ships/2717.html |title=Empire Tower |last=Helgason |first=Guðmundur |date=1995–2010 |work=uboat.net |publisher=Guðmundur Helgason |accessdate=31 May 2011}}</ref>
|Ship notes          = 
}}
{{Infobox ship career
|Hide header         =title
|Ship name           = '''SS ''Empire Tower'''''<ref name=WreckSite/>
|Ship namesake       = 
|Ship owner          = [[Ministry of War Transport]]<ref name=WreckSite/>
|Ship operator       = [[Counties Ship Management]], London<ref name=WreckSite/>
|Ship registry       = {{flagicon|UK|civil}} London
|Ship route          = 
|Ship christened     = 
|Ship acquired       = 
|Ship in service     = December 1942<ref name=WreckSite/>
|Ship out of service = 5 March 1943<ref name=WreckSite/>
|Ship identification = UK [[official number]] 161579<ref name=LR/>
|Ship fate           = Torpedoed and sunk by {{GS|U-130|1941|2}}, 5 March 1943<ref name=WreckSite/>
|Ship notes          = 
}}
{{Infobox ship characteristics
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|Header caption       = 
|Ship class           =
|Ship type            = [[cargo ship]]<ref name=LR/>
|Ship tonnage         =*{{GRT|4378}}<ref name=LR/>
*tonnage under deck 3,927<ref name=LR/>
*{{NRT|2,636}}<ref name=LR/>
|Ship displacement    = 
|Ship length          = {{convert|372.0|ft|abbr=on}}<ref name=LR/>
|Ship beam            = {{convert|52.4|ft|abbr=on}}<ref name=LR/>
|Ship height          = 
|Ship draught         = {{convert|24|ft|5|in|abbr=on}}<ref name=LR/>
|Ship depth           = {{convert|25.2|ft|abbr=on}}<ref name=LR/>
|Ship decks           = 
|Ship deck clearance  = 
|Ship power           = 335 [[Horsepower#Nominal horsepower|NHP]]
|Ship propulsion      =  [[Marine steam engine#Triple or multiple expansion|triple expansion steam engine]];<ref name=LR/> single [[Propeller (marine)|screw]]
|Ship speed           = 
|Ship capacity        = 
|Ship crew            = 39 plus 6 [[Defensively equipped merchant ships|DEMS]] gunners<ref name=WreckSite/>
|Ship notes           = 
}}
|}

'''SS ''Empire Tower''''' was a British {{GRT|4378}} [[cargo ship]] built in 1935 and sunk by enemy action in 1943.

She was built by the [[Burntisland Shipbuilding Company]] Ltd. in [[Fife]], Scotland. The North Eastern Marine Engineering Co. Ltd. of [[City of Sunderland|Sunderland]] built her 335 [[Horsepower#Nominal horsepower|NHP]] three-cylinder [[Marine steam engine#Triple or multiple expansion|triple expansion steam engine]].<ref name=LR/> She had six corrugated furnaces with a combined heating surface of {{convert|117|sqft|0}} heat to heat her three 180 [[Pounds per square inch|lb<sub>f</sub>/in<sup>2</sup>]] single-ended boilers, which had a combined heating surface of {{convert|5445|sqft|0}}.<ref name=LR/> She was fitted with [[direction finding]] equipment.<ref name=LR/>

She was launched as '''SS ''Roxburgh''''' for [[Arthur Sutherland|B.J. Sutherland and Company]] of [[Newcastle-upon-Tyne]].<ref name=WreckSite/> In 1937 the Tower Hill Steamship Company, an offshoot of [[Counties Ship Management]], bought her and renamed her '''SS ''Tower Field'''''.<ref name=WreckSite/>

==Damage and repair==
On 10 May 1941 ''Tower Field'' was steaming in ballast from London to Newcastle when a German aircraft attacked and damaged her off the Outer Dowsing Buoy in the [[Thames Estuary]].<ref name=U2717/> She was repaired and returned to service.<ref name=U2717/>

On 19 October 1941 she was entering [[Workington]] Channel off [[Kingston upon Hull|Hull]] with a cargo of iron ore when she ran aground and fractured her hull.<ref name=U2717/> She broke in two but her cargo was discharged and she was refloated and repaired.<ref name=U2717/>

The [[Ministry of War Transport]] took her over and renamed her '''SS ''Empire Tower''''' but kept her under CSM management.<ref name=LR/> She returned to service in December 1942.<ref name=U2717/>

{{location map|North Atlantic|width=304
|lat= 43.50
|long= -14.46
|caption=Approximate position of ''Empire Tower''{{'}}s wreck
|relief= yes
}}

==Sinking==
Early in 1943 ''Empire Tower'', under Captain David John Williams OBE, joined [[List of convoy codes#X|Convoy XK-2]] from [[Gibraltar]] to the UK.<ref name=U2717/> On 5 March the [[German Type IX submarine]]<ref name=U130>{{cite web |url= http://www.uboat.net/boats/u130.htm |title=U-130 |last=Helgason |first=Guðmundur |date=1995–2010 |work=uboat.net |publisher=Guðmundur Helgason |accessdate=31 May 2011}}</ref> {{GS|U-130|1941|2}} attacked the convoy and sank ''Empire Tower'', {{SS|Fidra||2}}, {{SS|Ger-y-Bryn||2}} and {{SS|Trefusis||2}}.<ref name=U2717/><ref>{{cite book |last=Slader |first=John |title=The Red Duster at War |year=1988 |publisher=William Kimber & Co Ltd |location=London |isbn=0-7183-0679-1 |page=253}}
</ref> ''Empire Tower'' sank within a minute and Captain Williams, six gunners and 35 crew were lost.<ref name=U2717/> The [[Royal Navy]] [[naval trawler|armed trawler]] {{HMS|Loch Oskaig|FY 175|6}} rescued three survivors and landed them at [[Derry|Londonderry]],<ref name=U2717/> [[Northern Ireland]].

One week later, on 12 March, a [[depth charge]] attack by [[United States Navy|US Navy]] destroyer {{USS|Champlin|DD-601|6}} west of the [[Azores]] sank ''U-130'' with the loss of all 53 hands.<ref name=U130/>

==References==
{{reflist}}

{{October 1941 shipwrecks}}
{{March 1943 shipwrecks}}
{{coord|43.50|N|14.46|W|display=title}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Empire Tower}}
[[Category:1935 ships]]
[[Category:Ships built in Scotland]]
[[Category:Water transport in the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:Ships of Counties Ship Management]]
[[Category:Empire ships]]
[[Category:Maritime incidents in October 1941]]
[[Category:Maritime incidents in March 1943]]
[[Category:Ships sunk by German submarines in World War II]]
[[Category:Shipwrecks in the Atlantic Ocean]]