USS West Ekonk (ID-3313) - World War II

World War II

In November 1940, while the United States was still neutral, the United States Maritime Commission, a successor to the, granted Lykes Brothers permission to sell West Ekonk and five other cargo ships to the British Ministry of War Transport (MoWT). After West Ekonk took on a load of steel and scrap, the ship sailed to Halifax, where she joined convoy HX 99 in sailing for Liverpool on 26 December 1940. On 30 December, the ship's compass went out but West Ekonk was able to remain in her station in the convoy, and safely arrived at Liverpool on 11 January 1941, despite sailing through a gale with sleet storms on 4 January. In his notes for the convoy, P. E. Parker, the convoy's commodore, singled out H. MacKinnon, master of West Ekonk, for praise of his seamanship in keeping West Ekonk in the convoy without a working compass.

After her arrival at Liverpool, West Ekonk was renamed Empire Wildebeeste—MoWT ships taking a name prefixed with "Empire" and joined westbound convoy OB 293 in sailing for the United States on 2 March 1941. The convoy dispersed four days later, and though seven ships were sunk by four German submarines, Empire Wildebeeste safely docked at Baltimore on 24 March. After sailing to Hampton Roads, Virginia, on 1 April and on to Halifax on 6 April, Empire Wildebeeste was scheduled to sail as a part of HX 120 on 10 April, but apparently did not arrive in time. She instead sailed in convoy HX 121 which departed Halifax six days later. Convoy HX 121 was attacked by two U-boats on 28 April and four ships were hit, two ahead of Empire Wildebeeste and two to the starboard. Even though another ship was sunk on 1 May, Empire Wildebeeste successfully delivered her cargo of pig iron to Middlesbrough on 7 May.

After making her way across the Atlantic independently, Empire Wildebeeste arrived at Norfolk, Virginia, on 25 June. After making intermediate stops in Baltimore and Hampton Roads, she sailed for Halifax with a load of scrap iron on 17 July, reaching her destination three days later. She departed in convoy HX 140 on 22 July and arrived at Belfast Lough on 5 August and Newport on 8 August. After arriving at Milford Haven on 25 August, she sailed from there two days later in convoy ON 10 for Halifax, where she arrived on 13 September. From there, Empire Wildebeeste sailed to Montreal and back to Halifax by 5 October. She departed Halifax that same day as a part of convoy HX 153, but had unspecified problems that caused her to drop out and put in at St. John's, Newfoundland, on 11 October. After aborted attempts to sail east in convoys SC 50 and SC 52, Empire Wildebeeste finally reached Loch Ewe on 25 November as a part of convoy SC 54 and Methil on 30 November.

After Empire Wildebeeste made a trip to Hull and back by 23 December, she sailed to Loch Ewe five days later and then departed from Liverpool on 2 January 1942 as a part of convoy ON 53. Empire Wildebeeste strayed behind even before the convoy dispersed on 19 January, and was left to sail on to Baltimore independently. At 06:53 on 24 January, Empire Wildebeeste was struck by a torpedo launched from German submarine U-106 under the command of Kapitänleutnant Hermann Rasch. Empire Wildebeeste went down at position 39°30′N 59°54′W / 39.500°N 59.900°W / 39.500; -59.900Coordinates: 39°30′N 59°54′W / 39.500°N 59.900°W / 39.500; -59.900; eight crewmen and one naval gunner were killed during the attack and sinking. American destroyer Lang was dispatched from Bermuda to pick up the master, 18 crewmen, and three gunners, and landed them in Bermuda.