View source for SS Empire Caribou

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

{{EngvarB|date=January 2017}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2017}}
{|{{Infobox ship begin}}
{{Infobox ship image
| Ship image               = 
| Ship caption             = 
}}
{{Infobox ship career
| Hide header              = 
| Ship name                =*''Waterbury'' (1919-20)
*''Northern Star'' (1920-23)
*''Defacto'' (1923-40)
*''Empire Caribou'' (1940-41)
| Ship owner               =*United States Shipping Board (1919-20)
*American Star Line Inc. (1921-23)
*American Sugar Transport Corp (1923-40)
*Ministry of War Transport (1940-41)
| Ship operator            =*United States Shipping Board (1919-20)
*American Star Line Inc. (1921-23)
*American Sugar Transport Corp (1923-40)
*Sir William Reardon Smith & Sons Ltd (1940-41)
| Ship registry            =*{{flagicon|United States|1912}} New York (1919-40)
*{{flagicon|United Kingdom|civil}} London (1940-41)
| Ship route               = 
| Ship ordered             = 
| Ship builder             = Downey Shipbuilding Corp
| Ship original cost       = 
| Ship yard number         = 10
| Ship way number          = 
| Ship laid down           = 
| Ship launched            = 23 July 1919
| Ship completed           = November 1919
| Ship christened          = 
| Ship acquired            = 
| Ship maiden voyage       = 
| Ship in service          = 
| Ship out of service      = 
| Ship identification      =*Code Letters LTKH (1923-34)
*{{ICS|Lima}}{{ICS|Tango}}{{ICS|Kilo}}{{ICS|Hotel}}
*Code Letters KOKC (1933-41)
*{{ICS|Kilo}}{{ICS|Oscar}}{{ICS|Kilo}}{{ICS|Charlie}}
*Code Letters GQBN (1940-41)
*{{ICS|Golf}}{{ICS|Quebec}}{{ICS|Bravo}}{{ICS|November}}
*United States Official Number 219134 (1919-40)
*United Kingdom [[Official Number]] 167431 (1940-41)
| Ship fate                = Torpedoed and sunk, 10 May 1941.
| Ship notes               = 
}}
{{Infobox ship characteristics
| Hide header              = 
| Header caption           = 
| Ship class               = 
| Ship tonnage             =*{{GRT|4,800}} (1919-40)
*{{GRT|4,861}} (1940-41)
*{{NRT|2,999}} (1919-40)
*{{NRT|2,994}} (1940-41)
*7,814 [[Deadweight tonnage|DWT]]
| Ship displacement        = 
| Ship length              = {{convert|386|ft|8|in|m|2|abbr=on}} 
| Ship beam                = {{convert|52|ft|2|in|m|2|abbr=on}}
| Ship height              = 
| Ship draught             = 
| Ship depth               = {{convert|27|ft|4|in|m|2|abbr=on}}
| Ship decks               = 
| Ship deck clearance      = 
| Ship ramps               = 
| Ship ice class           = 
| Ship sail plan           = 
| Ship power               = Triple expansion steam engine
| Ship propulsion          = Screw propeller
| Ship speed               = {{convert|10|kn|km/h}}
| Ship capacity            = 
| Ship crew                = 41, plus 4 [[Defensively Equipped Merchant Ships|DEMS]] gunners (''Empire Caribou'')
| Ship notes               = 
| Ship armament            = 
}}
|}
{{location map|Greenland|width=304
|lat=59.467
|long=-35.733
|caption=Location of the sinking of ''Empire Caribou''.
}}

'''''Empire Caribou''''' was a {{GRT|4,861}} [[cargo ship]] which was built in 1919 for the [[United States Shipping Board]] (USSB) as '''''Waterbury'''''. She was sold in 1920 to the American Star Line and renamed '''''Northern Star'''''. In 1923, she was sold to American Sugar Transporters Inc and renamed '''''{{Proper name|Defacto}}'''''. In 1941 she was passed to the [[Ministry of War Transport]] (MoWT) and renamed ''Empire Caribou''. On 10 May 1941, she was [[torpedo]]ed and sunk by {{GS|U-556||2}}.

==Description==
The ship was built by Downey Shipbuilding Corporation, [[Arlington, Staten Island|Arlington]], [[New York (state)|New York]], as yard number 10.<ref name=Downey>{{cite web|url=http://shipbuildinghistory.com/shipyards/emergencylarge/downey.htm |title=Downey Shipbuilding Corp., Arlington NY |publisher=Shipbuilding History |access-date=9 March 2010}}</ref> She was launched in 1919,<ref name=Ships>{{cite book | first = and Sawyer, L A| last = Mitchell, W H | year = 1995| title = The Empire Ships| publisher = Lloyd's of London Press Ltd| location = London, New York, Hamburg, Hong Kong|isbn=1-85044-275-4}}</ref> and completed in November that year.<ref name=Downey/>

The ship was {{convert|386|ft|8|in|m|2}} long, with a beam of {{convert|52|ft|2|in|m|2}} and a depth of {{convert|27|ft|4|in|m|2}}. Her GRT was 4,800, with a NRT of 2,999.<ref name=Defacto30>{{cite web|url=https://plimsoll.southampton.gov.uk/shipdata/pdfs/30/30b0319.pdf |title=LLOYD'S REGISTER, NAVIRES A VAPEUR ET A MOTEURS |publisher=Plimsoll Ship Data |access-date=9 March 2010}}</ref> Her DWT was 7,814.<ref name=Downey/> In 1940, her GRT was recorded as 4,861 and her NRT as 2,994.<ref name="Defacto34">{{cite web|url=https://plimsoll.southampton.gov.uk/shipdata/pdfs/34/34b0238.pdf |title=LLOYD'S REGISTER, STEAMERS & MOTORSHIPS |publisher=Plimsoll Ship Data |access-date=9 March 2010}}</ref>

She was propelled by a [[triple expansion steam engine]], which had cylinders of {{convert|24|in|cm}}, {{convert|40|in|cm}} and {{convert|70|in|cm}} diameter and {{convert|48|in|cm}} stroke.<ref name=Defacto30/> The ship could make {{convert|10|kn|km/h}}.<ref name=Wreck>{{Cite web|url=http://www.wrecksite.eu/wreck.aspx?11881 |title=SS Empire Caribou (+1941) |publisher=Wrecksite |access-date=9 March 2010}}</ref>

==History==
''Waterbury'' was built for the USSB.<ref name=Ships/> She was launched on 23 July 1919.<ref name=Miramar>{{csr|register=MSI|id=2219134|shipname=Waterbury |access-date=31 May 2011}}</ref> The United States Official Number 219134 was allocated.<ref name=Defacto30/> In 1920 she was sold to the American Star Line Inc and renamed ''Northern Star''. In 1923, she was sold to American Sugar Transporters Inc and renamed ''{{Proper name|Defacto}}''.<ref name=Ships/> The [[Code Letters]] LTKB were allocated.<ref name=Defacto30/> In 1934, her Code Letters were changed to KOKC.<ref name="Defacto34"/> On 18 March 1940, ''{{Proper name|Defacto}}'' was given to the [[United Kingdom]].<ref name=Uboat>{{Cite web|url=http://www.uboat.net/allies/merchants/ships/916.html |title=Empire Caribou |publisher=Uboat |access-date=9 March 2010}}</ref> She was passed to the MoWT and renamed ''Empire Caribou''.<ref name=Ships/> The United Kingdom [[Official Number]] 167431 and the Code Letters GQBN were allocated.<ref name="Defacto34"/>

''Empire Caribou'' was a member of a number of convoys during the [[Second World War]].

===SC 25===
Convoy SC 25 departed [[Halifax Regional Municipality|Halifax]], [[Nova Scotia]] on 10 March 1941 and arrived at [[Liverpool]] on 29 March. ''Empire Caribou'' was carrying a cargo of [[steel]] bound for [[London]].<ref name=SC25>{{cite web|url=http://www.warsailors.com/convoys/sc25.html |title=CONVOY SC 25 |publisher=Warsailors |access-date=9 March 2010}}</ref>

===OB318===
[[Convoy OB 318]] departed Liverpool on 2 May 1941 and arrived at Halifax on 10 May. ''Empire Caribou'' was carrying a cargo of 2,020 tons of [[chalk]] and was bound for [[Boston, Massachusetts]].<ref name=OB318>{{cite web|url=http://www.warsailors.com/convoys/ob318.html |title=CONVOY OB 318 |publisher=Warsailors |access-date=9 March 2010}}</ref> On 10 May, she was torpedoed and sunk by {{GS|U-556||2}} at {{coord|59|28|N|35|44|W|display=inline,title}},<ref name=Ships/> with the loss of 29 members of her 40-member crew. Eleven survivors were rescued by {{HMS|Malcolm|D19|6}}. They were landed at [[Reykjavík]], [[Iceland]] and transferred to {{HMS|Scimitar|H21|6}} which took them to [[Greenock]].<ref name=Uboat/> Those lost on ''Empire Caribou'' are commemorated at the [[Tower Hill Memorial]], London.<ref name=THM>{{cite web |url=http://www.benjidog.co.uk/Tower%20Hill/Ship%20Index%20A-F.html |title=Ship Index A-F |publisher=Brian Watson |access-date=20 May 2011 |archive-date=6 October 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111006025450/http://www.benjidog.co.uk/Tower%20Hill/Ship%20Index%20A-F.html |url-status=dead }}</ref>

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
*[http://www.shipsnostalgia.com/gallery/showphoto.php/photo/186292/title/empire-caribou/cat/510 Photo of ''Empire Caribou'']

{{Empire ships}}
{{May 1941 shipwrecks}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Empire Caribou}}
[[Category:1919 ships]]
[[Category:Ships built in New York (state)]]
[[Category:Steamships of the United States]]
[[Category:Merchant ships of the United States]]
[[Category:Ministry of War Transport ships]]
[[Category:Empire ships]]
[[Category:Steamships of the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:Ships sunk by German submarines in World War II]]
[[Category:Shipwrecks in the Atlantic Ocean]]
[[Category:Maritime incidents in May 1941]]
[[Category:Design 1025 ships]]