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Empire Chaucer was a 5,970 GRT cargo ship

Cargo ship

A cargo ship or freighter is any sort of ship or vessel that carries cargo, goods, and materials from one port to another. Thousands of cargo carriers ply the world's seas and oceans each year; they handle the bulk of international trade...

 which was built in 1942 by William Pickersgill & Sons Ltd, Sunderland. She was built for the Ministry of War Transport (MoWT). Completed in May 1942, she had a short career, being torpedo

Torpedo

The modern torpedo is a self-propelled missile weapon with an explosive warhead, launched above or below the water surface, propelled underwater towards a target, and designed to detonate either on contact with it or in proximity to it.The term torpedo was originally employed for...

ed and sunk by on 17 October 1942.

Description

The ship was built by William Pickersgill & Sons Ltd, Sunderland. She was launched on 18 March 1942 and completed in May 1942.

The ship was 401 in 0 in (122.22 m) long, with a beam of 54 in 0 in (16.46 m) and a depth of 33 in 2 in (10.11 m). She had a GRT of 5,970 and a NRT of 3,501.

The ship was propelled by a triple expansion steam engine, which had cylinders of 23½ inches (60 cm), 38 inches (96.5 cm) and 66 inches (167.6 cm) diameter by 45 inches (114.3 cm) stroke.

History

Empire Chaucer was built for the MoWT. She was placed under the management of W J Tatem Ltd, Cardiff

Cardiff

Cardiff is the capital, largest city and most populous county of Wales and the 10th largest city in the United Kingdom. The city is Wales' chief commercial centre, the base for most national cultural and sporting institutions, the Welsh national media, and the seat of the National Assembly for...

. Her port of registry was Sunderland. The Code Letters

Code letters

Code letters were a method of identifying ships before the introduction of modern navigation aids. Later, with the introduction of radio, code letters were also used as radio callsigns.-History:...

 BDVX and United Kingdom Official Number 169018 were allocated.

In October 1942, Empire Chaucer departed Calcutta, India

India

India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...

 bound for the United Kingdom

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

 via Durban

Durban

Durban is the largest city in the South African province of KwaZulu-Natal and the third largest city in South Africa. It forms part of the eThekwini metropolitan municipality. Durban is famous for being the busiest port in South Africa. It is also seen as one of the major centres of tourism...

 and Cape Town

Cape Town

Cape Town is the second-most populous city in South Africa, and the provincial capital and primate city of the Western Cape. As the seat of the National Parliament, it is also the legislative capital of the country. It forms part of the City of Cape Town metropolitan municipality...

, South Africa

South Africa

The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...

 and then via Trinidad

Trinidad

Trinidad is the larger and more populous of the two major islands and numerous landforms which make up the island nation of Trinidad and Tobago. It is the southernmost island in the Caribbean and lies just off the northeastern coast of Venezuela. With an area of it is also the fifth largest in...

. She was carrying a cargo of 2,000 tons of pig iron

Pig iron

Pig iron is the intermediate product of smelting iron ore with a high-carbon fuel such as coke, usually with limestone as a flux. Charcoal and anthracite have also been used as fuel...

 and 6,500 tons of general cargo, including mail and tea

Tea

Tea is an aromatic beverage prepared by adding cured leaves of the Camellia sinensis plant to hot water. The term also refers to the plant itself. After water, tea is the most widely consumed beverage in the world...

.

Empire Chaucer departed Durbon on 13 October bound for Cape Town. At 06:15 on 17 October, Empire Chaucer was torpedoed and sunk 450 nautical miles (833.4 km) south of Cape Town (38°12′S 20°04′E) by with the loss of three crew. The remaining 46 crew and a passenger took to the lifeboats

Lifeboat (shipboard)

A lifeboat is a small, rigid or inflatable watercraft carried for emergency evacuation in the event of a disaster aboard ship. In the military, a lifeboat may be referred to as a whaleboat, dinghy, or gig. The ship's tenders of cruise ships often double as lifeboats. Recreational sailors sometimes...

. Twelve survivors, including the Captain, were rescued by and landed at Trinidad. Fifteen survivors spent 23 days in a lifeboat before being rescued by . They were landed at Cape Town. The remaining 20 survivors landed at Bredasdorp

Bredasdorp

Bredasdorp is a town in the Southern Overberg region of the Western Cape, South Africa, and the main economic and service hub of that region. It lies on the northern edge of the Agulhas Plain, about south-east of Cape Town and north of Cape Agulhas, the southernmost tip of Africa.-History:The...

 on 31 October. Those lost on Empire Chaucer are commemorated at the Tower Hill Memorial

Tower Hill Memorial

The Tower Hill Memorial is a national war memorial on the south side of Trinity Square Gardens, just to the north of the Tower of London. It commemorates those from the Merchant Navy and fishing fleets who died during both world wars and have "no grave but the sea".The First World War memorial...

, London.