SS Empire Kestrel explained
SS Empire Kestrel was a,
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,
[1] she was managed by
William Reardon Smith & Sons Co.[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 37.1667°N 39°W[3] while part of Convoy UGS-13.[4]
Notes and References
- Web site: EmpireK . mariners-l.co.uk . 2011 . 15 November 2012.
- Web site: William Reardon Smith & Sons . theshipslist.com . 2012 . 15 November 2012.
- Book: Mitchell . W. H. . Sawyer . L. A. . 1995 . The Empire Ships . Lloyd's of London Press Ltd. . London . 1-85044-275-4 .
- Web site: Convoy UGS-13 . Arnold . Hague . Convoy Database . 2007 . 15 November 2012.