Empire Eland
British Steam merchant
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| Name | Empire Eland | ||
| Type: | Steam merchant | ||
| Tonnage | 5,613 tons | ||
| Completed | 1920 - Long Beach Shipbuilding Co, Long Beach CA | ||
| Owner | Douglas & Ramsay, Glasgow | ||
| Homeport | London | ||
| Date of attack | 15 Sep 1941 | Nationality:  British | |
| Fate | Sunk by U-94 (Otto Ites) | ||
| Position | 54° 09'N, 29° 55'W - Grid AK 6764 | ||
| Complement | 37 (37 dead - no survivors) | ||
| Convoy | ON-14 (straggler) | ||
| Route | Liverpool - Mobile - Tampa | ||
| Cargo | Ballast | ||
| History | Completed in July 1920 as West Kedron for US Shipping Board (USSB). 1928 transferred to American West African Line (Barber SS Co), New York. 1933 returned to US Shipping Board (USSB). 1937 laid up as part of the reserve fleet by the US Maritime Commission. 1940 handed over to Britain and renamed Empire Eland by Ministry of War Transport (MoWT). | ||
| Notes on event | At 23.48 hours on 15 September 1941 the unescorted Empire Eland (Master Donald Campbell Sinclair), a straggler from convoy ON-14, was hit on starboard side aft by one G7e torpedo from U-94 while steaming on a zigzag course in bad weather about 570 miles east-southeast of Cape Farewell. The ship had been first spotted at 14.00 hours, but the lookouts shortly afterwards spotted another straggler from the same convoy and sank the Pegasus first. The U-boat then chased and torpedoed Empire Eland. At 23.57 hours, a first coup de grâce missed but the ship sank by the stern about 40 minutes after being hit aft of amidships by a second at 00.30 hours on 16 September. The Germans had observed how the crew abandoned ship after the first hit. However, the master, 31 crew members and five gunners were lost. | ||
| On board | We have details of 37 people who were on board. | ||
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