MV Empire Bede

Location of the sinking of Empire Bede off Cuba.Empire Bede was a 6,959 GRT cargo ship which was built by G M Harland & Wolff Ltd, Glasgow in 1942 for the Ministry of War Transport (MoWT). She had a short career, being damaged by a torpedo and then sunk by gunfire on 18 August 1942. {| class="toc" id="toc"

Contents
[hide] *1 Description
 * 2 Career
 * 3 Official Numbers and Code Letters
 * 4 Propulsion
 * 5 References
 * }

Description
Empire Bede was built by Harland & Wolff Ltd, Glasgow.[1] She was yard number 1049.[2] Empire Bede was launched on 6 January 1942 and completed on 31 March.[2] She was 432 feet 7 inches (131.85 m) long, with a beam of 56 feet 3 inches (17.15 m) and a depth of 34 feet 3 inches (10.44 m).[3] Her GRT was 6,959[1] with a NRT of 4,201.[3]

Career
Empire Bede had a short career, she was a member of two convoys. Convoy OS 25 departed Liverpool on 12 April 1942 and arrived at Freetown, Sierra Leone on 29 April.[4] Empire Bede was carrying a cargo of ammunition, guns, stores and tanks.[5]
 * OS 25

After leaving the convoy off Freetown, Empire Bede delivered her cargo to Aden and Port Said, Egypt. She then sailed to Port Sudan where a load of cotton was taken aboard. Empire Bede sailed to Cape Town and then departed for New York.[5] On 1 August she picked up 25 survivors from the Clan Line ship SS Clan MacNaughton, which had been torpedoed and sunk by  U-155 . They were landed at Port of Spain, Trinidad on 5 August.[6] Convoy TAW 13 departed from Trinidad on 12 August 1942 and arrived at Key West, Florida on 23 August.[7] Empire Bede carried the Vice-Commodore. The convoy headed for the Panama Canal at 5 knots (9.3 km/h) to rendezvous with other ships that were to join the convoy there. At 04:00 British Double Summer Time (06:00 German time) on 12 August,[5] Empire Bede was struck by a torpedo fired by U-553, under the command of Kapitänleutnant Karl Thurmann. Two crew were killed.[8] Her position was WikiMiniAtlas 19°35′N 76°25′W﻿ / ﻿19.583°N 76.417°W ﻿ / 19.583; -76.417.[1] The other 35 crew, six DEMS gunners and two signalmen were picked up by HMS Pimpernel,[8] which later sank Empire Bede by gunfire at WikiMiniAtlas  19°41′N 76°50′W﻿ / ﻿19.683°N 76.833°W ﻿ / 19.683; -76.833 Coordinates: 19°41′N 76°50′W﻿ / ﻿19.683°N 76.833°W ﻿ / 19.683; -76.833  .[1] The rescued crew were landed at Santiago de Cuba.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-U553_7-2">[8] Those lost on Empire Bede are commemorated at the Tower Hill Memorial, London.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-THM_8-0">[9]
 * TAW 13

Official Numbers and Code Letters
Official Numbers were a forerunner to IMO Numbers. Empire Bede had the UK Official Number 1687091 and the Code Letters BCVC.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-Bede_2-2">[3]

Propulsion
Empire Bede was propelled by a four-stroke Single Cycle, Single Action diesel engine which had six cylinders of 29+3⁄8 inches (750 mm) diameter by 59+3⁄16 inches (1,503 mm) stroke. It was built by Harland & Wolff.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-Bede_2-3">[3] The engine could propel the ship at a speed of 14 knots (26 km/h).<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-Frost_4-3">[5]