| Career | |
|---|---|
| Name: | Ophis (1919-28) Bangu (1928-41) Empire Antelope (1941-42) |
| Owner: | United States Shipping Board (1919-37) United States Maritime Corporation (1937-41) Ministry of War Transport (1941-42) |
| Operator: | Owner operated except:- Moss Hutchinson Line Ltd (1941-42) |
| Port of registry: | Tacoma (1919-37) New York (1937-41) London (1941-42) |
| Builder: | Todd Dockyard and Construction Corporation, Tacoma |
| Yard number: | 9 |
| Launched: | 30 July 1919 |
| Completed: | 5 August 1919 |
| In service: | 30 September 1919 |
| Out of service: | 2 November 1942 |
| Identification: | US official Number 219009 (1919-41) Code letters LTDP (1919-41) UK Official Number 168205 (1941-42) Code letters BCGT (1941-42) |
| Fate: | Torpedoed and sunk by U-402, 2 February 1942 |
| General characteristics | |
| Tonnage: | 4,782 GRT |
| Length: | 380 ft 5 in (115.95 m) |
| Beam: | 53 ft 1 in (16.18 m) |
| Depth: | 27 ft (8.23 m) |
| Propulsion: | 1 x triple expansion steam engine (Todd Dry Dock & Construction Co, Tacoma) 339 hp (253 kW) |
| Speed: | 10 knots (19 km/h) |
| Complement: | 42 crew (plus 8 DEMS gunners) |
Empire Antelope was a 4,782 ton cargo ship which was built as Ophis in 1919. She was renamed Bangu in 1928. In 1941 she was renamed Empire Antelope. She was sunk by U-402 on 4 February 1942.
Contents |
Ophis was built by Todd Dry Dock and Construction Corporation, Tacoma as yard number 9. She was allocated United States Shipping Board hull number 2630.[1] She was launched on 30 July 1919 and completed on 5 August 1919.[2] Delivery was on 30 September 1919.[1] Ophis was powered by a triple expansion steam engine and could make 10 knots.[2]
She was owned by the United States Shipping Board.[3] In March 1920, Maritime Salvors Ltd, London reported that they had been involved in the salvage of Ophis.[4] On 29 November 1920, Ophis came to the rescue of the Norwegian 3-masted barque Hebe, which had been dismasted off the Azores, Portugal. Hebe was towed in to Fayal.[5] In 1928, she was renamed Bangu[3] On 26 January 1931, she lost her propeller 200 nautical miles (370 km) south of Bahía Blanca, Argentina.[6] She was passed to the United States Maritime Commission in 1937,[3] and laid up as part of the reserve fleet.[7] In 1941, Bangu passed to the Ministry of War Transport and was renamed Empire Antelope.[3]
Empire Antelope was a member of a number of convoys during World War II.
Convoy ON 37 sailed from Liverpool on 15 November 1941 and dispersed during the night of November 23/34. Empire Antelope sailed from Aultbea.[8]
Convoy SC 77 departed Halifax, Nova Scotia on 30 March 1942 and arrived at Liverpool on 16 April. Empire Antelope was carrying a cargo of steel and other general cargo, destined for Garston.[9]
Convoy SC 94 departed Sydney, Nova Scotia on 31 July 1942.[10] Five ships from the convoy were torpedoed by simultaneous attacks of U-176 and U-379 at 13:25Z on 8 August. Detonations of the five sinking ships caused hasty abandonment of three additional ships (including Empire Antelope) whose crews believed they had been torpedoed.[11] Empire Antelope's crewmen reboarded their slightly damaged ship and arrived at Liverpool on 13 August.[10]
Empire Antelope departed New York City on 24 October 1942 with 5,560 tons of general cargo as a member of Convoy SC 107.[10] At 08:04 hrs (CET)[12] on 2 November 1942, U-402, captained by Baron Siegfried von Forstner, fired a torpedo and sank Empire Antelope at . All fifty crew members were saved by convoy rescue ship SS Stockport and landed at Reykjavik on 8 November.[7]
Official Numbers were a forerunner to IMO Numbers.
Bangu used the US Official Number 219009 and the Code Letters LTDP.[13] Empire Antelope used the UK Official Number 168205 and the Code Letters BCGT.[14]
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