SS Empire Cromwell Empire Cromwell was a 5 , 970 GRT cargo ship that was built in 1941 by William Pickersgill & Sons Ltd , Sunderland , Co Durham , United Kingdom for the Ministry of War Transport ( MoWT ) . She was torpedo ed and sunk off Trinidad on 28 November 1942 by . Description . " Empire Cromwell " was built in 1941 by William Pickersgill & Sons Ltd , Sunderland . " Empire Cromwell " was long , with a beam of . She had a depth of . She was assessed at 5 , 970 GRT , 3 , 577 NRT . " Empire Cromwell " was propelled by a triple expansion steam engine , which had cylinders of , and diameter by stroke . The engine was built by George Clark ( 1938 ) Ltd , Sunderland . History . " Empire Cromwell " was built for the MoWT . The United Kingdom Official Number 168920 and Code Letters BCNW were allocated . Her port of registry was London and she was operated under the management of Lambert Brothers Ltd , London . " Empire Cromer " was completed in September 1941 . She made her maiden voyage on 20 September , when she joined Convoy EC 75 , which had departed Southend , Essex on 18 September and arrived at Loch Ewe on 23 September . From Loch Ewe , she joined Convoy ON 20 , which had departed from Liverpool , Lancashire on 25 September and dispersed at sea on 9 October . She then sailed to the Hampton Roads , Virginia , United States and then to Tampa , Florida , arriving on 26 October . Departing Tampa on 30 October , she returned to the Hampton Roads and then sailed to Sydney , Cape Breton , Canada , where she arrived on 9 November . The next day , she joined Convoy SC 54 , which arrived at Liverpool on 26 November . " Empire Cromwell " was carrying a cargo of phosphate s . She left the convoy on 27 November at Loch Ewe , joining Convoy WN 211 , which departed Oban , Argyllshire that day and arrived at Methil , Fife on 30 November . She then joined Convoy FS662 , which departed Methil the next day and arrived at Southend on 3 December . She left the convoy at Immingham , Lincolnshire , arriving on 4 December . " Empire Cromwell " departed from Immingham to join Convoy FN583A , which had departed from Southend on 21 December and arrived at Methil on 23 December . She then joined Convoy EN 24 , which departed Methil the next day and arrived at Loch Ewe on 28 December . " Empire Cromwell " was in ballast . She left the convoy at Loch Ewe on 27 December and then sailed to Bermuda , from where she departed on 21 January 1942 for Galveston , Texas , arriving on 28 January . A voyage was made to Houston and back , before " Empire Cromwell " returned to Houston , departing on 12 February for the Hampton Roads . She then sailed to Halifax , Nova Scotia to join Convoy SC 73 , which departed on 6 March and arrived at Liverpool on 24 March . She was the first ship in the convoy to leave port , and was carrying general cargo . She left the convoy on 23 March at the Belfast Lough . Two days later , she joined Convoy BB 153 , which arrived at Milford Haven , Pembrokeshire the next day . She then sailed to Swansea , Glamorgan , arriving on 26 March . " Empire Cromwell " sailed from Swansea to Milford Haven to join Convoy WP 134 , which departed on 30 April and arrived at Portsmouth , Hampshire the next day . Her destination was nearby Southampton . " Empire Cromwell " departed from Southampton on 17 April to join Convoy PW 142 , which departed the next day and arrived at Milford Haven on 19 April . She then made a voyage to Cardiff , Glamorgan and back . On 1 May , she left Milford Haven to join Convoy OS 27 , which departed from Liverpool on 2 May and arrived at Freetown , Sierra Leone on 19 May . She was carrying a cargo of stores bound for Suez , Egypt . From Freetown , " Empire Cromwell " sailed via Durban , South Africa , Lourenço Marques , Mozambique and Aden to Suez , where she arrived on 15 August . She then sailed to Port Said and Haifa , Palestine . Two return voyages were made to Beirut , Syria and the Lebanon before she returned to Port Said , arriving on 19 September . She then sailed to Suez , Aden and Lourenço Marques before arriving on 2 November at Cape Town , South Africa . " Empire Cromwell " departed Cape Town on 4 November , for Trinidad and New York , United States . She was carrying 1 , 000 tons of chrome ore . At 02 : 17 German time on 28 November , " Empire Cromwell " was torpedo ed and sunk at by , under the command of Georg Staats . Of her crew of 40 , plus nine DEMS gunners , 21 crew and 3 DEMS gunners were killed . The 25 survivors were rescued on 30 November by British Motor Torpedo Boat s and taken to Port of Spain , Trinidad . Those lost on " Empire Cromwell " are commemorated at the Tower Hill Memorial , London .