SS Wahehe (1922)
Wahehe was a cargo ship which was built in 1922 as Wadigo by Reiherstieg Schiffswerfte und Maschinenfabrik, Hamburg for Woermann Linie AG. She was converted to a refrigerated cargo liner in about 1934. At sea when war was declared in 1939, she sought refuge at Vigo, Spain. "Wahehe" sailed from Vigo in February 1940 in an attempt to reach Germany but was captured by the Royal Navy. She was declared a war prize and handed over to the Ministry of War Transport (MoWT), being renamed Empire Citizen. On 3 February 1941, she was torpedoed and sunk by  . Description. The ship was built by Reiherstieg Schiffswerfte und Maschinenfabrik, Hamburg. She was laid down as "Wadigo" and completed in August 1922 as "Wahehe". She was named after first the Digo people and then the Hehe people. Both are tribes in Tanganyika Territory, which until 1918 was German East Africa and with which Woermann Linie still traded. The ship was long, with a beam of and a depth of . She had a GRT of 4,690 and a NRT of 2,686. The ship was propelled by a quadruple expansion steam engine, which had cylinders of , , and diameter by stroke. History. "Wahehe  was built for Woermann Linie AG, Hamburg. She was used on routes between Germany and Africa. She was registered in Hamburg and given the code letters RCQH. On 14 September 1922, Wahehe" was the first German liner to call at Southampton, United Kingdom after the end of the First World War. On 27 November 1927, "Wahehe" collided with the pier on entering harbour at Boulogne, France and sprang a leak. On 3 November 1930, she collided with the German trawler "Langeoog" at the mouth of the Weser and sunk her with some loss of life. In 1934 "Wahehe" was converted  to a refrigerated cargo liner. Now , , her code letters were replaced with the call sign DHZD. "Wahehe" departed Hamburg before war was declared on 3 September 1939. She and several other German merchant ships took refuge at Vigo in Spain, which was officially neutral. On the night of 9/10 February 1940, a night with minimum moonlight, the German merchant ships , , , , "Wahehe" and left Vigo to try to run the Allied blockade of Germany. French Navy and Royal Navy patrols seized "Morea" and "Rostock" as early as 11 February but "Wahehe" managed to evade capture for 11 days. On 21 February  Wahehe was southeast of Iceland at and making for the Norwegian Sea when the cruiser and destroyers and intercepted her. The Royal Navy told "Wahehe"s crew that if they scuttled her, no attempt would be made to rescue them. A party from "Kimberley" boarded her and she was escorted into Kirkwall, Orkney Islands as a war prize. "Wahehe" was then towed to the Clyde, arriving on 8 March. "Wahehe" was passed to the MoWT and renamed "Empire Citizen". She was placed under the management of P Henderson & Co Ltd. Her port of registry was changed to London. She was given  the UK official number 167505 and call sign GLCB. Her GRT was recorded as 4,683, with a NRT of 2,736. "Empire Citizen" was a member of a number of convoys during the Second World War. Convoy OG 33 formed at sea on 9 June 1940, bound for Gibraltar. "Empire Citizen" was carrying general cargo and was bound for Las Palmas, Spain. Convoy OB 279 departed Liverpool on 28 January 1941 and dispersed at sea on 2 February 1941. "Empire Citizen" was carrying general cargo bound for Freetown, Sierra Leone and Rangoon, Burma. At 01:45 German time on 3 February, "Empire  Citizen" was torpedoed by under the command of Günther Hessler at . She settled slowly on an even keel and was abandoned by her crew and passengers. Another torpedo was fired at 02:33 following which she quickly sank by the stern. A total of 66 crew and 12 passengers were lost. The corvette rescued five crew and landed them at Londonderry Port (Derry). Those lost on "Empire Citizen" are commemorated at the Tower Hill Memorial, London.