Empire Corporal
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| Name | Empire Corporal | ||
| Type: | Steam tanker | ||
| Tonnage | 6.972 tons | ||
| Completed | 1922 - Palmers Shipbuilding & Iron Co Ltd, Jarrow and Hebburn-on-Tyne | ||
| Owner | British Tanker Co Ltd, London | ||
| Homeport | London | ||
| Date of attack | 14 Aug, 1942 | Nationality:  British | |
| Fate | Sunk by U-598 (Gottfried Holtorf) | ||
| Position | 21.45N, 76.10W - Grid DN 4781 - See location on a map - | ||
| Complement | 55 (6 dead and 49 survivors). | ||
| Convoy | TAW-12J | ||
| Route | Curaçao (9 Aug) - Key West | ||
| Cargo | 4532 tons of motor spirit and 4745 tons of white spirit | ||
| History | Built as British Corporal for British Tanker Co Ltd, London. On 4 Jul, 1940 the British Corporal was torpedoed by the German Schnellboot S-26 in the English Channel and bombed by Ju87 divebomber of StG 2 the same day. On 5 July, she was attacked again by StG 2 and badly damaged, but towed to port and repaired by the Ministry of War Transport (MoWT). 1942 the tanker returned to service as Empire Corporal. | ||
| Notes on loss | At 11.54 and 11.55 hours on 14 Aug, 1942, U-598 fired two spreads of two torpedoes at the convoy TAW-12J northwest of Barlovento Point, Cuba and reported misses. At 11.57 hours, the stern torpedo was fired and a detonation was heard. No other U-boat attacked at this time, so the first spread must have hit the Michael Jebsen, which sank immediately. One torpedo of the second spread damaged the Standella, after missing the ship of the convoy commodore, the Empire Corporal, which was then sunk by the stern torpedo. The master, 39 crew members and nine gunners from the Empire Corporal (Master George Eric Hodgson) were picked up by the American MTB USS PT-498, transferred to the USS Fletcher (DD 445) (Cdr W.M. Cole) and landed at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Five crew members and one gunner were lost. | ||
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