Empire Lake Technical Specification

Owners: 1941 MOWT (Charles Cravos & Co,) West Hartlepool

Master: 1943 Richard John Sproul.

On a voyage from Durban for Aden with a cargo of coal & a total complement of 39, which included 8 gunners, the Empire Lake was torpedoed by German submarine U-181 (Wolfgang Luth) & sank about 240 miles east of Madagascar on 15 July 1943. 6 gunners, the master & 24 of the crew were lost.

Lives lost July 1943: Alen, Frederick, mess room boy, 18, Woodford Green, Essex; Brady, Joseph, fireman/trimmer, Montreal, Quebec; Brock, Hiram Leonard, chief officer, 45; Caddick, John Joseph, deck boy, 17, Kirkdale, Liverpool; Clipson, Thomas Edward, fireman/trimmer, 36; Coleman, Stuart Leslie, senior ordinary seaman, 18, Patcham, Brighton, Sussex; Donovan, Patrick, greaser, 41, Plaistow, Essex; Dunne, William James, deck boy, 17, Seaforth, Liverpool; Elsiegood, Thomas Edward, lance sergeant (Royal Artillery) aged 22, Everdon, Northants.; Finnis, Norman John, able seaman, 23, Kent; Flint, John Merlin, able seaman, 19, Johannesburg, South Africa; Hayward, Osborne Edward, able seaman, 26; Holland, Derek, able seaman (Royal Navy) aged 18, Derby; Lawson, David, 1^st radio officer, 21; Lee, Ronald Thomas, 3^rd officer, 20, Bishop’s Lydeard, Somerset; Marr, Ronald Edward, chief engineer, 28, Penarth, Glamorgan; McMillan, Stanley, sailor, 19, Liverpool; Morgan, John Harry, sailor, 19, Broadstairs, Kent; Rasmussen, Cyril Mado, cook, 21, Cardiff; Reeves, William, senior ordinary seaman, 35; Rivas, Juan, steward, 29; Robertson, George Brown, able seaman (Royal Navy) aged 20, Aberdeen; Rust, Alfred Arthur, fireman/trimmer, 44, Manor Park, Essex; Sanders, Francis Charles, 3^rd engineer, 35, St Leonards, on, Sea, Sussex; Sheridan, Kevin Thomas, fireman/trimmer, 21; Sinclair, Gideon Henry, chief officer, 54; Sloan, Brian Ludlow, 2^nd radio officer, 20, St John’s Wood, London; Smith, Thomas, 2^nd engineer, 27, Belfast; Sproul, Richard John, master, 37, Cleadon, Co. Durham; Tizzard, Clarence Robert, cabin boy, 18, Peckham, London; Triggs, Julian, boatswain, 29, Hoylake, Cheshire; Williams, Kennedy Stephen, gunner (Royal Artillery); Wormald, George, able seaman (Royal Navy) aged 39, New Barnet, Herts.

Survivors July 1943: Ragless, George, able seaman.