The SS Empire Tower was a British cargo ship with a gross register tonnage of 4,378 GRT, constructed in 1935 by the Burntisland Shipbuilding Company Ltd. in Fife, Scotland. She was powered by a 335 nominal horsepower triple-expansion steam engine built by the North Eastern Marine Engineering Co. Ltd. of Sunderland. The vessel's propulsion system featured six corrugated furnaces with a combined heating surface of 117 square feet, working in conjunction with three single-ended boilers rated at 180 pounds per square inch, with a total heating surface of 5,445 square feet. Equipped with direction-finding gear, the ship was designed for reliable navigation during her service life. Originally launched as SS Roxburgh for B.J. Sutherland and Company of Newcastle-upon-Tyne, she was acquired in 1937 by the Tower Hill Steamship Company, a subsidiary of Counties Ship Management, and renamed SS Tower Field. During her wartime career, she suffered damage from a German aircraft attack off the Outer Dowsing Buoy in May 1941 while sailing in ballast from London to Newcastle. After repairs, she resumed service. In October 1941, she ran aground in the Hull area while entering Workington Channel with an iron ore cargo, breaking her hull in two. Despite the damage, her cargo was discharged, and she was later refloated and repaired. In December 1942, she was taken over by the Ministry of War Transport but remained under CSM management, now renamed SS Empire Tower. Under the command of Captain David John Williams OBE, she participated in convoy operations, notably joining Convoy XK-2 from Gibraltar to the UK in early 1943. Tragically, on 5 March 1943, the Empire Tower was torpedoed and sunk within a minute by the German U-boat U-130 during an attack off the Azores. The sinking resulted in the loss of Captain Williams, six gunners, and 35 crew members. Only three survivors were rescued by the Royal Navy trawler HMS Loch Oskaig. The U-boat was subsequently sunk a week later by US Navy destroyer USS Champlin, marking a notable incident in the naval warfare of World War II.

This description has been generated using GPT-4.1-NANO based on the Vessel's wikidata information and then modified by ShipIndex.org staff.