text: ss empire endurance empire endurance was a 8 , 514 grt cargo liner that was built in 1928 as alster by deschimag werk vulkan , hamburg , germany for the shipping company norddeutscher lloyd . in the years leading up to the second world war alster carried cargo and passengers between germany and australia . after the outbreak of war she was requisitioned by the kriegsmarine for use as a supply ship . alster was captured off norway on 10 april 1940 by the british destroyer hms icarus . initially serving under the original name as a repair , supply and cargo ship in norway , she was later passed to the ministry of war transport ( mowt ) and renamed empire endurance . she served until 20 april 1941 when she was torpedoed and sunk by the german submarine u - 73 south - east of the islet of rockall in the north atlantic ocean . description the ship was a 8 , 514 grt cargo liner . she was built in 1928 by deschimag werk vulkan , hamburg as alster , with yard number 211 . alster was 509 . 9 feet ( 155 . 42 m ) long , with a beam of 63 . 6 feet ( 19 . 39 m ) . she had a depth of 30 . 9 feet ( 9 . 42 m ) . she was assessed at 8 , 514 grt , 5 , 328 nrt , 12 , 000 dwt . she had four masts , a single funnel , a round stern and a slanted stem . the ship was propelled by a 1 , 000 triple expansion steam engine , which had cylinders of 31 1 ⁄ 4 inches ( 79 cm ) , 52 3 ⁄ 4 inches ( 134 cm ) and 86 5 ⁄ 6 inches ( 221 cm ) diameter by 57 1 ⁄ 16 inches ( 145 cm ) stroke . the engine was also made by the shipbuilder . a low pressure steam turbine drove the ship 's single screw propeller through double reduction gearing and a hydraulic coupling . she had a total of 6 , 500 indicated horsepower , which gave her a top speed of 14 knots ( 26 km / h ) . history alster was launched on 5 january 1928 , and completed on 25 february 1928 . she was built for norddeutscher lloyd . the code letters were allocated and her port of registry was bremen . she served on routes between germany and australia and east asia . lloyds register entries show that she held a passenger certificate from 1934 – 40 . with the change in code letters in 1934 , alster was allocated as her callsign . she had a crew of 69 and could initially take 14 passengers . in 1930 the passenger capacity was increased to 16 . norwegian campaign and capture on 18 march 1940 , alster was requisitioned by the kriegsmarine . she was used as a supply ship in operation weserübung - the german invasion of norway , forming part of the invasion 's - staffel , transporting heavy equipment . alster departed brunsbüttel at 02 : 00 on 3 april , destined for the north norwegian port of narvik . she was one of four supply ships sailing from the schleswig - holstein port in support of german forces landing at narvik on 9 april , under cover of sailing to murmansk in the soviet union . none of these ships made it to their destination . the lack of supplies and artillery would leave the german forces fighting at narvik vulnerable . upon reaching norwegian waters , alster and the tanker kattegat , also bound for narvik , was escorted by the norwegian torpedo boat hnoms trygg as far as kopervik , where they arrived on 5 april . at kopervik the german plans suffered a delay because of a lack of pilots to guide the ship northwards , alster continuing later that day , while kattegat departed kopervik only on 6 april . many of the other supply ships sent out in advance of the invasion also suffered delays , putting the supply part of the invasion plans out of schedule . while at kopervik , alster and kattegat were inspected by the torpedo boat hnoms , the norwegians finding nothing irregular . by 8 april , alster had reached vestfjorden , where she was hailed by the norwegian patrol boat hnoms syrian , which warned her of the british naval minefield laid in the area earlier that day . alster steamed to bodø , to await developments . two days later , on 10 april , following the outbreak of war between norway and germany the previous day , syrian was despatched to seize alster off bodø . when syrian found alster , the commander of the small norwegian patrol boat chose not to board the german vessel as he suspected she was armed and possibly carrying troops . as alster attempted to escape , syrian sent out messages to the british warships in the area . on 10 april , alster was captured by the british destroyer hms icarus in vestfjorden , north of bodø . when intercepted the german crew made an unsuccessful attempt at scuttling the vessel , setting off one explosive charge . the light cruiser hms penelope had also been sent after alster , but had run aground near bodø and suffered serious damage . with the british capture of alster , no more german supply ships were heading for narvik and the forces there , leaving general eduard dietl 's troops with the supplies on board the tanker jan and the large stockpiles of weapons , ammunition , uniforms and food captured at the norwegian army base elvegårdsmoen . at the time of her capture , alster was under the command of kapitän oskar scharf , who had previously commanded the blue riband - holding ocean liner europa . initially alster was brought to the improvised british naval base at skjelfjord in lofoten . on arrival at skjelfjord on 11 april , a prize crew from penelope took over responsibility for the ship . at skjelfjord , the captured german crew made an unsuccessful attempt at scuttling alster by opening the ship 's sea valves . while at skjelfjord alster , being equipped with derricks , was used to help repair damaged allied warships . one of the vessels on which emergency repairs were carried out from alster , was the destroyer hms eskimo , which had lost her bow during the naval battles off narvik . alster was also used as an accommodation ship for the crews of the damaged vessels at skjelfjord . on 24 april alster departed skjelfjord for the northern norwegian port of tromsø , manned by a british prize crew . the eight german officers captured on alster were transferred to the united kingdom on the british destroyers hms cossack and hms punjabi . in all , 80 germans were captured on board alster , and all were eventually sent to the united kingdom . her cargo of 88 lorries , anti - aircraft guns , spare parts for aircraft , ammunition , communications equipment , coke and 400 – 500 tons of hay , was unloaded in tromsø on 27 april , as part of the allied support of the norwegian forces fighting the german invasion of their country . the cargo was put to use in the supply and defence of the tromsø area , except for the hay , which was quarantined by the norwegian authorities at for fear of foot - and - mouth disease . the coke on board alster had been placed by the germans in a 6 ft ( 1 . 83 m ) layer covering the deck . the supplies on alster were transferred to the norwegians by the allied naval commander lord cork after the norwegian authorities had made repeated request for weapons and other war matériel , and was intended to be a first effort before the arrival of larger quantities of arms and ammunition promised to the norwegians . the lorries and weapons from alster were received , assessed and distributed by norwegian military personnel under the command of major karl arnulf , who had arrived in tromsø on 7 may 1940 , having made his way from german - occupied south norway . the communications equipment included both a mobile radio transmitter , which was used as a spare for tromsø radio broadcasting station , as well as large quantities of field telephone equipment which was sent to the units of the norwegian 6th division on the narvik front . the field equipment from alster replaced the old and worn field telephone systems in use up to that point . training on the german equipment was provided by swedish volunteers . while docked in tromsø in may 1940 , alster had 70 captive germans on board . at tromsø , alster was manned by norwegian sailors , replacing the british prize crew . on 16 may a request was made to the admiralty for a call sign for alster , the ship departing tromsø the next day for kirkenes in finnmark , escorted by the anti - submarine whaler hms ullswater . she was despatched to the northern port to retrieve a cargo of iron ore . arriving on 19 may 1940 , alster loaded some 10 , 000 tons of iron ore over four days , sailing south to the port of harstad on 22 may , still escorted by hms ullswater , as well as the norwegian patrol boat hnoms nordhav ii . on 23 may , the british submarine hms truant made an unsuccessful attack with two torpedoes on alster off , despite efforts having been made to both keep the cargo ship away from the submarine 's patrol area , and to warn truant of the ship 's identity . the torpedoes missed , exploding when they hit land . alster and hms ullswater arrived at harstad on 26 may , with the escort vessel sailing northwards to hammerfest with mail and provisions for the heavy cruiser hms devonshire . while alster was at harstad shipping in the town 's harbour was repeatedly subjected to attacks by luftwaffe heinkel he 111 bombers , the ships being defended by gloster gladiator fighters of the no. 263 squadron raf operating from bardufoss air station and anti - aircraft artillery . during one of the attacks on 26 may the ship 's norwegian fireman was mortally wounded by bomb fragments , dying in harstad hospital later the same day . on 27 may alster sailed for the united kingdom in a five - ship convoy which included the crippled hms eskimo . in addition to her cargo of iron ore , the ship carried 209 british military personnel , 46 norwegian military personnel and 72 german prisoners of war . she also transported the " b " gun turret from eskimo , which had been removed from the destroyer during makeshift repairs . alster arrived at scapa flow on 31 may , unloading her passengers there . sailing on 3 june , in the company of the passenger steamer st. magnus and escorted by the destroyers hms ashanti and hms bedouin , she arrived at rosyth in scotland on 4 june 1940 . as empire endurance alster was passed to the mowt and renamed empire endurance . the united kingdom official number and code letters were allocated . her port of registry was middlesbrough . she was placed under the management of the booth steamship co ltd . empire endurance was a member of convoy fn 255 , which departed from southend , essex on 17 august and arrived at methil , fife two days later . she then joined convoy oa 202 , which departed on 21 august and dispersed at sea on 25 august . her destination was montreal , quebec , canada , where she arrived on 3 september . empire endurance sailed on 12 september for sydney , cape breton , nova scotia , arriving three days later . she then joined convoy hx 74 , which departed from halifax , nova scotia on 17 september and arrived at liverpool , lancashire , united kingdom on 2 october . she was carrying general cargo stated to be bound for newcastle - upon - tyne , northumberland . she left the convoy at the clyde on 2 october . empire endurance departed on 25 october to join convoy ob 234 , which had departed from liverpool the previous day and dispersed at sea on 30 october . her destination was montreal , where she arrived on 6 november . she departed on 18 november for the clyde , arriving on 27 november . the ship was declared a prize of war on 10 december 1940 , valued at £ 144 , 000 . she departed on 5 january 1941 to join convoy ob 270 , which had departed from liverpool that day and dispersed at sea on 8 january . she sailed to saint john , new brunswick , canada , arriving on 17 january . empire endurance sailed on 3 february for halifax , arriving two days later and departing on 9 february for the clyde , where she arrived on 21 february . empire endurance departed on 23 february for swansea , glamorgan , arriving on 1 march . she sailed on 9 march for avonmouth , somerset , arriving the next day . she departed on 29 march for cardiff , glamorgan , arriving the next day and sailing on 2 april for newport , monmouthshire , where she arrived later that day . she sailed on 13 april for milford haven , pembrokeshire , where she arrived on 15 april . on 19 april , empire endurance departed from milford haven , bound for cape town , south africa and alexandria , egypt . she was manned by 90 crew and had five passengers on board . amongst her cargo were the b motor launches ml - 1003 and ml - 1037 . at 03 : 32 ( german time ) on 20 april , empire endurance was hit amidships by a torpedo fired by u - 73 , under the command of helmut rosenbaum . at the time she was south west of rockall at 53 ° 05 ′ n 23 ° 14 ′ w. a coup de grâce was fired at 03 : 57 which hit just under the bridge , breaking her in two . empire endurance sank with the loss of 65 crew and one passenger . among the crew members lost was the captain , fred j.s. tucker of the royal naval reserve . on 21 april , the canadian flower class corvette hmcs trillium picked up twenty crew and four passengers at 52 ° 50 ′ n 22 ° 50 ′ w. they were landed at greenock , renfrewshire on 25 may . on 9 may , five crew were rescued by the british cargo liner highland brigade . they were landed at liverpool . those lost on board empire endurance are commemorated on the tower hill memorial , london .