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Identification Numbered Vessel Photo Archive

West Ekonk (ID 3313)



Civilian call sign (1919):
Love - Mike - Fox - Watch
Freighter:

  • Built in 1918 by the Skinner and Eddy Corp., Seattle, WA
  • Launched 22 June 1918 after being on the building ways for only 57 work days
  • Acquired by the Navy 13 July 1918
  • Commissioned USS West Ekonk (ID 3313), 14 July 1918 at Seattle
  • Decommissioned 9 April 1919 and returned to the United States Shipping Board
  • Sold in 1933 to Lykes Brothers and Ripley Steamship Co., Inc.
  • Acquired by the British Government in 1941 and renamed Empire Wildebeeste
  • Torpedoed and sunk 24 January 1941 in the North Atlantic by the German submarine U-106.

    Specifications:

  • Displacement 12,225 t.
  • Length 423' 9"
  • Beam 54'
  • Depth of hold 29' 9"
  • Draft 24' 2¼"
  • Speed 11.5 kts.
  • Complement 70
  • Armament: One 5"/51 and one 3"/50 mount
    1941 - One 4" mount, one 40mm mount, two twin Marlin machine guns and two single Marlin machine guns
  • Propulsion: Three single ended boilers, one 2,500shp Curtis steam turbine, one shaft.
    Click on thumbnail
    for full size image    		 Size Image Description Source
    SS West Ekonk
    West Ekonk 48k Cover of the August 1918 issue of Pacific Marine Review
    Photo H. G. Seaborn/Skinner & Eddy Corporation    		 Robert Hurst
    West Ekonk 105k Underway, probably during her trials in July 1918, while painted in pattern camouflage
    U.S. Navy photo NH 65041-A    		 Naval Historical Center
    SS Empire Wildebeeste
    West Ekonk 64k London, England
    The Tower Hill Memorial is a national war memorial on the south side of Trinity Square Gardens, just to the north of the Tower of London. It commerates those from the Merchant Navy and fishing fleets who died during both world wars and have "no grave but the sea."    		 Tommy Trampp
    West Ekonk 231k
    Commanding Officers - USS West Ekonk (ID 3313)
    01LT Richard Willowden, USNRF13 July 1918
    02LCDR Garland Rotch, USNRF1919
    Commanding Officers - SS Empire Wildebeeste
    01Captain Hugh Cameron Stewart, British Merchant Marine1941
    Courtesy Joe Radigan
    View the West Ekonk (ID 3313)
    DANFS history entry located on the Naval History and Heritage Command website
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