Empire ship

An Empire ship was one a group of merchant ships prefixed with the name "Empire" in the service of the British Government during and after the Second World War. Most were used by the Ministry of War Transport (MoWT), which owned them, and contract operated by various shipping lines of the U.K. Merchant Navy.

The ships came from two main sources: new construction, and capture and seizure. New Empires were built for the MoWT or obtained from the United States to increase Britain's shipping capacity and offset losses to German U-boats in the tonnage war their wolfpacks were waging against the nation's sea transport abroad the globe. Others were captured or seized from enemy powers.

New Empire ship construction represented an enormous undertaking that included classes of freighters, tankers, aircraft carriers, fast cargo liners, tank landing ships, and at least seven others. Total production numbered in the hundreds.

Empire ships were supplements to Britain's normal peacetime merchant fleet, swelling its wartime numbers to 12,000, then the largest merchant ship fleet in the world. Approximately 4,000 ships on the British register were lost between 1939 and 1945, a considerable number being sunk during the Battle of the Atlantic.

Significantly before Britain entered the Second World War on 3 September 1939, preparations had been in hand to put the shipping industry of Britain on a war footing. All shipbuilders had specified the capability of their yards to produce cargo ships, cargo liners, tramps, tankers, colliers, coasters and naval ships.

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