On this day (11th November) WW2 Shipwreckollections
SS Empire Path (1943-1944)
The SS Empire Path was a British cargo ship built in 1943 by John Readhead & Sons Ltd., in South Shields. She was owned by the Ministry of War and Transport until her loss in 1944, less than a year before the end of WW2.
The Empire Path set sail from London on 11th November 1944 bound for Antwerp, Belgium. Upon arrival in Belgium, she unloaded her cargo and began the return journey back to London through the Scheldt Estuary. Unfortunately, the SS Empire Path was blown in half by a ratchet mine on 24th December 1944 resulting in the loss of three lives.
Survivors were taken to the coastal city of Ostende and were temporarily housed in an Army transit camp before they returned to London on 30th December.
The Shipwrecked Mariners’ Society provided the survivors with £101/7s worth of financial support – the equivalent of £4,166 today.
Photo credit: www.wrecksite.eu