Empire Path

Empire Path*
The Ship: General cargo ship (6,140 gross tons), built in 1943 by John Readhead & Sons Ltd., South Shields (Readhead Standard Design). M.O.W.T. (managed by Moller Line (UK) Ltd. Struck mine in the Scheldt Estuary (51.22 North, 2.52 East) and blown in two. December 24, 1944.

When the Empire Path sank, it came to rest almost on top of the wreck of the Boscobel (51.21.40 N by 02.50.75 E). Then, on July 2, 1945, the Emeraude collided with part of the wreckage of the Empire Path and sank. Because the wreckage of these ships presented a danger to other shipping on this coast, they were levelled off with dynamite. The Boscobel now lies partially on top of the Empire Path, with the Emeraude a short distance away. Their present location can be seen on this chart from The Wreck Site (North Sea).

Voyage: November 11 - December 24, 1944 (lost at sea)
Gordon joined this ship in Tilbury, London, and they sailed in the second convoy through the Scheldt to Antwerp, Belgium. After the cargo was unloaded, the ship left on December 24 to return to U.K., but was blown in half by a ratchet mine in the Scheldt Estuary. The survivors were taken into Ostende, and billeted in an army transit camp. Then, on December 27, they boarded an over-crowded LST for the short trip to England. They were fog-bound in the Thames Estuary for three days, and eventually reached London on December 30.

For more information on the Empire Path,
please see Empire Path: Memorial and the Photo Gallery.

Gordon was the Second Radio Officer on the SS Empire Path. The ship arrived in Antwerp at the end of November, 1944, in the second convoy into Belgium and Holland.

After unloading war materiel, the ship left in convoy on December 24, 1944, and was sunk by a ratchet mine in the Scheldt Estuary.

Gordon has written about this voyage in The Black Pit . . . and Beyond.

In October/November 1994, Gordon was a member of the Canadian delegation that travelled to Belgium and Holland to take part in ceremonies commemorating the Fiftieth Anniversary of the Battle of the Scheldt. On October 27, 1994, he laid a wreath at the Bergen Op Zoom Canadian War Cemetery in honour of all allied merchant navy seamen who had lost their lives.

(Photo): Gordon Mumford at the Bergen Op Zoom Canadian War Cemetery, October 1994.

"I was at the wheel (Monkey Island) of the Liberty ship Samarina and I witnessed the mining of the Empire Path. Steering from that vantage point, I had a clear view of the Mate and I assume the carpenter letting the anchor go to keep her from drifting in to the channel. The thing that sticks in my mind is the fact that they were ringing the bell to record the amount of cable released. How cool can you be? Thanks for the website."

(From an e-mail message received from Bert Wheeler)


Thanks to: Siri Lawson, Dave Edge, and Ted Finch for their assistance and to Jan of The Wreck Site, for additional information about the wreck of the Empire Path.
	Photograph may be purchased from National Maritime Museum Picture Library, London (UK).
For books and other websites, see Merchant Navy Links

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EMPIRE PATH