SS Empire Kestrel

History
United States
Name	SS Lake Ellithorpe (1919–1932) SS Texas Trader (1932–1940)
Owner	United States Shipping Board (1919–1927) New England, New York & Texas Steamship Corp. (1927–1928) Newtex Steamship Corporation (1928–1940)
Builder	Great Lakes Engineering Works, Ecorse, Michigan[1]
Yard number	230[1]
Launched	28 August 1919[2]
Completed	November 1919[1]
In service	1919
Out of service	1940
Identification	US Official number: 219019[2]
Fate	Sold to UK, 1940
United Kingdom
Name	SS Empire Kestrel
Owner	Ministry of War Transport
Operator	William Reardon Smith & Sons
Acquired	1940
Identification	UK Official number: 167612[2]
Fate	Torpedoed and sunk by Italian aircraft, 16 August 1943
General characteristics
Type	Cargo ship
Tonnage	2,674 GRT 1,658 NRT[2]
Length	253 ft 5 in (77.24 m)[2]
Beam	43 ft 10 in (13.36 m)[2]
Depth	26 ft (7.9 m)[2]

SS Empire Kestrel was a 2,674 GRT, 5,050 DWT cargo ship built by Great Lakes Engineering Works of Ecorse, Michigan. Completed in 1919 as SS Lake Ellithorpe for the United States Shipping Board (USSB), she was sold to the New England, New York & Texas Steamship Corporation of New York in 1927, then to the Newtex Steamship Corporation of New York City in 1928. In 1932, she was renamed Texas Trader. In 1940 she was sold to the Ministry of War Transport. Reflagged as a British ship and renamed Empire Kestrel,^[3] she was managed by William Reardon Smith & Sons Co.^[4]

She was attacked on 16 August 1943 by an Italian Savoia-Marchetti S.79 aircraft, piloted by Lt. Vezio Terzi, and sunk by an aerial torpedo off the coast Algeria, near Bgayet, in position 37°10′N 04°35′E / 37.167°N 4.583°E / 37.167; 4.583^[5] while part of Convoy UGS-13.^[6]