MV Empire Star was a UK refrigerated cargo liner. She was built by Harland and Wolff in 1935 as one of Blue Star Line's -class ships, designed to ship frozen meat from Australia and New Zealand to the United Kingdom. She served in the Second World War and is distinguished for her role in the Evacuation of Singapore in February 1942. She was sunk by torpedo in October 1942 with the loss of 42 lives. She was the second of three Blue Star ships to be called Empire Star. The first was a steamship that was built in 1919, renamed Tudor Star in 1935 and scrapped in 1950. The third was a replacement Imperial Star-class ship that was built in 1946 and scrapped in 1971. Building Harland and Wolff in Belfast built Empire Star, launching her on 26 September 1935 and completing her in December. She was owned by Frederick Leyland & Co, a ship-owning company controlled by Blue Star Line. The Imperial Star class were motor ships. Empire Star had a pair of six-cylinder two-stroke single-acting marine Diesel engines developing a total of 2,463 NHP and driving twin screws. The engines were built by Harland and Wolff but were a Burmeister & Wain design from Denmark. Her navigation equipment included wireless direction finding, an echo sounding device and a gyrocompass. Second World War service Empire Stars regular cargo liner route was from London via South Africa to Australia or New Zealand, returning by the same route laden with frozen meat. En route she tended to call at either Las Palmas or Cape Verde, presumably for bunkering. During the war it was strategically important to continue meat imports to the UK. However, under wartime conditions Brisbane Stars route was increasingly changed. After France surrendered to Germany in June 1940 the Port of London became too dangerous, so instead the ship used Liverpool or sometimes Avonmouth or Newport, Wales. From the end of 1940 her voyages home from Australia or New Zealand tended to be eastward via the Pacific Ocean and Panama Canal instead of westward via the Indian Ocean, South Africa and the South Atlantic. Collision at Sydney At 1107 hrs on 7 March 1940, Empire Star was arriving in Sydney Harbour when she collided almost head on with the Union Steam Ship Co's steamship . The latter's bow was torn open for on her port side, her forward topmast