loaded with scrap iron, sailed from Hampton Roads, Virginia, on 28 June for Halifax. After arriving there on 2 July, West Cobalt sailed the next day in Convoy HX 55 for Liverpool. On the night of 15/16 July, West Cobalt dropped astern of the convoy and was last sighted at 01:00 by British merchant ship Loch Don. West Cobalt continued on, however, and reached Liverpool independently on 18 July. Soon transferred to the Ministry of War Transport, the newly renamed ship, now named Empire Miniver, was assigned to Andrew Weir & Co. of London for operation. She sailed from Liverpool in her first wartime convoy under her new name, Convoy OB-205, on 29 August 1940. The convoy dispersed the next day after coming under attack from at least four German submarines: , , , and . Though three ships from the convoy were sunk, two were damaged, and a sixth was a total loss, Empire Miniver arrived at Hampton Roads, on 15 September and at Baltimore two days later. After a nine-day turnaround, Empire Miniver sailed independently to Sydney, Nova Scotia, with a cargo of 4,500 tons of pig iron and 6,200 tons of steel, arriving on 2 October. At Sydney, she joined the ill-fated Convoy SC 7, bound for Newport, for her return journey. The convoy had only a single escort to start with, the sloop . The convoy was located by a wolfpack of U-boats from 16 October, and they quickly overwhelmed the convoy, sinking many of the ships. Empire Miniver was torpedoed and sunk by at 22:06 on 18 October, while some west by south of Barra Head. Out of a total complement of 38, three crew members were lost. The master and 34 crew members were picked up by and were landed at Greenock on 20 October. Including Empire Miniver, 20 ships—over half of the ships in Convoy SC 7—were sunk by 8 different U-boats. Notes References Bibliography Design 1013 ships of the United States Navy Ships built in Portland, Oregon 1918 ships World War I cargo ships of the United States World War I auxiliary ships of the United States Design 1013 ships of the Ministry of War Transport World War II merchant ships of the United Kingdom Ships sunk by German submarines in World War II World War II shipwrecks in the Atlantic Ocean Maritime incidents in October 1940