MV Empire Star (1935)

Empire Star at sea, 23 August 1941
History
United Kingdom
Name	Empire Star
Owner	Frederick Leyland & Co, Ltd
Operator	Blue Star Line
Port of registry	Belfast
Builder	Harland and Wolff, Belfast
Yard number	957
Launched	26 September 1935
Completed	December 1935
Identification	UK official number 163219 Call sign MKMN
Fate	Torpedoed and sunk, 23 October 1942
General characteristics
Tonnage	12,656 GRT tonnage under deck 11,397 9,187 NRT
Length	524.2 ft (159.8 m) p/p
Beam	70.4 ft (21.5 m)
Draught	43 ft 5 in (13.2 m)
Depth	32.3 ft (9.8 m)
Installed power	2,463 NHP
Propulsion	2 × 6-cylinder marine diesel engines twin screws
Crew	75 + 9 DEMS gunners (1942)
Sensors and processing systems	wireless direction finding echo sounding device gyrocompass
Armament	(as DEMS): 1 × 4-inch gun 1 × 12-pounder gun 2 × Oerlikon 20 mm cannon 5 × machine guns
Notes	sister ships: Australia Star, Sydney Star, Wellington Star, Auckland Star
Service record
Operations:	Evacuation of Singapore, 1942

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 Imperial Star-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 Empire Star was a steamship that was built in 1919, renamed Tudor Star in 1935 and scrapped in 1950. The third Empire Star was a replacement Imperial Star-class ship that was built in 1946 and scrapped in 1971.