History
Name	Cape Marshall (1943) Empire Broadsword (1943-44)
Owner	War Shipping Administration
Operator	Cunard White Star Line
Port of registry	London
Builder	Consolidated Steel Corporation, Wilmington, California
Launched	16 August 1943
Completed	December 1943
Out of service	2 July 1944
Identification	United Kingdom Official Number 169737 Code Letters MYMJ
Fate	Struck a mine and sank
General characteristics
Tonnage	7,177 GRT 4,823 NRT
Length	396 ft 5 in (120.83 m)
Beam	60 ft 1 in (18.31 m)
Depth	35 ft (10.67 m)
Propulsion	Steam turbines, double reduction geared driving a single screw
Armament	1 × 4 in gun 1 × 12 pdr gun 12 × 20mm guns

Location of the sinking of Empire Broadsword.

Empire Broadsword was a Type C1-S-AY-1 infantry landing ship built in 1943 as Cape Marshall. She was renamed Empire Broadsword before completion and entering into service for the Ministry of War Transport (MoWT). She had a short career, entering service in December 1943 and being sunk by a mine in July 1944.

Construction

The ship was built by Consolidated Steel Corporation, Wilmington, California as yard number 348. She was launched on 16 August 1943 as Cape Marshall.^[1] She was 396 feet 5 inches (120.83 m) long, with a beam of 60 feet 1 inch (18.31 m) and a depth of 35 feet (10.67 m). She was propelled by two steam turbines which drove a single screw via double reduction gearing. The steam turbine were manufactured by Westinghouse Electrical and Manufacturing Corp, Essington, Pennsylvania.^[2]

Career

The ship was transferred under the terms of lend lease shortly after being completed in 1943 under the name Empire Broadsword.^[3] She was chartered by the MoWT, and was operated under the management of Cunard White Star Line^[2]

Empire Broadsword was mined and sunk off Normandy on July 2, 1944, while supporting the allied invasion of Europe.^[4] Her position is 49°25′N 0°54′W / 49.417°N 0.900°W / 49.417; -0.900.^[1] Seventy survivors were rescued by USS PC-1225.^[5] The wreck lies on its starboard side in 27 metres (89 ft) of water and is now a dive site.^[6] Those lost on Empire Broadsword are commemorated at the Tower Hill Memorial, London.^[7]

Official Numbers and Code Letters

Official Numbers were a forerunner to IMO Numbers. Empire Broadsword had the UK Official Number 169737 and used the Code Letters MYMJ.^[2]

References

Sources

Colledge, J. J.; Warlow, Ben (2006) [1969]. Ships of the Royal Navy: The Complete Record of all Fighting Ships of the Royal Navy (Rev. ed.). London: Chatham Publishing. ISBN 978-1-86176-281-8.

v t e Type C1-S ships
Cape Argos Cape Berkeley Cape Comorin Cape Compass Cape Girardeau Cape Gregory Cape Lobos Cape Marshall Cape Pine Cape St. Roque Cape St. Vincent Cape Turner Cape Washington

v t e Empire ships beginning with Empire B
Cargo ships	Empire Baffin Empire Balfour Empire Balham Empire Ballad Empire Ballantyne Empire Bank¹ Empire Banner Empire Barbados² Empire Bard² Empire Bardolph³ Empire Baron Empire Barracuda Empire Barrie Empire Baxter Empire Bay Empire Beacon¹ Empire Beaconsfield Empire Beatrice Empire Beaumont Empire Beauty Empire Beaver³ Empire Bede Empire Bell Empire Bermuda Empire Birdsay Empire Bison Empire Bittern Empire Blackwater Empire Blanda Empire Blessing Empire Blossom Empire Bond Empire Boswell Empire Bowman Empire Boy Empire Breeze Empire Bridge¹ Empire Brigade Empire Bromley¹ Empire Brook¹ Empire Bruce Empire Brutus Empire Buckler Empire Buffalo Empire Builder Empire Bulbul¹ Empire Bunting Empire Burton Empire Buttress Empire Byng² Empire Byron
Landing ships	Empire Baltic Empire Battleaxe Empire Broadsword
Ocean liners	Empire Brent Empire Bure⁴
Tankers	Empire Bairn¹ Empire Barkis¹ Empire Barnaby¹ Empire Belgrave¹ Empire Benefit Empire Beresford Empire Billow¹ Empire Bombardier Empire Bounty Empire Boxer¹ Empire Bronze Empire Bute¹
Tugs	Empire Barbara⁵ Empire Bascobel Empire Becky⁵ Empire Belle⁵ Empire Ben⁵ Empire Bess Empire Betsy⁵ Empire Birch⁵ Empire Bracken⁵
A B Ca–Cl Co–Cy D E F G H I–J K L M N O P R Sa–Sh Si–Sy Ta–Te Th–Ty U–Z
1 Coaster 2 Heavy lift ship 3 Refrigerated Cargo Ship 4 Cargo liner 5 Coastal tug

v t e Ships of the Cunard Line
Current fleet	2004 RMS Queen Mary 2 2007 MS Queen Victoria 2010 MS Queen Elizabeth
Future fleet	2024 MS Queen Anne (under construction)
Former ships 1840–1994	1840 RMS Britannia 1848 SS Satellite 1856 RMS Persia 1865 SS Java 1862 RMS Scotia 1870 SS Abyssinia 1870 SS Parthia 1878 SS Aleppo 1881 SS Servia 1881 SS Catalonia 1882 RMS Aurania 1884 RMS Etruria 1884 RMS Umbria 1892 RMS Campania 1893 RMS Lucania 1898 SS Ultonia 1899 SS Ivernia 1899 RMS Saxonia 1903 RMS Carpathia 1903 RMS Pannonia 1904 RMS Slavonia 1905 RMS Carmania 1905 RMS Caronia 1907 RMS Lusitania 1907 RMS Mauretania 1910 RMS Franconia 1911 RMS Albania 1912 RMS Laconia 1913 RMS Alaunia 1913 RMS Aquitania 1914 SS Orduña 1920 RMS Lancastria 1920 RMS Samaria 1921 RMS Antonia 1921 RMS Ausonia 1921 RMS Andania 1921 RMS Scythia 1922 RMS Berengaria 1922 RMS Franconia 1922 RMS Laconia 1922 RMS Majestic 1923 RMS Ascania 1924 RMS Aurania 1924 SS Letitia 1925 RMS Alaunia 1925 RMS Carinthia 1927 SS Laurentic 1929 MV Britannic 1934 MV Georgic 1934 RMS Olympic 1936 RMS Queen Mary 1939 RMS Mauretania 1940 RMS Queen Elizabeth 1945 SS Valacia (Empire Camp) 1947 RMS Media 1947 RMS Parthia 1949 RMS Caronia 1954 RMS Saxonia 1955 RMS Ivernia 1956 RMS Carinthia 1957 RMS Sylvania 1969 MS Queen Elizabeth 2 1971 MS Cunard Adventurer 1972 MS Cunard Ambassador 1975 MS Cunard Countess 1976 MS Cunard Princess 1970 SS Atlantic Causeway 1970 SS Atlantic Conveyor 1983 MS Sagafjord 1983 MS Caronia 1994 MS Royal Viking Sun
For MoWT	1940 SS Pasteur 1941 SS Empire Barracuda 1940 MV Empire Audacity 1943 SS Empire Battleaxe 1943 SS Empire Broadsword 1945 MV Empire Ettrick
Years indicate year of entry into Cunard service.

v t e Shipwrecks and maritime incidents in July 1944
Shipwrecks	2 Jul: Empire Broadsword, U-543 3 Jul: U-154, U-1191 4 Jul: I-10, USS S-28, Sarushima, V 208 R. Walther Darré, V 210 Hinrich Hey 5 Jul: Galatée, U-233, U-390, U-586, U-642, Usugumo 6 Jul: Hokaze 7 Jul: Saubadia, Tamanami, U-678 8 Jul: HMS Pylades, U-243 9 Jul: Shahzada, USS Swerve 10 Jul: Duilio, Giulio Cesare 11 Jul: U-1222 14 Jul: U-415 15 Jul: U-319 16 Jul: Niobe, Norjerv 17 Jul: E. A. Bryan, I-166, Quinault Victory, U-347, U-361 18 Jul: U-672, U-742 19 Jul: Ōi, Ro-48, Teiryu Maru 20 Jul: ORP Dragon, HMS Isis 21 Jul: U-212 23 Jul: Empire Bittern 24 Jul: U-239, U-1164, V 209 Dr. Rudolf Wahrendorff, William Gaston 26 Jul: I-29, USS Robalo, U-214, U-2323 27 Jul: V-1, No. 1 30 Jul: U-250 31 Jul: Fuso Maru, Yoshino Maru, U-333 Unknown date: I-55
Other incidents	4 Jul: V 209 Dr. Rudolf Wahrendorff 6 Jul: USS Sunfish, HMS Trollope 7 Jul: ORP Dragon 8 Jul: Empire Brutus 13 Jul: HMS Eskimo, V 203 Carl Röver 17 Jul: Port Chicago disaster 24 Jul: U-239 27 Jul: HMAS Fremantle, HMAS Wilcannia 28 Jul: U-1166 29 Jul: U-872, Z44
1943 1944 1945 June 1944 August 1944