The wreck of the EMPIRE PANTHER lies in 47m of water and is orientated 005 (bow)/185 (stern). The wreck is upright on the seabed with scotch boilers and a single engine visible. The wreck is 105m in length and 16.2m wide.

The wreck was originally designated by the UKHO as 'Unknown'. Research by Dr Innes McCartney (2022: 220) for the Echoes from the Deep project, following a detailed survey by Bangor University in May 2019, identified the wreck as being broadly consistent with the loss of the EMPIRE PANTHER. McCartney noted some caveats to this identification because of the discrepancies relating to the actual point of loss, while also highlighting the limited alternative candidates. The record has been updated to reflect that new research.

Event and Historical Information:
The EMPIRE PANTHER was built as the WEST QUECHE for the US Shipping Board at Portland, Oregon, in 1919. Technical and configuration specifications are given as 5711gt or 5600gt; 410ft length x 54ft 2in breadth x 27ft 6in depth; powered by steam turbines. In 1933, the ship was owned by Lyke Brothers Ripley Steamship Company of New Orleans. In 1940, the ship was acquired by the Ministry of War Transport and passed to the management of the Stanhope Steamship Company.

On 1 January 1943, the ship was on passage from New York to Cardiff with a cargo of metal alloys, pig iron, and steel, when it detonated a mine 8 miles off the Strumble Head. Six crew members were killed.

Sources include:
Goddard, T, 1983, Pembrokeshire Shipwrecks, pg121

Hocking, C, 1989, Dictionary of Disasters at Sea During the Age of Steam, pg219

McCartney, I., 2022. Echoes from the Deep. Leiden: Sidestone Press. https://www.sidestone.com/books/echoes-from-the-deep

UKHO ID 10055: Contains public sector information, licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0, from UK Hydrographic Office.

J. Whitewright, RCAHMW, November 2023

Site Record

Empire Panther (UKHO 10055)