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The SS ''Empire Miniver'' was a British steam merchant ship. She was originally an American merchant, launched in 1918 as SS ''West Cobalt''. During a brief stint in the United States Navy in 1919, she was known as USS ''West Cobalt'' (ID-3836). SS ''West Cobalt'' was built as a steam-powered cargo ship in 1918 for the . She was part of the ''West'' boats, a series of steel-hulled cargo ships built on the West Coast of the United States for the First World War war effort, and was the 11th ship built at Columbia River Shipbuilding Company in Portland, Oregon. Though she was completed too late for the war, she was commissioned into the of the United States Navy as USS ''West Cobalt'' (ID-3836) in January 1919. After her one overseas trip for the Navy—delivering grain products to Danzig—she was decommissioned in May 1919 and returned to the . ''West Cobalt'' had a relatively uneventful merchant career for the and, after her 1933 sale, for the Lykes Brothers Steamship Company. In June 1940, ''West Cobalt'' was sold to British interests and renamed ''Empire Miniver''. Just over four months later, the ship was torpedoed and sunk by German submarine ''U-99'' while carrying supplies to the UK in Convoy SC-7 during the Second World War. Three crewmen were killed in the attack; the master and 34 others were rescued by a British corvette. == Design and construction == The ''West'' ships were cargo ships of similar size and design built by several shipyards on the West Coast of the United States for the for emergency use during the First World War. All were given names that began with the word ''West'', like ''West Cobalt'',〔Crowell and Wilson, pp. 358–59.〕 the ninth of some 30 ''West'' ships built by the Columbia River Shipbuilding Company of Portland, Oregon.〔 ''West Cobalt'' (Columbia River Shipbuilding yard number 11)〔 was launched on 26 October 1918,〔 and was completed in December.〔 ''West Cobalt'' was , and was long (between perpendiculars)〔 and abeam. She had a steel hull that displaced 12,424 t with a mean draught of .〔 Her hold was deep and she had a deadweight tonnage of .〔 ''West Cobalt''s power plant consisted of a single steam turbine driving a single screw propeller which moved the ship at up to .〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「SS Empire Miniver」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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