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SS Empire Dell

World War II merchant ship of the United Kingdom

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History and societyInterpretive dossier study · Crown Archives visual atlas
Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionDec 25, 2025
Entity authorityQ7393635
Source-derived summary

SS Empire Dell was a 7,065 GRT CAM ship that was built in 1941 by Lithgows Ltd, Port Glasgow, United Kingdom for the Ministry of War Transport (MoWT). She served until May 1942, when she was torpedoed and sunk by U-124 whilst a member of Convoy ONS 92.

Description

The ship was built in 1941 by Lithgows Ltd, Port Glasgow. She was yard number 947.

The ship was 432 feet 2 inches (131.72 m) long, with a beam of 56 feet 2 inches (17.12 m). She had a depth of 34 feet 2 inches (10.41 m) and a draught of 26 feet 3 inches (8.00 m). She was assessed at 7,065 gross register tons (GRT), 5,168 net register tons (NRT).

The ship was propelled by a 436 indicated horsepower (325 kW) triple expansion steam engine, which had cylinders of 23+1⁄2 inches (60 cm), 37+1⁄2 inches (95 cm) and 68 inches (170 cm) diameter by 48 inches (120 cm) stroke. The engine was built by Rankin & Blackmore Ltd, Greenock.

She could embark and operate a Hawker Sea Hurricane aircraft via a catapult.

Editorial summary

“SS Empire Dell” enters the record as world War II merchant ship of the United Kingdom. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Empire, Dell and World can confirm, complicate or overturn.

Editorial reviewMost valuable as an event-and-institution map that identifies actors, dates and record creators for deeper historical inquiry. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—1941, 1942—that can be checked directly. The selected authority fields contribute no independent date. Its strongest next move is a source search built around Empire, Dell and World.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

“SS Empire Dell” is worth following because a concise public description often conceals a longer documentary argument. Here, Empire, Dell and World provides the most credible route into that argument.

Evidence profile

Chronology, provenance and viewpoint should be read together before a broad social or political interpretation is accepted. The source revision retrieved here is dated Dec 25, 2025. The linked authority identifier is Q7393635. Authority coordinates are 53.000, -29.950. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1941 and 1942.

Critical limits

Later summaries often reconcile disputed chronology or motive more neatly than the contemporary record permits. The source lead contains qualifying language; that uncertainty should survive quotation, summary and reuse. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Compare institutional narratives with records created by participants and affected communities. Dates and formal titles are useful anchors, but not substitutes for context.

Best used for
  • Event chronology
  • Institutional context
  • Locating named record creators
Verify next

Contemporary correspondence, government or organizational records, oral histories and cited historical scholarship.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “SS Empire Dell”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow SS Empire Dell primary sources, SS Empire Dell archive and Empire research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

  1. Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “SS Empire Dell”?
  2. What chronology connects this entry to wider political or social change?
  3. Which voices are present, absent or mediated by the institution?
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Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from SS Empire Dell” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.