GY280 Mildenhall
In her guise as the A/S trawler Drangey FY195, the Mildenhall was involved in the rescue of survivors from the liner Empress of Britain when she was bombed and torpedoed in the 39/45 conflict.
Ref: The Role of the CPR (Canadian Pacific Railway) Ships in World War II
"In late October 1940 the best-known of the CPR's liners and flagship of the company's Atlantic Fleet, the magnificent Empress of Britain, was the next victim of enemy action. She was travelling alone to Glasgow from Suez via South Africa, when she was bombed off the northwest coast of Ireland by a Focke Wulf Condor plane. The "Condors" were long-range aircraft used by the Luftwaffe to bomb merchant ships and to spot convoys for the U-boats. When the Condor attacked Empress of Britain the ship's crew put up a determined defense, but they were unable to shoot down the plane and its hits caused terrible fires to break out. Soon the fires were so out of control that the vessel's master, Captain C.H. Sapsworth, was forced to give the order to abandon ship. Forty-five lives were lost as a result of the attacks. The survivors, which included women and children, were rescued later that afternoon by the Polish destroyer Burza, the British destroyer HMS Echo and three British naval trawlers Cape Agona, Drangey, and Paynter. The still burning Empress remained afloat and the next day two Royal Navy tugs, Marauder and Thames took her in tow with the intention of bringing her in safely to port. She was surrounded by escort ships, but in spite of the escorts' vigilance, two days later on October 28th, the German U-boat, U-32, managed to sneak by the escorts and torpedo the crippled Empress. She sank within ten minutes. At 42,348-tons, Empress of Britain was the largest Allied passenger liner to be sunk and the biggest merchant ship loss of the war."