Samuel Hall – Merchant Navy, S.S. Empire Amethyst

Able Seaman Samuel Hall – Merchant Navy, S.S. Empire Amethyst

Early Life

Samuel Hall was born in 1911 in Éire, Ireland, the son of Peter Hall and Ann Hall. In 1939, he married Margaret Isaac, beginning married life on the eve of the Second World War.

Service in the Merchant Navy

Samuel served as an Able Seaman in the Merchant Navy, assigned to the S.S. Empire Amethyst, a British tanker operated by the Ministry of War Transport.

Tankers such as the Empire Amethyst were among the most vital—and most vulnerable—vessels at sea during the war. They carried the fuel that powered Allied naval, air, and ground operations across the globe. Their flammable cargoes meant that a single torpedo strike could transform a ship into a blazing inferno within seconds, giving crews little chance of survival.

Sinking of the S.S. Empire Amethyst – 14^th April 1942

On 14^th April 1942, the Empire Amethyst was sailing independently from New Orleans to Freetown when she came under attack in the South Atlantic. The German submarine U‑154, operating deep in the mid‑Atlantic as part of the expanding U‑boat campaign, fired a torpedo that struck the tanker with devastating force.

The explosion ignited the ship’s highly flammable cargo almost instantly. Within moments, the Empire Amethyst was engulfed in flames, the fire spreading across the sea around her. The crew had virtually no chance to escape. The tanker sank rapidly, and many of those on board were lost in the inferno and the surrounding burning waters.

The destruction of the Empire Amethyst was one of many tragedies suffered by unescorted merchant ships during this phase of the Battle of the Atlantic, underscoring the extreme dangers faced daily by Merchant Navy personnel.

Death and Commemoration

Merchant Seamen Deaths 

Samuel Hall
Tower Hill Memorial
credit - Benjidog Histroical Research Resources.
The Merchant Navy Memorial

According to the Merchant Seamen Deaths records, Able Seaman Samuel Hall, of 28 Glyndwr Place, Townhill, lost his life on 14^th April 1942 when the Empire Amethyst was sunk.

Like so many Merchant Navy men who died at sea with no known grave, he is commemorated on the Tower Hill Memorial in London, which honours the thousands of merchant seafarers who gave their lives during both world wars.