s.s. Empire Waterhen - 1948 - 3, 4 & 5 - Ship breaking activity adjacent to the yard of the former Penarth Ship Building and Shiprepairing Company. The images have also been colourised. The originals are held at the National Museum of Wales and are reproduced with permission. [629] [Museum item numbers : 1996.96/422, 1996.96/423 and 1996.96/424] [20180317]

Before D-Day, 60 old merchant ships and 4 old warships were selected as blockships and scuttled in single file to protect the smaller vessels. Blockships were stripped before departing in convoys across the Channel. Imperial tugs were used to ensure safe crossing. Upon reaching Normandy, they sank in five groups, codenamed Gooseberry 1 through Gooseberry 5. Gooseberry 4 at Juno Beach included four Imperial ships: Empire Bunting, Empire Flamingo, Empire Moorehen, and Empire Waterhen. [1279]

Empire Waterhen was used as a blockship at Juno Beach during the D Day landings and its purpose, together with other vessels, was to provide a sheltered area at the beach for the landing craft to operate.

Empire Waterhen was a 5,948 GRT (7,500 DWT) cargo ship which was built by Oscar Daniels Shipbuilding Co, Tampa, Florida. Completed in 1920 as Manatee for the USSB. To USMC in 1937 and MoWT in 1941, renamed Empire Waterhen. Sunk on 9 June 1944 as a blockship as part of Gooseberry 4, Juno Beach, Courseulles, Calvados, France. Raised in 1948 and scrapped at Penarth, Glamorgan. [043]