She was seized by the United Kingdom in 1940, passed to the Ministry of War Transport (MoWT) and renamed Empire Engineer.

The United Kingdom Official Number 141832 and Code Letters TQDW were allocated.

[3] On 3 July 1922, Canadian Commander ran aground at Saint Pierre and Miquelon.

[9] On 10 June 1940, Gioacchino Lauro was in port at Hartlepool, Co Durham when Italy declared war against the United Kingdom.

[8] The ship and her cargo were seized as a prize of war,[10] Gioacchino Lauro was passed to the MoWT and renamed Empire Engineer.

[8] Empire Engineer was placed under the management of Weidner, Hopkins & Co Ltd. She regained her previous Official Number.

[12] Empire Engineer was a member of Convoy SC 20, which departed from Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada on 22 January 1941 and arrived at Liverpool, Lancashire, United Kingdom on 8 February.

At 16:44 German time on 4 February, she was hit by a torpedo fired by U-123 and sank within four minutes at 54°21′N 23°15′W / 54.350°N 23.250°W / 54.350; -23.250.