Wahehe was a 4,690 GRT cargo ship which was built in 1922 as Wadigo by Reiherstieg Schiffswerfte und Maschinenfabrik, Hamburg for Woermann Linie AG.

Wahehe sailed from Vigo in February 1940 in an attempt to reach Germany but was captured by the Royal Navy.

[3] The ship had a single screw, driven by a quadruple expansion engine rated at 336 NHP[3] that gave her a speed of 10 knots (19 km/h).

[3] On 14 September 1922, Wahehe was the first German liner to call at Southampton, United Kingdom after the end of the First World War.

[5] On 27 November 1927, Wahehe collided with the pier on entering harbour at Boulogne, France and sprang a leak.

[6] On 3 November 1930, she collided with the German trawler Langeoog at the mouth of the Weser and sunk her with some loss of life.

On 21 February Wahehe was southeast of Iceland[11] at 62°50′N 14°20′W / 62.833°N 14.333°W / 62.833; -14.333[12] and making for the Norwegian Sea when the cruiser HMS Manchester[1] and destroyers Kimberley[1] and Kandahar[13] intercepted her.

Empire Citizen was carrying general cargo bound for Freetown, Sierra Leone and Rangoon, Burma.

The corvette HMS Clarkia rescued five crew and landed them at Londonderry Port (Derry).