On the westbound leg at the beginning of her fourth round-trip, she straggled behind her convoy and was torpedoed and sunk by German submarine U-106 on 24 January 1942.

[3] West Ekonk was completed on 13 July, 73 working days after her keel laying, and in a list of the ten fastest-constructed ocean-going ships compiled in 1920 by Edward N. Hurley, the wartime chairman of the USSB,[9] West Ekonk was listed as the ninth fastest-constructed ship in the world.

[11] Skinner & Eddy received a $69,200 bonus for West Ekonk's early completion,[12] which brought the total cost of the ship to $1,776,468.

[4] After her 13 July 1918 completion,[3] West Ekonk was handed over to the United States Navy for use in the NOTS and assigned the identification number 3313.

After completing her trip, she made another cargo run to Genoa, sailing from New York in late January 1919 and returning on 3 April 1919.

After being laid up in a reserve fleet in Norfolk, Virginia, some time after mid 1920, West Ekonk was one of two ships reactivated for service out of Los Angeles in early 1924.

[18][Note 3] By early 1926, however, West Ekonk was sailing from Galveston, Texas, to Liverpool, sometimes carrying passengers in addition to freight.

[20] On 23 December 1928, West Ekonk was anchored in the River Thames at Gravesend, Kent, United Kingdom when she was struck by the British cargo ship Glynwen and sustained damage to her port bow.

The convoy dispersed four days later,[33] and though seven ships were sunk by four German submarines,[34] Empire Wildebeeste safely docked at Baltimore on 24 March.

After making intermediate stops in Baltimore and Hampton Roads, she sailed for Halifax with a load of scrap iron on 17 July,[40] reaching her destination three days later.

She departed Halifax that same day as a part of convoy HX 153, but had unspecified problems that caused her to drop out and put in at St. John's, Newfoundland,[41] on 11 October.

[35] After Empire Wildebeeste made a trip to Hull and back by 23 December, she sailed to Loch Ewe five days later and then departed from Liverpool on 2 January 1942 as a part of convoy ON 53.

[7] At 06:53 on 24 January, Empire Wildebeeste was struck by a torpedo launched from German submarine U-106 under the command of Kapitänleutnant Hermann Rasch.