High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! The SS Empire Miniver was a British steam merchant ship. She was originally an American merchant, launched in 1918 as SS West Cobalt. During a brief stint in the United States Navy in 1919, she was known as USS West Cobalt (ID-3836). SS West Cobalt was built as a steam-powered cargo ship in 1918 for the United States Shipping Board (USSB). She was part of the West boats, a series of steel-hulled cargo ships built on the West Coast of the United States for the First World War war effort, and was the 11th ship built at Columbia River Shipbuilding Company in Portland, Oregon.