MV British Dragoon
{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2025}}
{{Use British English|date=December 2017}}
| {{Infobox ship begin}}
{{Infobox ship image |Ship image= |Ship caption= }} {{Infobox ship career |Hide header= |Ship country= |Ship flag= |Ship name=*Empire Alliance (1943-45)
|Ship ordered= |Ship builder= Sir James Laing & Sons Ltd, Sunderland |Ship original cost= |Ship laid down= |Ship launched= 8 March 1943 |Ship completed= June 1943 |Ship yard number= 747 |Ship acquired= |Ship commissioned= |Ship decommissioned= |Ship in service= |Ship out of service= 12 December 1962 |Ship owner=*Ministry of War Transport (1943-45)
|Ship operator=*Anglo-Saxon Petroleum Co. Ltd. (1943)
|Ship registry={{Flagicon|UK|civil}} Sunderland |Ship renamed= |Ship struck= |Ship reinstated= |Ship honours= |Ship captured= |Ship fate= Scrapped in Blyth December 1962 |Ship identification=*UK Official Number 169117
|Ship notes= }} {{Infobox ship characteristics |Hide header= |Header caption= |Ship class= |Ship tonnage= 9,909 GRT |Ship length= {{convert|482|ft|7|in|m|2|abbr=on}} |Ship beam= {{convert|68|ft|3|in|m|2|abbr=on}} |Ship depth={{convert|36|ft|1|in|m|2|abbr=on}} |Ship draft= |Ship hold depth= |Ship propulsion= 2 x 6-cylinder 4SCDA oil engines (Harland & Wolff Ltd, Glasgow) {{convert|490|hp|kW|abbr=on}} |Ship sail plan= |Ship complement= |Ship armament= |Ship speed= |Ship notes= |Ship capacity= }} |
British Dragoon was a 9,909 ton tanker which was built as Empire Alliance in 1943. She was renamed British Dragoon in 1945, and scrapped in 1962.
History
Empire Alliance was built by Sir James Laing & Sons Ltd, Sunderland{{cite web |url=http://www.plimsollshipdata.org/pdffile.php?name=44b0306.pdf |title=LLOYD'S REGISTER, NAVIRES A VAPEUR ET A MOTUERS |publisher=Plimsoll Ship Data |accessdate=26 December 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110727181843/http://www.plimsollshipdata.org/pdffile.php?name=44b0306.pdf |archive-date=27 July 2011 |url-status=dead }} as yard number 747. She was launched on 8 March 1943 and completed in June 1943.{{csr|register=MSI|id=1169117|accessdate=26 December 2008}} Empire Alliance was built for the Ministry of War Transport and operated under the management of the Anglo-Saxon Petroleum Co, London and later the British Tanker Company.
=War service=
Empire Alliance was a member of a number of convoys during the Second World War.
;HX 251
Convoy HX 251 departed New York City on 7 August 1943 and arrived at Liverpool on 23 August. Empire Alliance was carrying a cargo of gas, bound for Avonmouth.{{cite web|url=http://www.warsailors.com/convoys/hx251.html |title=CONVOY HX 251 |publisher=Warsailors |accessdate=26 December 2008}}
;UGS 34
Convoy UGS 34 which departed Hampton Roads on 23 February 1944 bound for Port Said. Empire Alliance transferred to another convoy at sea on 13 March.{{cite web|url=http://www.warsailors.com/convoys/gus33.html |title=CONVOY GUS 33 |publisher=Warsailors |accessdate=26 December 2008}}
;GUS 33
Empire Alliance joined Convoy GUS 33 at sea from Convoy UGS 34 on 13 March 1944. The convoy had departed Port Said on 5 March 1944 bound for Hampton Roads. On 14 March she left the convoy bound for Algiers.
;UGS 40
Convoy UGS 40 departed Norfolk, Virginia on 22 April 1944. On 11 May the convoy was bound for Bizerta, Tunisia when it came under air attack. Seventeen enemy aircraft were shot down without any of the ships in the convoy being lost.{{cite web|url=http://ahoy.tk-jk.net/macslog/ConvoyUGS-40underextremee.html |title=Convoy UGS-40, under extreme enemy air attack. May 11th. 1944 |publisher=Mackenzie J Gregory |accessdate=26 December 2008}}
=Postwar=
In 1945, Empire Alliance was sold to the British Tanker Company who renamed her British Dragoon.{{cite web|url=http://www.mariners-l.co.uk/EmpireA.html |title=Empire-A |publisher=Mariners-L |accessdate=26 December 2008}} On 18 January 1951, British Dragoon was in collision with the Spanish ship {{SS|Santi||2}}, which sank. The collision occurred off Cape Espichel, Portugal. Thirty-six survivors were rescued by British Dragoon, which suffered some damage but managed to reach Lisbon safely.{{Cite newspaper The Times |title=Spanish Ship Sunk After Collision |date=19 January 1951 |page=4 |issue=51903 |column=C}} She served until 1962, arriving at Blyth for scrapping on 12 December 1962.
Official number and code letters
Official Numbers were a forerunner to IMO Numbers.
Empire Alliance had the UK Official Number 169117 and used the Code Letters BFJD.
See also
References
{{Reflist}}
{{Empire ships}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:British Dragoon}}
Category:Ships built on the River Wear