SS Bury
{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2016}}
{{Use British English|date=December 2016}}
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{{Infobox ship image | Ship image = | Ship caption = }} {{Infobox ship career | Hide header = | Ship name = SS Bury | Ship operator =
| Ship registry = {{flagicon|UK|civil}} | Ship route = | Ship ordered = | Ship builder = Earle's Shipbuilding, Hull | Ship original cost = | Ship yard number = | Ship way number = | Ship laid down = | Ship launched = 3 November 1910 | Ship completed = January 1911 | Ship christened = | Ship acquired = | Ship maiden voyage = | Ship in service = | Ship out of service = June 1958 | Ship identification = | Ship fate = Scrapped 1958 | Ship notes = }} {{Infobox ship characteristics | Hide header = | Header caption = | Ship type = | Ship tonnage = {{GRT|1634|disp=long}} | Ship displacement = | Ship length = {{convert|265|ft|m}} | Ship beam = {{convert|36|ft|m}} | Ship draught = | Ship depth = {{convert|17.4|ft|m}} | Ship decks = | Ship deck clearance = | Ship ramps = | Ship ice class = | Ship power = | Ship propulsion = | Ship speed = | Ship capacity = | Ship crew = | Ship notes = }} |
SS Bury was a passenger and cargo vessel completed for Britain's Great Central Railway in 1911.{{cite book |last1=Duckworth |first1=Christian Leslie Dyce |last2=Langmuir |first2=Graham Easton |date=1968 |title=Railway and other Steamers |language=English |location=Prescot, Lancashire |publisher= T. Stephenson and Sons }}
Bury was employed as a packet boat for the company between Harwich and the Hook of Holland for most of her career. During the Second World War Bury was outfitted as a convoy rescue ship.
History
Bury was built by Earle's Shipbuilding of Hull and launched in 1910. She was one of an order for four ships, the others being {{SS|Dewsbury|1910|2}}, {{SS|Blackburn|1910|2}} and {{SS|Accrington|1910|2}}.
In 1914 she was in Hamburg at the outbreak of the First World War and the crew were taken prisoner of war and detained until the end of hostilities. The stewardesses were released early in 1914 after representation of the Railway Company through the American Consul in Hamburg.{{cite news |author= |title=Imprisoned Ship Stewardesses Released |url= http://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000273/19140924/150/0004 |newspaper=Yorkshire Evening Post |location=England |date=24 September 1914 |access-date=10 November 2015|via = British Newspaper Archive |url-access=subscription }}
1923 she transferred to the London and North Eastern Railway and then in 1935 to Associated Humber Lines. On 23 July 1936 she was in collision with the German steamer Virgilia in the River Elbe. The Virgilia sank and the crew of the Bury rescued the German crew.{{cite news |author= |title=British Ship in Collision. German Vessel Sunk in Elbe |url=http://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000563/19360723/051/0004 |newspaper=Dundee Evening Telegraph |location=Scotland |date=23 July 1936 |access-date=10 November 2015|via = British Newspaper Archive |url-access=subscription }}
In 1941 Bury was taken up by the Rescue Service for conversion as a convoy rescue ship. She was suited for conversion for rescue service as she had a low freeboard and plenty of accommodation. She was fitted with deck platforms for landing survivors, a well-stocked sickbay with two surgeon-doctors and a sick-berth attendant, and supplies of blankets and clothing. She was equipped with two motor lifeboats, and carried HF/DF equipment for locating ships in distress.Edwards, Bernard (1996) Donitz and the Wolf Packs {{ISBN|1-86019-927-5}} p.63 Entering service in December 1941 Bury sailed with 48 convoys and rescued 237 survivors during the war.Hague, Arnold (2000) The Allied Convoy System 1939–1945 {{ISBN|1-55750-019-3}} p.91
In May 1942, on her 4th voyage as a rescue ship, Bury left Liverpool as part of Convoy ON 92 which was attacked by Wolfpack Hecht on 11 May 1942. She collected 178 survivors from three different ships in the convoy, taking them to St John's in Newfoundland.[http://www.warsailors.com/convoys/on92.html ON 92 at warsailors.com]; retrieved 15 October 2022
The ship was sent for scrapping in June 1958.