SS Empire Arthur
{{short description|World War II merchant ship of the United Kingdom}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2025}}
{{Use British English|date=December 2016}}
| {{Infobox ship begin}}
{{Infobox ship image |Ship image= |Ship caption= }} {{Infobox ship career |Hide header= |Ship country= |Ship flag= |Ship name=*Empire Arthur (1942-49)
|Ship ordered= |Ship builder= Grangemouth Dockyard |Ship original cost= |Ship laid down= |Ship launched= 5 March 1942 |Ship completed= June 1942 |Ship yard number= 439 |Ship acquired= |Ship commissioned= |Ship decommissioned= |Ship in service= |Ship out of service= |Ship owner=*Ministry of War Transport (1942-48)
|Ship operator= |Ship registry=*{{Flagicon|UK|civil}} Grangemouth (1942-43)
|Ship renamed= |Ship struck= |Ship reinstated= |Ship honours= |Ship captured= |Ship fate= Scrapped in 1962 |Ship identification=*UK Official Number 168798 (1942-43)
|Ship notes= }} {{Infobox ship characteristics |Hide header= |Header caption= |Ship class= |Ship tonnage= 784 GRT |Ship displacement= |Ship length= {{convert|193|ft|m|2|abbr=on}} |Ship beam= {{convert|30|ft|7|in|m|2|abbr=on}} |Ship depth={{convert|14|ft|1|in|m|2|abbr=on}} |Ship hold depth= |Ship propulsion= 1 x triple expansion steam engine (Rowland & Co Ltd, Glasgow) |Ship sail plan= |Ship complement= |Ship armament= |Ship speed= |Ship notes= |Ship capacity= }} |
SS Empire Arthur was a 784-ton coastal tanker which was built in 1942. She saw service mainly in British coastal waters during the Second World War, and was briefly used as an auxiliary, supporting Royal Navy operations off western Africa. Her capsize in 1943 put an end to this, but she was salvaged post-war and returned to service for several companies, under the names Merula, and then Adherity, before being scrapped in 1962.
Wartime career
Empire Arthur was built by Grangemouth Dockyard, Grangemouth as yard number 439.{{csr|register=MSI|id=1168798|accessdate=6 January 2009}} She was launched on 5 March 1942 and completed in June 1942. Empire Arthur was built for the Ministry of War Transport and managed by Rowbotham & Sons.{{cite web|url=https://plimsoll.southampton.gov.uk/shipdata/pdfs/41/41b0996.pdf |title=LLOYD'S REGISTER, STEAMERS AND MOTOR SHIPS |publisher=Plimsoll Ship Data |accessdate=6 January 2009}}
She was requisitioned to serve as a water carrier in October 1942, and used as an auxiliary to supply naval ships and merchants.{{cite book |last=Colledge |title=Ships of the Royal Navy, Vol. 2 |page=119}} She served in a number of convoys during the war, spent mostly sailing between British ports, particularly Methil, Oban and Southend, and several times visiting Loch Ewe, an assembly point for merchants and naval escorts assigned to the Arctic convoys.{{cite web|url=http://www.convoyweb.org.uk/hague/index.html?search3.php~haguemain |title=Ship search |publisher=Convoyweb |accessdate=6 January 2009}} (Enter search term 'Empire Arthur') She sailed in ballast from Liverpool on 11 July 1942 as part of convoy OS 34, and arrived at Freetown on 30 July 1942.{{cite web|url=http://www.convoyweb.org.uk/os/index.html?os.php?convoy=34!~osmain |title=Ship search |publisher=Convoyweb |accessdate=6 January 2009}} She remained stationed at Freetown until capsizing there on 22 November 1943. Two men were killed in the sinking, Master Fraser Ernest Smith and Chief Engineering Officer Andrew M. Booth, whose name was inscribed on the City of Dundee's Roll of Honour.{{cite web |url=http://www.dundeecity.gov.uk/roh/231.htm |title=City of Dundee ROLL of HONOUR – Andrew M. Booth |accessdate=7 January 2009|publisher=dundeecity.gov.uk}}{{cite web |url=https://www.fold3.com/image/301338304 |title=Admiraly War Diary, 22 November 1943 |accessdate=22 November 2019 }} The stricken Empire Arthur was assessed, but declared a total loss.{{cite web |url=http://www.mariners-l.co.uk/EmpireA.html |title=EMPIRE – A |accessdate=6 January 2009|publisher=mariners-l.co.uk}}
Post-war
It was not until 1948, several years after the end of the Second World War, that the Empire Arthur was completely salvaged. She was duly repaired and returned to service in 1949, sailing with the Italian shipping firm, Ape Azionaria Petroliere as the Merula. Her service with her Italian owners was short, and by 1951 she was owned by the London-based F. T. Everard & Sons, and had been renamed Adherity. She sailed with them until 1962, when she was scrapped at Lekkerkerk, in the Netherlands.
Official number and code letters
Official Numbers were a forerunner to IMO Numbers.
Empire Arthur had the UK Official Number 168798. Empire Arthur used the Code Letters LDWW.
Notes
{{Reflist}}
8. Registers and Indexes of Births, Marriages and Deaths of Passengers and Seamen at Sea – BT334
References
- {{Cite book |first=J.J.|last=Colledge |authorlink=J. J. Colledge|title=Ships of the Royal Navy: An Historical Index Volume 2: Navy-built Trawlers, Drifters, Tugs and Requisitioned Ships|publisher=David & Charles|location=Newton Abbot}}
- {{Cite web |url=http://www.mariners-l.co.uk/EmpireA.html |title=EMPIRE – A |accessdate=6 January 2009 |first=Ted|last=Finch |year=2001 |work=THE 'EMPIRE' SHIPS |publisher=mariners-l.co.uk}}
- {{Cite web |url=http://www.miramarshipindex.org.nz/ship/list?search_op=OR&IDNo=1168798 |title=Search results for "1168798" |accessdate=6 January 2009 |first=R|last=Haworth |year=2006 |work=THE 'EMPIRE' SHIPS |publisher=Miramar Ship Index}}
- {{Cite web|url=http://www.convoyweb.org.uk/hague/index.html?search3.php~haguemain |title=Ship search |first=Arnold|last=Hague|work=Arnold Hague Convoy Database|publisher=Convoyweb |accessdate=6 January 2009}} (Enter search term 'Empire Arthur')
{{Empire ships}}
{{November 1943 shipwrecks}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Empire Arthur}}
Category:Ships built in Scotland
Category:Steamships of the United Kingdom