''Avondale Park'' was a Canadian

cargo ship A cargo ship or freighter is a merchant ship that carries cargo, goods, and materials from one port to another. Thousands of cargo carriers ply the world's List of seas, seas and Ocean, oceans each year, handling the bulk of international trade. ...

which was built by

Pictou Shipyard The Pictou Shipyard is a Canadian shipbuilding site located in Pictou County, Nova Scotia, and made famous by its use as an emergency shipbuilding facility in World War II, during which it constructed twenty-four 4,700-ton Scandinavian class freigh ...

Pictou, Nova Scotia Pictou ( ; Canadian Gaelic: ''Baile Phiogto'' Miꞌkmawiꞌsimk: ''Piktuk'') is a town in Pictou County, Nova Scotia, Pictou County, in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Nova Scotia. Located on the north shore of Pict ...

in 1944. She was the last merchant ship to be sunk by Germany in the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, on 7 May 1945, the day of

German surrender German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ger ...

. She was built as a merchant

steamship A steamship, often referred to as a steamer, is a type of steam-powered vessel, typically ocean-faring and seaworthy, that is propelled by one or more steam engines that typically move (turn) propellers or paddlewheels. The first steamships ...

constructed for Canada's Merchant Navy in 1944 as part of Canada's

Park ship Park ships were merchant steamships constructed for Canada’s Canadian Merchant Navy, Merchant Navy during the Second World War. Park ships and Fort ships (built in Canada for operation by the British) were the Canadian equivalent of the United S ...

program.

Description

The ship was built by Foundation Maritime Limited's

. She was launched in February 1944, and completed in May 1944. The ship was long, with a beam of and a depth of . She had a GRT of 2,878 and a NRT of 1,653. She was propelled by a

triple expansion steam engine A compound steam engine unit is a type of steam engine where steam is expanded in two or more stages. A typical arrangement for a compound engine is that the steam is first expanded in a high-pressure (HP) cylinder, then having given up heat ...

which had cylinders , and diameter by stroke. The engine was built by Canada Iron Foundries, Three Rivers,

Quebec Quebec is Canada's List of Canadian provinces and territories by area, largest province by area. Located in Central Canada, the province shares borders with the provinces of Ontario to the west, Newfoundland and Labrador to the northeast, ...

History

''Avondale Park'' was built for the Canadian Government and operated by the Park Steamship Co Ltd. The United Kingdom

Official Number Official numbers are ship identifier numbers assigned to merchant ships by their flag state, country of registration. Each country developed its own official numbering system, some on a national and some on a port-by-port basis, and the formats hav ...

175378 and

code letters Code letters or ship's call sign (or callsign) Mtide Taurus - IMO 7626853"> SHIPSPOTTING.COM >> Mtide Taurus - IMO 7626853/ref> were a method of identifying ships before the introduction of modern navigation aids. Later, with the introduction of ...

VDDN were allocated. Her port of registry was

Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

, under the

British flag The national flag of the United Kingdom is the Union Jack, also known as the Union Flag. The design of the Union Jack dates back to the Act of Union 1801, which united the Kingdom of Great Britain and the Kingdom of Ireland (previously in p ...

. She was later chartered by the

Ministry of War Transport The Ministry of War Transport (MoWT) was a department of the British Government formed early in the Second World War to control transportation policy and resources. It was formed by merging the Ministry of Shipping and the Ministry of Transpor ...

, who placed her under the management of Witherington & Etheridge,

Newcastle upon Tyne Newcastle upon Tyne, or simply Newcastle ( , Received Pronunciation, RP: ), is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. It is England's northernmost metropolitan borough, located o ...

. ''Avondale Park'' was a member of Convoy EN 491, which departed

Hull Hull may refer to: Structures * The hull of an armored fighting vehicle, housing the chassis * Fuselage, of an aircraft * Hull (botany), the outer covering of seeds * Hull (watercraft), the body or frame of a sea-going craft * Submarine hull Ma ...

on 6 May 1945 bound for

Belfast Belfast (, , , ; from ) is the capital city and principal port of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan and connected to the open sea through Belfast Lough and the North Channel (Great Britain and Ireland), North Channel ...

via

Methil Methil () is a coastal town in Fife, Scotland. Methil has ancient origins: two Bronze Age cemeteries have been discovered which date the settlement as over 8,000 years old. The town was first recorded as "Methkil" in 1207, and belonged to ...

. On 7 May 1945, the convoy was attacked by and two ships were sunk, and ''Avondale Park'', which became the last British merchant ship to be sunk during the Second World War. The sinking, at just after 23:00 on 7 May 1945, was in the last hours of the Second World War in Europe, with the official surrender taking place at 23:01 on 8 May 1945. ''Avondale Park'' sank at . Two of the 38 crew were lost. A signal had been sent to the U-boats on 4 May 1945 ordering them to surrender but ''U-2336'' did not receive the signal.

Citations

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Avondale Park 1944 ships Ships built in Nova Scotia World War II merchant ships of Canada Steamships of Canada Ministry of War Transport ships World War II merchant ships of the United Kingdom Steamships of the United Kingdom Ships sunk by German submarines in World War II World War II shipwrecks in the North Sea Maritime incidents in May 1945 Fleet of the Canadian Merchant Navy

Description

History

See also

Citations

References