''California Star'' was an

refrigerated The term refrigeration refers to the process of removing heat from an enclosed space or substance for the purpose of lowering the temperature.International Dictionary of Refrigeration, http://dictionary.iifiir.org/search.phpASHRAE Terminology, ht ...

cargo liner A cargo liner, also known as a passenger-cargo ship or passenger-cargoman, is a type of merchant ship which carries general cargo and often passengers. They became common just after the middle of the 19th century, and eventually gave way to conta ...

that was built in 1945 as ''Empire Clarendon'' by

Harland and Wolff Harland & Wolff is a British shipbuilding company based in Belfast, Northern Ireland. It specialises in ship repair, shipbuilding and offshore construction. Harland & Wolff is famous for having built the majority of the ocean liners for the ...

Ltd,

Belfast Belfast ( , ; from ga, Béal Feirste , meaning 'mouth of the sand-bank ford') is the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan on the east coast. It is the 12th-largest city in the United Kingd ...

for 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 ...

(MoWT). In 1947 she was sold and renamed ''Tuscan Star'', then ''Timaru Star'' in 1948. She was sold again in 1950 and was renamed ''California Star'' in 1959. She was scrapped in 1969.

Description

Harland and Wolff Ltd built the ship at Belfast as yard number 1231. She was launched on 4 May 1945 and completed in October 1945. The ship was long, with a beam of and a depth of . Her

tonnage Tonnage is a measure of the cargo-carrying capacity of a ship, and is commonly used to assess fees on commercial shipping. The term derives from the taxation paid on '' tuns'' or casks of wine. In modern maritime usage, "tonnage" specifically ...

s were and . Accommodation was provided for 35 passengers. This was reduced to 12 in 1948. The ship was propelled by a

Burmeister & Wain Burmeister & Wain was a large established Danish shipyard and leading diesel engine producer headquartered in Copenhagen, Denmark. Founded by two Danes and an Englishman, its earliest roots stretch back to 1846. Over its 150-year history, it g ...

-type

two-stroke A two-stroke (or two-stroke cycle) engine is a type of internal combustion engine that completes a power cycle with two strokes (up and down movements) of the piston during one power cycle, this power cycle being completed in one revolution of t ...

single cycle double-acting

marine Diesel engine Marine propulsion is the mechanism or system used to generate thrust to move a watercraft through water. While paddles and sails are still used on some smaller boats, most modern ships are propelled by mechanical systems consisting of an electri ...

that had eight cylinders of diameter by stroke.

History

''Empire Clarendon'' was built for the MoWT. She was a sister ship to . On 27 November 1946, ''Empire Clarendon'' was sold to Frederick Leyland & Co Ltd. She was placed under the management of the Blue Star Line Ltd. In 1947 she was renamed ''Tuscan Star'', followed by another renaming to ''Timaru Star'' in 1948. In 1949, she was sold to Lamport & Holt Line Ltd,

Liverpool Liverpool is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the List of English districts by population, 10th largest English district by population and its E ...

. She was renamed ''California Star'' in 1958, and sold to the Blue Star Line Ltd in 1959. With the introduction of

IMO Number The IMO number of the International Maritime Organization is a generic term covering two distinct meanings. The IMO ship identification number, is a type of hull number used as a unique ship identifier, and the IMO company and registered owne ...

s, 5058002 was allocated to ''California Star''. In March 1968 ''California Star'' was laid up in the River Blackwater,

Essex Essex () is a county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the River Thames to the south, and G ...

. Re-entering service by July 1968, she served until 1969, when she was sold to Tsuan Yau Steel & Iron Works Co Ltd. She arrived on 21 April 1969 at Kaohsiung,

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the northe ...

for scrapping, which was commenced on 20 May 1969.

References

External links

* – colour photo * – later photo {{DEFAULTSORT:California Star 1945 ships Cargo liners Empire ships Ministry of War Transport ships Merchant ships of the United Kingdom Ships built by Harland and Wolff Ships built in Belfast Ships of the Blue Star Line Ships of the Lamport and Holt Line