SS ''Empire Adur'' was a 1,479 ton steamship which was built in 1920 as the ''Griffdu''. She was renamed ''Noyo'' in 1935 and in 1940 was sold to Thailand, being renamed ''Nang Suang Nawa'', being seized in 1942 and renamed ''Empire Adur''. She was sold to Thailand in 1948, reverting to ''Nang Suang Nawa'' and was lost at sea in 1955 while being towed to Hong Kong for scrapping.

History

''Griffdu'' was built by J. F. Duthie & Company,

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, Washington. She was the 37th and last ship built by Duthie. ''Griffdu'' was launched on 20 September 1920, and completed the following month. Her original owner was the Universal Steamship & Barge Co, Seattle. In 1925, ''Griffdu'' was sold to The Charles Nelson Co,

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, serving with them for ten years. In 1935, ''Griffdu'' was sold to the Union Lumber Co, San Francisco, who renamed her ''Noyo''. She served for five years before being sold to the Thai Niyom Panich Co, (''Thai Navigation Co Ltd'')

Bangkok Bangkok, officially known in Thai language, Thai as Krung Thep Maha Nakhon and colloquially as Krung Thep, is the capital and most populous city of Thailand. The city occupies in the Chao Phraya River delta in central Thailand and has an estim ...

, who reflagged her and renamed her ''Nang Suang Nawa''. In 1942, ''Nang Suang Nawa'' was seized, and passed to 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 ...

and renamed ''Empire Adur''. She was placed under the management of the Singapore Straits Steamship Company. ''Empire Adur'' was not a popular member of convoys due to the condition of her boilers, and the fact that she would belch black smoke and flames from her funnel. The convoy escorts threatened to ask ''Empire Adur'' to leave the convoy or sink her. Another of her faults was that the nut holding the steering wheel on often came loose, with the result that the wheel came off in the helmsman's hands. ''Empire Adur'' joined Convoy KMS 21 at

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on 29 July 1943, arriving at

Port Said Port Said ( , , ) is a port city that lies in the northeast Egypt extending about along the coast of the Mediterranean Sea, straddling the west bank of the northern mouth of the Suez Canal. The city is the capital city, capital of the Port S ...

on 9 August. ''Empire Adur'' had a final destination of

Tripoli Tripoli or Tripolis (from , meaning "three cities") may refer to: Places Greece *Tripolis (region of Arcadia), a district in ancient Arcadia, Greece * Tripolis (Larisaia), an ancient Greek city in the Pelasgiotis district, Thessaly, near Larissa ...

and

Alexandria Alexandria ( ; ) is the List of cities and towns in Egypt#Largest cities, second largest city in Egypt and the List of coastal settlements of the Mediterranean Sea, largest city on the Mediterranean coast. It lies at the western edge of the Nile ...

. In 1948, ''Empire Adur'' was sold to the Thai Maritime Navigation Co, Bangkok and regained her former name of ''Nang Suang Nawa''. She served for a further seven years but went missing under tow by the

Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...

registered tug ''Albacore'' to

Hong Kong Hong Kong)., Legally Hong Kong, China in international treaties and organizations. is a special administrative region of China. With 7.5 million residents in a territory, Hong Kong is the fourth most densely populated region in the wor ...

for scrapping. Both vessels were presumed lost. Her last reported position was north of the

Paracel Islands The Paracel Islands, also known as the Xisha Islands () and the Hoàng Sa Archipelago (), are a disputed archipelago in the South China Sea and currently controlled by the People's Republic of China. The word ''paracel'' is of Portuguese origi ...

at on 23 November 1955.

Official number and code letters

Official Numbers were a forerunner to

IMO Numbers The IMO number of the International Maritime Organization is a generic term with two distinct applications: * the IMO ship identification number is a unique ship identifier; or, * the IMO company and registered owner identification number is us ...

. ''Griffdu'' and ''Noyo'' had the US Official Number 220755. ''Nang Suang Nawa'' and ''Empire Adur'' had the UK

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 ...

166215. ''Griffdu'' and ''Noyo'' used the

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 ...

KJLP. ''Nang Suang Nawa'' used the Code Letters VSTP. ''Empire Adur'' used the Code Letters BFBW.

References

External links

Photo
showing launch of SS ''Griffdu'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Empire Adur 1920 ships Steamships of the United States Merchant ships of the United States Steamships of the United Kingdom Empire ships Ministry of War Transport ships Steamships of Thailand Merchant ships of Thailand Steamships of Singapore Merchant ships of Singapore Missing ships People lost at sea Ships lost with all hands Maritime incidents in 1955