''Empire Aldgate'' was a 3,485-ton,

heavy-lift ship A heavy-lift ship is a vessel designed to move very large loads that cannot be transported by normal ships. They are of two types: *''Semi-submersible'' ships that take on water ballast to allow the load—usually another vessel—to be fl ...

which was built in 1945. She was renamed ''Thackeray'' in 1948, ''Sugar Refiner'' in 1951, ''San Patricio'' in 1958, and ''San Miguel'' in 1965. She was abandoned by her owners in 1965 and scrapped in 1967.

History

''Empire Aldgate'' was built by W Gray Ltd,

West Hartlepool West Hartlepool was a predecessor of Hartlepool, County Durham, England. It developed in the Victorian era and took the name from its western position in the parish of what is now known as the Headland. The former town was originally formed ...

as yard number 1180. She was launched on 10 May 1945 and completed in July. ''Empire Aldgate'' was built for the Ministry of War Transport in the United Kingdom and operated under the management of Glen & Co Ltd. In 1948, ''Empire Alderney'' was sold to the Rodney Steamship Co,

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

and renamed ''Thackeray''. She served with them for until 1951 when she was sold to Silvertown Services Ltd, London and renamed ''Sugar Refiner''. She was operated under the management of R S Dalgleish & Co,

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 ...

, until January 1953 when management passed to Kentships Ltd. In 1958, she was sold to Valck & Monkton,

Valparaíso Valparaíso () is a major city, Communes of Chile, commune, Port, seaport, and naval base facility in the Valparaíso Region of Chile. Valparaíso was originally named after Valparaíso de Arriba, in Castilla–La Mancha, Castile-La Mancha, Spain ...

, Chile, and renamed ''San Patricio''. They sold her to the Worldwide Maritime Co,

Liberia Liberia, officially the Republic of Liberia, is a country on the West African coast. It is bordered by Sierra Leone to Liberia–Sierra Leone border, its northwest, Guinea to Guinea–Liberia border, its north, Ivory Coast to Ivory Coast–Lib ...

, in 1962. In 1965, ''San Patricio'' was sold to the Altair Maritime Corporation, Liberia, who renamed her ''San Miguel''. On 12 September 1965, ''San Miguel'' put into

Las Palmas Las Palmas (, ; ), officially Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, is a Spanish city and capital of Gran Canaria, in the Canary Islands, in the Atlantic Ocean. It is the capital city of the Canary Islands (jointly with Santa Cruz de Tenerife) and the m ...

Canary Islands The Canary Islands (; ) or Canaries are an archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean and the southernmost Autonomous communities of Spain, Autonomous Community of Spain. They are located in the northwest of Africa, with the closest point to the cont ...

, due to problems with her boilers. She was ''en route'' from

Jacksonville, Florida Jacksonville ( ) is the most populous city proper in the U.S. state of Florida, located on the Atlantic coast of North Florida, northeastern Florida. It is the county seat of Duval County, Florida, Duval County, with which the City of Jacksonv ...

, U.S., to

Tarragona Tarragona (, ; ) is a coastal city and municipality in Catalonia (Spain). It is the capital and largest town of Tarragonès county, the Camp de Tarragona region and the province of Tarragona. Geographically, it is located on the Costa Daurada ar ...

, Spain. She was towed to Tarragona in October 1965 and then abandoned by her owners. In August 1967, ''San Miguel'' was towed to Cartagena, Spain, where she was scrapped in September of that year.

Official number and code letters

Official Numbers were a forerunner to IMO Numbers. ''Empire Aldgate'' 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 ...

180083 from 1945 to 1958 and 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 ...

MPBM.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Empire Aldgate 1945 ships Empire ships Steamships of the United Kingdom Ministry of War Transport ships Merchant ships of the United Kingdom Steamships of Chile Merchant ships of Chile Steamships of Liberia Merchant ships of Liberia