''Indus'' was a 2,834 ton

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 in Germany in 1945 and launched as ''Sasbeck''. She was seized uncompleted at Lübeck in 1946 and renamed ''Empire Ardle''. In 1947 she was renamed ''Lewis Hamilton'' and then in 1950 she was renamed ''Indus''. In 1968 she was renamed ''Falcon'' and then ''Sea Falcon'', serving until 1971 when she was scrapped.

History

''Indus'' was built by

Flensburger Schiffbau-Gesellschaft Flensburger Schiffbau-Gesellschaft is a German shipbuilding company located in Flensburg. The company trades as ''Flensburger'' and is commonly abbreviated ''FSG''. History ''Flensburger Schiffbau-Gesellschaft'' was founded in 1872 by a group of ...

Flensburg Flensburg (; Danish language, Danish and ; ; ) is an independent city, independent town in the far north of the Germany, German state of Schleswig-Holstein. After Kiel and Lübeck, it is the third-largest city in Schleswig-Holstein. Flensburg's ...

, Germany and launched as ''Sasbeck'' on 27 March 1945. In May 1945, ''Sasbeck'' was one of 502 ships seized by the Allies after Germany was overrun at the end of 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 ...

. ''Sasbeck'' was one of the eleven uncompleted ships that was allocated to the United Kingdom. She was found at

Lübeck Lübeck (; or ; Latin: ), officially the Hanseatic League, Hanseatic City of Lübeck (), is a city in Northern Germany. With around 220,000 inhabitants, it is the second-largest city on the German Baltic Sea, Baltic coast and the second-larg ...

in an uncompleted state and passed to the

Ministry of Transport A ministry of transport or transportation is a ministry responsible for transportation within a country. It usually is administered by the ''minister for transport''. The term is also sometimes applied to the departments or other government a ...

. She was renamed ''Empire Ardle'' and completed in November 1946. In 1947, she was sold to the Rodney Steamship Co, London and renamed ''Lewis Hamilton'', serving until 1950 when she was sold to C H Abrahamsen, Stockholm and renamed ''Indus''. After eighteen years service with Abrahamsen's, ''Indus'' was sold in 1968 to the Seabird Navigation Corporation,

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 ...

, being resold to the Lilly Navigation Corporation, Panama in 1969 and renamed ''Sea Falcon''. In 1970, ''Sea Falcon'' was sold back to Seabird, and served with them until 1971 when she was scrapped in

Avilés Avilés (Asturian and ;) is a town in Asturias, Spain. Avilés is, along with Oviedo and Gijón, one of the main cities in the Principality of Asturias. The town occupies the flattest land in the municipality, partially in a land that belonged ...

, Spain. She arrived for scrapping on 15 July 1971.

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 ...

. ''Empire Ardle'' and ''Lewis Hamilton'' 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 ...

181527. ''Indus'' had the Swedish

9218.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Indus (1945) 1945 ships Ships built in Flensburg Steamships of the United Kingdom Merchant ships of the United Kingdom Empire ships Steamships of Sweden Merchant ships of Sweden Steamships of Panama Merchant ships of Panama Steamships of Liberia Merchant ships of Liberia