SS ''Empire Arthur'' was a 784-ton coastal tanker which was built in 1942. She saw service mainly in British coastal waters during 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 ...

, and was briefly used as an auxiliary, supporting

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the naval warfare force of the United Kingdom. It is a component of His Majesty's Naval Service, and its officers hold their commissions from the King of the United Kingdom, King. Although warships were used by Kingdom ...

operations off western Africa. Her capsize in 1943 put an end to this, but she was salvaged

post-war A post-war or postwar period is the interval immediately following the end of a war. The term usually refers to a varying period of time after World War II, which ended in 1945. A post-war period can become an interwar period or interbellum, ...

and returned to service for several companies, under the names ''Merula'', and then ''Adherity'', before being scrapped in 1962.

Wartime career

''Empire Arthur'' was built by Grangemouth Dockyard,

Grangemouth Grangemouth (; , ) is a town in the Falkirk (council area), Falkirk council area in the central belt of Scotland. Historically part of the Counties of Scotland, county of Stirlingshire, the town lies in the Forth Valley, on the banks of the Firt ...

as yard number 439. She was launched on 5 March 1942 and completed in June 1942. ''Empire Arthur'' was built 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 ...

and managed by Rowbotham & Sons. She was requisitioned to serve as a water carrier in October 1942, and used as an auxiliary to supply naval ships and merchants. She served in a number of convoys during the war, spent mostly sailing between British ports, particularly

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 ...

Oban Oban ( ; meaning ''The Little Bay'') is a resort town within the Argyll and Bute council area of Scotland. Despite its small size, it is the largest town between Helensburgh and Fort William, Highland, Fort William. During the tourist seaso ...

and

Southend Southend-on-Sea (), commonly referred to as Southend (), is a coastal city and unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area with Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough status in south-eastern Essex, England. It lies on the nor ...

, and several times visiting

Loch Ewe Loch Ewe () is a sea loch in the region of Wester Ross in the Northwest Highlands of Scotland. The shores are inhabited by a traditionally Gàidhlig-speaking people living in or sustained by crofting villages, the most notable of which, si ...

, an assembly point for merchants and naval escorts assigned to the

Arctic convoys The Arctic convoys of World War II were oceangoing convoys which sailed from the United Kingdom, Iceland, and North America to northern ports in the Soviet Union – primarily Arkhangelsk (Archangel) and Murmansk in Russia. There were 78 convoys ...

. (Enter search term 'Empire Arthur') She sailed in ballast from Liverpool on 11 July 1942 as part of convoy OS 34, and arrived at

Freetown Freetown () is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Sierra Leone. It is a major port city on the Atlantic Ocean and is located in the Western Area of the country. Freetown is Sierra Leone's major urban, economic, financial, cultural, e ...

on 30 July 1942. She remained stationed at Freetown until capsizing there on 22 November 1943. Two men were killed in the sinking, Master Fraser Ernest Smith and Chief Engineering Officer Andrew M. Booth, whose name was inscribed on the City of Dundee's Roll of Honour. The stricken ''Empire Arthur'' was assessed, but declared a total loss.

Post-war

It was not until 1948, several years after the end of the

, that the ''Empire Arthur'' was completely salvaged. She was duly repaired and returned to service in 1949, sailing with the Italian shipping firm, Ape Azionaria Petroliere as the ''Merula''. Her service with her Italian owners was short, and by 1951 she was owned by the London-based F. T. Everard & Sons, and had been renamed ''Adherity''. She sailed with them until 1962, when she was scrapped at

Lekkerkerk Lekkerkerk is a town and former municipality on the Lek River, now part of the municipality of Krimpenerwaard, South Holland province, the Netherlands. Since 1 January 1985 Lekkerkerk is no longer an independent municipality. Lekkerkerk is mos ...

, in the Netherlands.

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 Arthur'' 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 ...

168798. ''Empire Arthur'' 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 ...

LDWW.

Notes

8. Registers and Indexes of Births, Marriages and Deaths of Passengers and Seamen at Sea – BT334

References

* * * * (Enter search term 'Empire Arthur') {{DEFAULTSORT:Empire Arthur 1942 ships Ships built in Scotland Steamships of the United Kingdom Ministry of War Transport ships Empire ships World War II tankers Steamships of Italy Tankers of Italy Oil tankers Maritime incidents in November 1943