''Empire Asquith'' was a 7,082 ton cargo ship which was built in 1944. In 1947 she was sold and renamed ''Brockley Hill''. Further name changes were ''Starcrest'' in 1951, ''Argosy'' in 1957 and ''Nezihi Ipar'' in 1960. She was scrapped in 1970.

History

Wartime

''Empire Asquith'' was built by Shipbuilding Corporation Ltd,

Newcastle upon Tyne Newcastle upon Tyne ( RP: , ), or simply Newcastle, is a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. The city is located on the River Tyne's northern bank and forms the largest part of the Tyneside built-up area. Newcastle is a ...

. She was yard number 9, launched on 4 September 1944 and completed in November 1944. She 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 R Chapman & Son. ''Empire Asquith'' was a member of a number of convoys during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

. ;SC167 ''Empire Asquith'' was a member of Convoy SC 167, which departed

Halifax Halifax commonly refers to: *Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada * Halifax, West Yorkshire, England *Halifax (bank), a British bank Halifax may also refer to: Places Australia *Halifax, Queensland, a coastal town in the Shire of Hinchinbrook *Halifax ...

Nova Scotia Nova Scotia ( ; ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the four Atlantic provinces. Nova Scotia is Latin for "New Scotland". Most of the population are native En ...

in mid February 1944 and arrived at

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 ...

on 2 March. She was carrying a cargo of

lumber Lumber is wood that has been processed into dimensional lumber, including beams and planks or boards, a stage in the process of wood production. Lumber is mainly used for construction framing, as well as finishing (floors, wall panels, w ...

bound for the

Tyne Tyne may refer to: __NOTOC__ Geography * River Tyne, England *Port of Tyne, the commercial docks in and around the River Tyne in Tyne and Wear, England *River Tyne, Scotland * River Tyne, a tributary of the South Esk River, Tasmania, Australia Peop ...

Postwar

In 1946 management of ''Empire Asquith'' passed to Counties Ship Management (CSM). She was sold to the Brockley Hill Steamship Co Ltd in 1947, operating under CSM's management, and renamed to replace a previous SS ''Brockley Hill'' that had been sunk in 1941. In 1950 she was sold to Vandar Shipping Co Ltd who placed her under the management of Ivanovich & Co Ltd. She was sold to Crest Shipping Co in 1951 and renamed ''Starcrest'', remaining under Ivanovich's management. In 1957, she was sold to the Compagnia Navigazione Phoenix,

Panama Panama ( , ; es, link=no, Panamá ), officially the Republic of Panama ( es, República de Panamá), is a transcontinental country spanning the southern part of North America and the northern part of South America. It is bordered by Co ...

and renamed ''Argosy'', being sold to the Codemar Compagnia de Empresas Maritimas, Panama the following year. In 1960, she was sold to Ipar Transport Co,

Istanbul Istanbul ( , ; tr, İstanbul ), formerly known as Constantinople ( grc-gre, Κωνσταντινούπολις; la, Constantinopolis), is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, serving as the country's economic, ...

and renamed ''Nezihi Ipar''. She was laid up in Istanbul in 1962 and scrapped at

Haliç The Golden Horn ( tr, Altın Boynuz or ''Haliç''; grc, Χρυσόκερας, ''Chrysókeras''; la, Sinus Ceratinus) is a major urban waterway and the primary inlet of the Bosphorus in Istanbul, Turkey. As a natural estuary that connects with t ...

in September 1970.

Official number and code letters

Official Numbers were a forerunner to

IMO Numbers IMO or Imo may refer to: Biology and medicine * Irish Medical Organisation, the main organization for doctors in the Republic of Ireland * Intelligent Medical Objects, a privately held company specializing in medical vocabularies * Isomaltoolig ...

. ''Empire Asquith'' had the UK

Official Number Official numbers are ship identifier numbers assigned to merchant ships by their 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 have sometimes ...

169187 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 and today also. Later, with the i ...

GFJN.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Empire Asquith 1944 ships Ships built on the River Tyne Steamships of the United Kingdom Empire ships Ministry of War Transport ships Steamships of the Bahamas Merchant ships of the Bahamas Steamships of Liberia Merchant ships of Liberia Steamships of Turkey Cargo ships of Turkey