''Benalbanach'' was a 7,803 ton

heavy lift In transportation, heavy lift refers to the handling and installation of heavy items which are indivisible, and of weights generally accepted to be over 100 tons and of widths/heights of more than 100 meters. These oversized items are transported ...

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 1946 as ''Empire Athelstan''. In 1947 she was sold and renamed ''Benalbanach''. Further name changes were ''Camelot'' in 1965 and ''Dragon Castle'' in 1969. She was scrapped in 1975.

History

Empire Athelstan

''Empire Athelstan'' was the first

postwar 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, ...

merchant ship built by

Vickers-Armstrongs Vickers-Armstrongs Limited was a British engineering conglomerate formed by the merger of the assets of Vickers Limited and Sir W G Armstrong Whitworth & Company in 1927. The majority of the company was nationalised in the 1960s and 1970s, w ...

at High Walker. She was yard number 94, launched on 15 January 1946 and completed in June 1946. She was built for 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 ...

and initially managed by P Hendersonn & Co, and then by Alfred Holt & Co. In April 1947, ''Empire Athelstan'' was put up for sale by tender, at a minimum purchase price of £340,000, with delivery after 31 May and before 31 August 1947. ''Empire Athelstan'' was powered by two

Metropolitan-Vickers Metropolitan-Vickers, Metrovick, or Metrovicks, was a British heavy electrical engineering company of the early-to-mid 20th century formerly known as British Westinghouse. Highly diversified, it was particularly well known for its industrial el ...

steam turbines A steam turbine or steam turbine engine is a machine or heat engine that extracts thermal energy from pressurized steam and uses it to do mechanical work utilising a rotating output shaft. Its modern manifestation was invented by Sir Charles Par ...

, double reduction geared to one

screw A screw is an externally helical threaded fastener capable of being tightened or released by a twisting force (torque) to the screw head, head. The most common uses of screws are to hold objects together and there are many forms for a variety ...

. She could achieve . She had two

derrick A derrick is a lifting device composed at minimum of one guyed mast, as in a gin pole, which may be articulated over a load by adjusting its Guy-wire, guys. Most derricks have at least two components, either a guyed mast or self-supporting tower ...

s with a lifting capacity of 120 tons.

Benalbanach

In 1947, ''Empire Athelstan'' was sold to E G Thompson (Shipping) Ltd,

Leith Leith (; ) is a port area in the north of Edinburgh, Scotland, founded at the mouth of the Water of Leith and is home to the Port of Leith. The earliest surviving historical references are in the royal charter authorising the construction of ...

, who traded as Ben Line Steamers Ltd. She was renamed ''Benalbanach'', the second of five Ben Line ships to bear that name. In 1949, ''Benalbanach'' transported military supplies to Malaya and

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 ...

, the latter as defence against incursions from mainland

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

then involved in a

Civil War A civil war is a war between organized groups within the same Sovereign state, state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies.J ...

. She served with Ben Line until 1963 when she was laid up at

Hartlepool Hartlepool ( ) is a seaside resort, seaside and port town in County Durham, England. It is governed by a unitary authority borough Borough of Hartlepool, named after the town. The borough is part of the devolved Tees Valley area with an estimat ...

. In 1965 she was sold to the

and renamed ''Camelot''.

Camelot

''Camelot'' was placed under the management of the British India Steam Navigation Co Ltd. In February 1968 she was laid up in the

River Fal The River Fal () flows through Cornwall Cornwall (; or ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is also one of the Celtic nations and the homeland of the Cornish people. The county is bordere ...

. In 1969, ownership of ''Camelot'' passed to the Sea Transport Branch of the

Board of Trade The Board of Trade is a British government body concerned with commerce and industry, currently within the Department for Business and Trade. Its full title is The Lords of the Committee of the Privy Council appointed for the consideration of ...

. Later that year, she was sold to Mercur Shipping Enterprise,

Panama Panama, officially the Republic of Panama, is a country in Latin America at the southern end of Central America, bordering South America. It is bordered by Costa Rica to the west, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean Sea to the north, and ...

and renamed ''Dragon Castle''.

Dragon Castle

''Dragon Castle'' was operated by Mercur for six years. In 1975, she was sold to Cuatebol Shipping S.A., Panama, operating under the management of Societa Italia Gestioni,

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

. Later that year, she was sold to Brodospas for scrap, arriving at

Split Split(s) or The Split may refer to: Places * Split, Croatia, the largest coastal city in Croatia * Split Island, Canada, an island in the Hudson Bay * Split Island, Falkland Islands * Split Island, Fiji, better known as Hạfliua Arts, enter ...

Yugoslavia , common_name = Yugoslavia , life_span = 1918–19921941–1945: World War II in Yugoslavia#Axis invasion and dismemberment of Yugoslavia, Axis occupation , p1 = Kingdom of SerbiaSerbia , flag_p ...

on 5 December 1975.

Trivia

As "Benalbanach" this Ship is seen for few seconds in the German criminal series " Stahlnetz 04 - Die Tote im Hafenbecken" ("the dead in the harbor basin") of 1959, anchoring in

Hamburg Hamburg (, ; ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg,. is the List of cities in Germany by population, second-largest city in Germany after Berlin and List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, 7th-lar ...

harbour, at the moment when the victim is found by harbour employers. As "Dragon Castle", the ship can be seen briefly near the end of the motion picture "Mean Frank and Crazy Tony" (1973).

Official number and call sign

As ''Empire Athelstan'', ''Benalbanach'' and ''Camelot'', the ship 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 ...

169213. ''Empire Athelstan'' used the

call sign In broadcasting and radio communications, a call sign (also known as a call name or call letters—and historically as a call signal—or abbreviated as a call) is a unique identifier for a transmitter station. A call sign can be formally as ...

GKJD. ''Benalbanach'', ''Camelot'' and '' Dragon Castle'' had the IMO Number 5040869.

References

External links

Photo
of ''Benalbanach'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Benalbanach 1946 ships Empire ships Merchant ships of Panama Merchant ships of the United Kingdom Ships built on the River Tyne Ships built by Vickers Armstrong Steamships of Panama Steamships of the United Kingdom