''Beaverburn'' was a fast

cargo liner A cargo liner, also known as a passenger-cargo ship or passenger-cargoman, is a type of merchant ship which carries general cargo and often passengers. They became common just after the middle of the 19th century, and eventually gave way to conta ...

which was built in 1944 for Britain's

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 ...

(MoWT) as ''Empire Captain''. In 1946 she was sold to Canada and renamed ''Beaverburn''. In 1960, she was sold back to Britain and renamed ''Bennachie''. In 1964, she was sold to Liberia and renamed ''Silvana''. She served until 1971 when she was scrapped.

Description

The ship was built under the Empire ships programme by Caledon Shipbuilding & Engineering Co Ltd,

Dundee Dundee (; ; or , ) is the List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, fourth-largest city in Scotland. The mid-year population estimate for the locality was . It lies within the eastern central Lowlands on the north bank of the Firt ...

, as yard number 404. She was launched on 25 February 1944 and completed in July. The ship was long, with a beam of and a depth of . Her GRT was 9,875, with a NRT of 7,110. Her DWT was 11,975. She was propelled two

steam turbine 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 ...

s, driving a single screw propeller via double reduction gearing. The turbines were built by Richardsons Westgarth & Co Ltd,

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 ...

and could propel her at .Postcard of ship
/ref>

History

''Empire Captain'' was built for the MoWT. She was placed under the management of T & J Harrison Ltd. The

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 ...

166217 and

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 ...

BFKF were allocated; her port of registry was Dundee. She was a member of a number of convoys 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 ...

. ;UC 50A Convoy UC 50A departed

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

on 24 December 1944 bound for

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

. ''Empire Captain'' was bound for

Cape Town Cape Town is the legislature, legislative capital city, capital of South Africa. It is the country's oldest city and the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. Cape Town is the country's List of municipalities in South Africa, second-largest ...

, South Africa. ;UC 65A Convoy UC 65 departed St Helens Roads on 23 April 1945 bound for New York. ''Empire Captain'' was bound for

Cristóbal Cristóbal or Cristobal, the Spanish version of Christopher, is a masculine given name and a surname which may refer to: Given name *Cristóbal Balenciaga (1895–1972), Spanish fashion designer *Cristóbal Cobo (born 1976), Chilean academic * Cr ...

, Panama. In 1946, ''Empire Captain'' was sold to the

Canadian Pacific Railway The Canadian Pacific Railway () , also known simply as CPR or Canadian Pacific and formerly as CP Rail (1968–1996), is a Canadian Class I railway incorporated in 1881. The railway is owned by Canadian Pacific Kansas City, Canadian Pacific Ka ...

and renamed ''Beaverburn'', the second Canadian Pacific ship to bear this name. Her port of registry was changed to London. She was placed under the management of Canadian Pacific Steamship Co. In April 1947, ''Beaverburn'' was the first ship to reach

Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

once the port had opened after having been closed for the winter by ice. Her captain, John Bisset Smith, received the traditional gold-headed cane for this achievement. In 1960, ''Beaverburn'' was sold to Ben Line Steamers Ltd of Scotland, and renamed '' SS Bennachie''. Her port of registry was changed to

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 ...

. In 1964, ''Bennachie'' was sold to Atlantic Navigation Corporation, Liberia. She was placed under the management of W H Eddie Hsu,

Formosa Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia. The island of Taiwan, formerly known to Westerners as Formosa, has an area of and makes up 99% of the land under ROC control. It lies about across the Taiwan Strait f ...

. ''Silvana'' served until 1971 when she was sold for scrap. She arrived for scrapping on 6 April 1971 at

Kaohsiung Kaohsiung, officially Kaohsiung City, is a special municipality located in southern Taiwan. It ranges from the coastal urban center to the rural Yushan Range with an area of . Kaohsiung City has a population of approximately 2.73 million p ...

, Taiwan.

References

External links

Photo of ''Beaverburn''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Beaverburn 1944 ships Ships built in Dundee Cargo liners Ministry of War Transport ships Empire ships Steamships of the United Kingdom Merchant ships of the United Kingdom Steamships of Liberia Merchant ships of Liberia