''Empire Carpenter'' was a

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 1942 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 ...

(MoWT). In 1944 she was

leased A lease is a contractual arrangement calling for the user (referred to as the ''lessee'') to pay the owner (referred to as the Lessor (leasing), ''lessor'') for the use of an asset. Property, buildings and vehicles are common assets that are l ...

to the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

and renamed ''Dickson''. In 1946, she was returned to the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

and regained her former name of ''Empire Carpenter''. She was sold in 1947 and renamed ''Petfrano''. In 1955, she was sold to

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 ...

owners and renamed ''Amipa'', further sales saw her renamed ''Apex''. In 1968, she was sold to Cypriot owners and renamed ''Afros'', serving until scrapped in 1971.

Description

The ship was built by C Connell & Co Ltd,

Scotstoun Scotstoun () is an area of Glasgow, Scotland, west of Glasgow City Centre. It is bounded by Garscadden and Yoker to the west, Victoria Park, Jordanhill and Whiteinch to the east, Jordanhill to the north and the River Clyde (and Braehead ...

, as yard number 440. She was launched on 21 November 1942, and completed in January 1943. The ship was long, with a beam of , a depth of , and a draught of . Her GRT was 7,025, with a NRT of 4,857. Her DWT was 10,318. She was propelled by a

triple expansion steam engine A compound steam engine unit is a type of steam engine where steam is expanded in two or more stages. A typical arrangement for a compound engine is that the steam is first expanded in a high-pressure (HP) cylinder, then having given up heat ...

, which had cylinders of , and diameter and stroke. The engine was built by D Rowan & Co Ltd,

Glasgow Glasgow is the Cities of Scotland, most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in Strathclyde, west central Scotland. It is the List of cities in the United Kingdom, third-most-populous city in the United Kingdom ...

History

''Empire Carpenter'' was built for the MoWT. The United Kingdom

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 ...

168745 and 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 ...

BFLJ were allocated. She was placed under the management of the Hain Steamship Co Ltd. ''Empire Carpenter'' 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 ...

. ;NKS9 Convoy MKS departed

Bône Annaba (), formerly known as Bon, Bona and Bône, is a seaport city in the northeastern corner of Algeria, close to the border with Tunisia. Annaba is near the small Seybouse River and is in the Annaba Province. With a population of about 263,65 ...

Algeria Algeria, officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It is bordered to Algeria–Tunisia border, the northeast by Tunisia; to Algeria–Libya border, the east by Libya; to Alger ...

on 4 March 1943 and arrived at

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 18 March. ''Empire Caribou'' was carrying a cargo of

steel Steel is an alloy of iron and carbon that demonstrates improved mechanical properties compared to the pure form of iron. Due to steel's high Young's modulus, elastic modulus, Yield (engineering), yield strength, Fracture, fracture strength a ...

bound for

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

. ;JW 54A Convoy JW 54A departed

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 ...

on 15 November 1943 and arrived at the

Kola Inlet Kola Bay () or Murmansk Fjord is a 57-km-long fjord of the Barents Sea that cuts into the northern part of the Kola Peninsula. It is up to 7 km wide and has a depth of 200 to 300 metres. The Tuloma, Rosta and Kola Rivers discharge into t ...

on 24 November. ''Empire Carpenter'' was carrying the

Vice Commodore A yacht club is a boat club specifically related to yachting. Description Yacht clubs are mostly located by the sea, although there some that have been established at a lake or riverside locations. Yacht or sailing clubs have either a marin ...

of the convoy. ;JW 57 Convoy JW 57 departed Liverpool on 20 February 1944 and arrived at the Kola Inlet on 28 February. ;RA 55A Convoy RA 55A departed the Kola Inlet on 23 December 1943 and arrived at Loch Ewe on 1 January 1944. In 1944, ''Empire Carpenter'' was transferred to the Soviet Union under Lend-Lease and was renamed ''Dickson''. She was returned to the United Kingdom in 1946 and regained her former name of ''Empire Carpenter''. She was placed under the management of the Petrinovic Steamship Co Ltd. In 1947, ''Empire Carpenter'' was sold to the Petrinovic Steamship Co Ltd and was renamed ''Petfrano''. She served until 1955 when she was sold to Compagnia di Navigazione Amipa SA,

and was renamed ''Amipa''. In 1958, she was sold to Compagnia Maritime Apex SA and renamed ''Apex''. In 1968, she was renamed ''Afros''. In 1970, she was sold to Campos Shipping Co,

Cyprus Cyprus (), officially the Republic of Cyprus, is an island country in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Situated in West Asia, its cultural identity and geopolitical orientation are overwhelmingly Southeast European. Cyprus is the List of isl ...

. She was reflagged to

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 ...

, with her port of registry being

Monrovia Monrovia () is the administrative capital city, capital and largest city of Liberia. Founded in 1822, it is located on Cape Mesurado on the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic coast and as of the 2022 census had 1,761,032 residents, home to 33.5% of Liber ...

. She served until 1971, arriving for scrapping on 17 March at

Shanghai Shanghai, Shanghainese: , Standard Chinese pronunciation: is a direct-administered municipality and the most populous urban area in China. The city is located on the Chinese shoreline on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the ...

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 ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Empire Carpenter 1943 ships Ships built on the River Clyde Ministry of War Transport ships Empire ships Steamships of the United Kingdom World War II merchant ships of the Soviet Union Steamships of the Soviet Union Merchant ships of the United Kingdom Steamships of Panama Merchant ships of Panama Steamships of Liberia Merchant ships of Liberia