''Empire Clive'' 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 1941 by Cammell Laird & Co Ltd,

Birkenhead Birkenhead () is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral, Merseyside, England. The town is on the Wirral Peninsula, along the west bank of the River Mersey, opposite Liverpool. It lies within the Historic counties of England, historic co ...

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). 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 ...

, she served as a

CAM ship CAM ships were World War II–era British merchant ships used in convoys as an emergency stop-gap until sufficient escort carriers became available. ''CAM ship'' is an acronym for catapult aircraft merchant ship.Wise, pp. 70–77 They wer ...

, armed with a

Hawker Hurricane The Hawker Hurricane is a British single-seat fighter aircraft of the 1930s–40s which was designed and predominantly built by Hawker Aircraft Ltd. for service with the Royal Air Force (RAF). It was overshadowed in the public consciousness by ...

aircraft. In 1946 she was sold and renamed ''Charlebury''. In 1958, she was sold to

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 ...

and renamed ''Isabel Erica''. She served until 1969 when she was scrapped.

Description

The ship was built by Cammell Laird & Co Ltd, Birkenhead as yard number 1061. She was launched on 28 July 1941 and completed in August. The ship was long, with a beam of and a depth of . She had a GRT of 7,069 and a NRT of 5,194. The ship 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 by stroke. The engine was built by Cammell Laird.

History

''Empire Clive'' was built for the MoWT. She was placed under the management of Capper, Alexander & Co Ltd. Her port of registry was

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 ...

. 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 ...

BCNM and 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 ...

168801 were allocated. ''Empire Clive'' was a member of a number of convoys during the Second World War. ;SC 58 Convoy SC 58 departed from

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

Cape Breton Cape Breton Island (, formerly '; or '; ) is a rugged and irregularly shaped island on the Atlantic coast of North America and part of the province of Nova Scotia, Canada. The island accounts for 18.7% of Nova Scotia's total area. Although ...

on 4 December 1941 and arrived at Liverpool on 21 December. ''Empire Clive'' was due to sail with this convoy. ;HX 164 Convoy HX 164 departed from Halifax,

Nova Scotia Nova Scotia is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada, located on its east coast. It is one of the three Maritime Canada, Maritime provinces and Population of Canada by province and territory, most populous province in Atlan ...

on 8 December 1941 and arrived at Liverpool on 23 December. ''Empire Clive'' was listed in this convoy, but sailed with Convoy SC 59. ;SC 59 Convoy SC 59 departed from Sydney, Cape Breton on 10 December 1941 and arrived at Liverpool on 27 December. ''Empire Clive'', at the time a

, sailed with this convoy. She was carrying general cargo bound for

Avonmouth Avonmouth ( ) is a port and outer suburb of Bristol, England, on the north bank of the mouth of the River Avon and the eastern shore of the Severn Estuary. Part of the Port of Bristol, Avonmouth Docks is important to the region's maritime eco ...

Somerset Somerset ( , ), Archaism, archaically Somersetshire ( , , ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by the Bristol Channel, Gloucestershire, and Bristol to the north, Wiltshire to the east ...

. On 19 July 1942, ''Empire Clive'' loaded ten

Supermarine Spitfire The Supermarine Spitfire is a British single-seat fighter aircraft that was used by the Royal Air Force and other Allies of World War II, Allied countries before, during, and after World War II. It was the only British fighter produced conti ...

aircraft. They were delivered to

Malta Malta, officially the Republic of Malta, is an island country in Southern Europe located in the Mediterranean Sea, between Sicily and North Africa. It consists of an archipelago south of Italy, east of Tunisia, and north of Libya. The two ...

on 3 August.The aircraft were Mk.V serial numbers EP152, EP186, EP188 and EP199, also delivered were Mk.VbT serial numbers EP551, EP573, EP606, EP612, EP619 and EP621 ;MKS 16 Convoy MKS 16 departed from

Gibraltar Gibraltar ( , ) is a British Overseas Territories, British Overseas Territory and British overseas cities, city located at the southern tip of the Iberian Peninsula, on the Bay of Gibraltar, near the exit of the Mediterranean Sea into the A ...

on 9 July 1943. It joined Convoy SL 132 at sea on 10 July and arrived at Liverpool on 22 July. ''Empire Clive'' was carrying a cargo of

phosphate Phosphates are the naturally occurring form of the element phosphorus. In chemistry, a phosphate is an anion, salt, functional group or ester derived from a phosphoric acid. It most commonly means orthophosphate, a derivative of orthop ...

s bound for

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 ...

. In 1946, ''Empire Clive'' was sold to Alexander Shipping Co Ltd and was renamed ''Charlebury''. She was placed under the management of Houlder Bros Ltd, London. In 1958, she was sold to the Red Anchor Line,

and renamed ''Isabel Erica'' In 1963, she was sold to the St Merryn Shipping Co, and placed under the management of C Moller & Co, Hong Kong. ''Isabel Erica'' was scrapped in August 1969 in Hong Kong.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Empire Clive 1941 ships Ships built on the River Mersey CAM ships Empire ships Ministry of War Transport ships Steamships of the United Kingdom Merchant ships of the United Kingdom Merchant ships of Hong Kong Steamships of Hong Kong