''Empire Duke'' 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. ...

that was used during the Second World War in investigations into the metallurgical problems that

Liberty ship Liberty ships were a ship class, class of cargo ship built in the United States during World War II under the Emergency Shipbuilding Program. Although British in concept, the design was adopted by the United States for its simple, low-cost cons ...

s were suffering from. ''Empire Duke'' was built in 1943 by J L Thompson & Sons Ltd,

Sunderland, Co Durham Sunderland () is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. It is a port at the mouth of the River Wear on the North Sea, approximately south-east of Newcastle upon Tyne. It is the most p ...

for the Ministry of War Transport (MoWT) as an Empire ship. She was transferred to France in 1945 and renamed ''Lieutenant J Le Meur''. She was sold to Morocco in 1949 and renamed ''Zelidja''. In 1955, she was sold to Liberia and renamed ''Propontis'', not being renamed after a sale in 1957. She served until 1966, when she was scrapped in Taiwan.

Description

The ship was built in 1943 by J L Thompson & Sons Ltd,

Sunderland Sunderland () is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. It is a port at the mouth of the River Wear on the North Sea, approximately south-east of Newcastle upon Tyne. It is the most p ...

. She was yard number 628. The ship was long, with a beam of . She had a depth of and a draught of . She was assessed at , . The ship was propelled by a 510 nhp triple expansion steam engine, which had cylinders of , and diameter by stroke. The engine was built by Duncan Stewart & 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 ...

. It drove a single screw propeller and could propel the ship at .

History

World War II

''Empire Duke'' was launched on 20 July 1943 and completed in November. 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 ...

180048 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 ...

GCJW were allocated. Her port of registry was Sunderland and she was placed under the management of H Hogarth & Sons Ltd. Armament consisted of either a 4-in or a 4.7-inch gun, and six machine guns. ''Empire Duke'' departed from Sunderland on 2 December for the Tyne, arriving that day. She departed from the Tyne on 18 December to join Convoy FN 1208, which had departed from

Southend Southend-on-Sea (), commonly referred to as Southend (), is a coastal city and unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area with Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough status in south-eastern Essex, England. It lies on the nor ...

, Essex the previous day and arrived at Methil,

Fife Fife ( , ; ; ) is a council areas of Scotland, council area and lieutenancy areas of Scotland, lieutenancy area in Scotland. A peninsula, it is bordered by the Firth of Tay to the north, the North Sea to the east, the Firth of Forth to the s ...

on 19 December. She then joined Convoy EN 322, which departed on 21 December and arrived at Loch Ewe on 23 December. ''Empire Duke'' sailed on to

Oban Oban ( ; meaning ''The Little Bay'') is a resort town within the Argyll and Bute council area of Scotland. Despite its small size, it is the largest town between Helensburgh and Fort William, Highland, Fort William. During the tourist seaso ...

Argyllshire Argyll (; archaically Argyle; , ), sometimes called Argyllshire, is a historic county and registration county of western Scotland. The county ceased to be used for local government purposes in 1975 and most of the area now forms part of ...

, arriving the next day. Laden with a cargo of coal, she departed on 26 December to join Convoy OS 63/KMS 37G, which departed from

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 ...

, Lancashire on 25 December and split at sea on 7 January 1944. Convoy OS 63 arrived at

Freetown Freetown () is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Sierra Leone. It is a major port city on the Atlantic Ocean and is located in the Western Area of the country. Freetown is Sierra Leone's major urban, economic, financial, cultural, e ...

, Sierra Leone on 17 January. ''Empire Duke'' was in the part of the convoy that formed Convoy KMS 37G, which arrived at

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 7 January. She then joined Convoy KMS 37, which departed on 9 January and arrived at

Port Said Port Said ( , , ) is a port city that lies in the northeast Egypt extending about along the coast of the Mediterranean Sea, straddling the west bank of the northern mouth of the Suez Canal. The city is the capital city, capital of the Port S ...

, Egypt on 20 January. ''Empire Duke'' left the convoy at

Oran Oran () is a major coastal city located in the northwest of Algeria. It is considered the second most important city of Algeria, after the capital, Algiers, because of its population and commercial, industrial and cultural importance. It is w ...

, Algeria, where she arrived on 10 January. She departed on 25 January to join Convoy GUS 28, which had departed from Port Said on 15 January and arrived at the

Hampton Roads Hampton Roads is a body of water in the United States that serves as a wide channel for the James River, James, Nansemond River, Nansemond, and Elizabeth River (Virginia), Elizabeth rivers between Old Point Comfort and Sewell's Point near whe ...

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States between the East Coast of the United States ...

, United States on 15 February. She left the convoy at

Casablanca Casablanca (, ) is the largest city in Morocco and the country's economic and business centre. Located on the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic coast of the Chaouia (Morocco), Chaouia plain in the central-western part of Morocco, the city has a populatio ...

, Morocco, She departed on 1 February, joining Convoy SL 147, which had departed from Freetown on 22 January and rendezvoused at sea with Convoy MKS 38 on 2 February. The combined convoys arrived at Liverpool on 13 February. ''Empire Duke'' sailed on to Loch Ewe, arriving on 12 February and joining Convoy WN 544, which arrived at Methil on 14 February. ''Empire Duke'' was a member of Convoy EN 350, which departed from Methil on 24 February and arrived at Loch Ewe two days later. She left the convoy at

Aberdeen Aberdeen ( ; ; ) is a port city in North East Scotland, and is the List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, third most populous Cities of Scotland, Scottish city. Historically, Aberdeen was within the historic county of Aberdeensh ...

on 25 February. ''Empire Duke'' departed on 7 March to join Convoy EN 355, which had departed from Methil the previous day and arrived at Loch Ewe on 8 March. She sailed on to the Clyde, arriving the next day. ''Empire Duke'' departed on 16 March to join Convoy ON 228, which had departed from Liverpool the previous day and arrived at New York, United States on 1 April. She left the convoy at Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, arriving on 30 March. Laden with a cargo of grain, she departed on 7 April to join Convoy HX 286, which had departed from New York on 5 April and arrived at Liverpool on 20 April. She was bound for

Manchester Manchester () is a city and the metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It had an estimated population of in . Greater Manchester is the third-most populous metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, with a population of 2.92&nbs ...

, Lancashire. ''Empire Dukes'' movements are not recorded for over eight weeks. It may have been during this period that she was on loan to the Cambridge University Engineering Department for tests to be undertaken in connection with research into problems affecting various

Liberty Ship Liberty ships were a ship class, class of cargo ship built in the United States during World War II under the Emergency Shipbuilding Program. Although British in concept, the design was adopted by the United States for its simple, low-cost cons ...

s ( see below). She departed from Southend on 12 June as a member of Convoy ETM 7, which arrived at the Seine Bay, France the next day. She spent the next three months shuttling between those two place in various ETM and FTM convoys, arriving at Southend on 12 September as a member of Convoy FTM 2A. ''Empire Duke'' departed from Southend on 30 October as a member of Convoy FN 1526, which arrived at Methil on 1 November. She departed from Methil on 24 November with Convoy FS 1646, arriving at Southend on 26 November. She spent the next four months sailing between Southend and

Antwerp Antwerp (; ; ) is a City status in Belgium, city and a Municipalities of Belgium, municipality in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is the capital and largest city of Antwerp Province, and the third-largest city in Belgium by area at , after ...

, Belgium with various TAM and ATM convoys, arriving at Southend on 28 March 1945 as a member of Convoy ATM 106. ''Empire Duke'' was a member of Convoy TBC 117, which departed from Southend on 3 April and arrived at

Milford Haven Milford Haven ( ) is a town and community (Wales), community in Pembrokeshire, Wales. It is on the north side of the Milford Haven Waterway, an estuary forming a natural harbour that has been used as a port since the Middle Ages. The town was ...

Pembrokeshire Pembrokeshire ( ; ) is a Principal areas of Wales, county in the South West Wales, south-west of Wales. It is bordered by Carmarthenshire to the east, Ceredigion to the northeast, and otherwise by the sea. Haverfordwest is the largest town and ...

on 6 April. She then sailed to the Clyde, where she arrived two days later. She departed on 22 April to join Convoy ON 298, which had departed from Southend on 21 April and arrived at New York on 7 May. Her destination was

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 ...

, Quebec, Canada. She arrived at Father Point, Quebec on 6 May.

Solving the Liberty ship problem

Early

s suffered problems with

brittle fracture Fracture is the appearance of a crack or complete separation of an object or material into two or more pieces under the action of stress. The fracture of a solid usually occurs due to the development of certain displacement discontinuity sur ...

s, leading to some of them breaking in two without warning. Following the loss of off the

Aleutian Islands The Aleutian Islands ( ; ; , "land of the Aleuts"; possibly from the Chukchi language, Chukchi ''aliat'', or "island")—also called the Aleut Islands, Aleutic Islands, or, before Alaska Purchase, 1867, the Catherine Archipelago—are a chain ...

Alaska Alaska ( ) is a non-contiguous U.S. state on the northwest extremity of North America. Part of the Western United States region, it is one of the two non-contiguous U.S. states, alongside Hawaii. Alaska is also considered to be the north ...

, United States in 1943, research was carried out by Cambridge University Engineering Department in the United Kingdom into the causes of these losses. ''Empire Duke'' was lent for the purpose of testing of the steel used to build ships in the United Kingdom. Constance Tipper proved that low temperatures sustained by Liberty ships in the North Atlantic were leading to brittle fractures. Further research into the plasticity of steel led to the development of specialist steels that are used in artificial human and animal joints. The

Victory ship The Victory ship was a class of cargo ship produced in large numbers by American shipyards during World War II. They were a more modern design compared to the earlier Liberty ship, were slightly larger and had more powerful steam turbine engin ...

was developed, which was stronger and faster than the Liberty ship.

Post-war

In June–July 1945 ''Empire Duke'' sailed from Montreal to The Downs, off the coast of

Kent Kent is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Essex across the Thames Estuary to the north, the Strait of Dover to the south-east, East Sussex to the south-west, Surrey to the west, and Gr ...

and then back to Montreal. She then sailed from Montreal on 11 August, arriving in Casablanca on 24 August and then sailed to

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, where she arrived on 8 September. As a member of Convoy TAM 32, she departed Southend on 28 December and arrived at Antwerp the next day. In May 1946, ''Empire Duke'' was transferred to the French Government and renamed ''Lieutenant J Le Meur'', after Julien Le Meur, an officer who had served on , and had been killed in

Provence Provence is a geographical region and historical province of southeastern France, which stretches from the left bank of the lower Rhône to the west to the France–Italy border, Italian border to the east; it is bordered by the Mediterrane ...

on 28 August 1944, whilst serving as a

pilot An aircraft pilot or aviator is a person who controls the flight of an aircraft by operating its Aircraft flight control system, directional flight controls. Some other aircrew, aircrew members, such as navigators or flight engineers, are al ...

with the ''

Marine Nationale The French Navy (, , ), informally (, ), is the maritime arm of the French Armed Forces and one of the four military service branches of France. It is among the largest and most powerful naval forces in the world recognised as being a blu ...

'' when his aircraft crashed. She was operated by the Compagnie Générale Transatlantique. ''Lieutenant J Le Meur'' loaded a cargo of

ammonium nitrate Ammonium nitrate is a chemical compound with the formula . It is a white crystalline salt consisting of ions of ammonium and nitrate. It is highly soluble in water and hygroscopic as a solid, but does not form hydrates. It is predominantly us ...

at the Port of Texas City, Texas, United States between 8 and 10 April 1947, a week before the exploded in the

Texas City Disaster The 1947 Texas City disaster was an industrial accident that occurred on April 16, 1947, in the port of Texas City, Texas, United States, located in Galveston Bay. It was the deadliest industrial accident in U.S. history and one of history's ...

, which killed 581 and injured 3,500 people. In 1949, ''Lieutenant J Le Meur'' was sold to the Compagnie Franco Chérifienne de Navigation',

, Morocco and was renamed ''Zelidja''. In 1955, she was sold to Compagnia de Navigazione Hellespont SA,

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 ...

, Liberia and was renamed ''Propontis'', after the

Sea of Marmara The Sea of Marmara, also known as the Sea of Marmora or the Marmara Sea, is a small inland sea entirely within the borders of Turkey. It links the Black Sea and the Aegean Sea via the Bosporus and Dardanelles straits, separating Turkey's E ...

. She was placed under the management of A M Embiricos,

Monaco Monaco, officially the Principality of Monaco, is a Sovereign state, sovereign city-state and European microstates, microstate on the French Riviera a few kilometres west of the Regions of Italy, Italian region of Liguria, in Western Europe, ...

. In 1957, ''Propontis'' was sold to Compagnie de Navigazione Propontis Liberia SA, Monrovia. She was not renamed and remained under the management of Embiricos. ''Propontis'' served until 1966, arriving on 24 May 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 for scrapping.

Notes

A Sources give the year as 1945. A month of May is given by one source, but ''Empire Duke'' was (another states) still in service under that name in December 1945.

References

External links

Photo of ''Lieutenant J Le Meur''Photo of ''Lieutenant J Le Meur''Photo of ''Zelidja''
Crew_of_SS_Empire_Duke

{{DEFAULTSORT:Empire Dryden 1943 ships Ships built on the River Wear Empire ships Ministry of War Transport ships Steamships of the United Kingdom Merchant ships of the United Kingdom Steamships of France Merchant ships of France Steamships of Morocco Merchant ships of Morocco Steamships of Liberia Merchant ships of Liberia Ships of the Compagnie Générale Transatlantique