''Sand Star'' was a dredger that was built in 1943 as the coaster ''Empire Dyke'' Clelands (Successors) Ltd,

Wallsend Wallsend () is a town in North Tyneside, Tyne and Wear, England, at the eastern end of Hadrian's Wall. It has a population of 43,842 and lies east of Newcastle upon Tyne. History Roman Wallsend In Roman times, this was the site of the fort of ...

Northumberland Northumberland ( ) is a ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in North East England, on the Anglo-Scottish border, border with Scotland. It is bordered by the North Sea to the east, Tyne and Wear and County Durham to the south, Cumb ...

, United Kingdom for the Ministry of War Transport (MoWT). She was transferred to the Netherlands in 1943 and renamed ''Prinses Margriet''. In 1954, she was sold to the United Kingdom and renamed ''Sand Star''. She served until 1966 when she sank following a collision.

Description

The ship was built in 1942 by Clelands (Successors) Ltd,

. She was yard number 56. 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 116 nhp

two-stroke A two-stroke (or two-stroke cycle) engine is a type of internal combustion engine that completes a power cycle with two strokes of the piston, one up and one down, in one revolution of the crankshaft in contrast to a four-stroke engine which re ...

Single Cycle, Single Action

diesel engine The diesel engine, named after the German engineer Rudolf Diesel, is an internal combustion engine in which Combustion, ignition of diesel fuel is caused by the elevated temperature of the air in the cylinder due to Mechanics, mechanical Compr ...

, which had six cylinders of diameter by stroke driving a single screw

propeller A propeller (often called a screw if on a ship or an airscrew if on an aircraft) is a device with a rotating hub and radiating blades that are set at a pitch to form a helical spiral which, when rotated, exerts linear thrust upon a working flu ...

. The engine was built by Crossley Bros Ltd,

Leeds Leeds is a city in West Yorkshire, England. It is the largest settlement in Yorkshire and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds Metropolitan Borough, which is the second most populous district in the United Kingdom. It is built aro ...

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ) is an area of Northern England which was History of Yorkshire, historically a county. Despite no longer being used for administration, Yorkshire retains a strong regional identity. The county was named after its county town, the ...

History

''Empire Dyke'' was built in 1943 by Clelands (Successors) Ltd,

, for the MoWT. She was completed in April. 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 ...

165828 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 ...

BDTK were allocated. Her port of registry was

Newcastle upon Tyne Newcastle upon Tyne, or simply Newcastle ( , Received Pronunciation, RP: ), is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. It is England's northernmost metropolitan borough, located o ...

and she was placed under the management of G Gibson & Co Ltd. Little is known of her wartime service, although she was a member of Convoy FN 808, which 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 Essex ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East of England, and one of the home counties. It is bordered by Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, the North Sea to the east, Kent across the Thames Estuary to the ...

on 8 September 1942 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 ...

two days later. In 1943, ''Empire Dyke'' was transferred to the Dutch Government and renamed ''Prinses Margriet''. She was placed under the management of the Netherland Shipping & Trading Committee Ltd. In June and July 1944, ''Prinses Margriet'' was employed around the south coast of the United Kingdom, sailing in various ETC and FTC convoys. In 1954, ''Prinses Margriet'' was sold to South Coast Shipping Co Ltd and renamed ''Sand Star''. She was placed under the management of Burness Shipping Co Ltd. In 1955, ''Sand Star'' was converted to a dredger. Management passed to Wm Cory & Sons Ltd in 1956. On 4 March 1966, ''Sand Star'' collided with the coaster in Southampton Water and sank. All eight crew were rescued by ''Caroline M''. She was raised in May and scrapped in September at Thos. W. Ward Grays, Essex.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sand Star 1942 ships Ships built on the River Tyne Empire ships Ministry of War Transport ships Steamships of the Netherlands World War II merchant ships of the Netherlands Merchant ships of the Netherlands Merchant ships of the United Kingdom Dredgers Maritime incidents in 1966 Ships sunk in collisions Ships sunk with no fatalities