''Admiral Hardy'' was a Hansa A type

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 built in 1944 by

Stettiner Oderwerke Oderwerke or Stettiner Oderwerke was a German shipbuilding company, located in Stettin. History Oderwerke was founded on January 28, 1903, and built 154 ships prior to World War I. During World War II Oderwerke built two German Type VII submar ...

Stettin Szczecin ( , , ; ; ; or ) is the capital and largest city of the West Pomeranian Voivodeship in northwestern Poland. Located near the Baltic Sea and the German border, it is a major seaport, the largest city of northwestern Poland, and se ...

, Germany as ''Michael Ferdinand'' for Hugo Ferdinand Dampschiffs Reederi. She was seized in 1945 as a

war prize A prize of war (also called spoils of war, bounty or booty) is a piece of enemy property or land seized by a belligerent party during or after a war or battle. This term was used nearly exclusively in terms of captured ships during the 18th and 1 ...

and taken over by 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) as ''Empire Farrar''. In 1949, she was sold to Hong Kong and renamed ''Admiral Hardy''. She was sold to Norway in 1955. In 1965, she was sold to Panama and renamed ''Dumai Trader'', serving until 1967 when she was scrapped.

Description

The ship was a Hansa A type cargo ship built in 1944 by

, Germany. She was yard number 851. The ship was long overall ( between perpendiculars), with a beam of . She had a depth of and a draught of . She was assessed at , , 3,120 DWT. The ship was propelled by a steam engine. She could make .

History

''Michael Ferdinand'' was built at a cost of approximately ℛℳ1,700,000 by

, Germany. She was launched on 26 May 1944 and completed in July 1944. She was built for Hugo Ferdinand Dampschiffs Reederei,

Rostock Rostock (; Polabian language, Polabian: ''Roztoc''), officially the Hanseatic and University City of Rostock (), is the largest city in the German States of Germany, state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and lies in the Mecklenburgian part of the sta ...

. Following her participation in the evacuation of east Germany at the end of

World War II 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 ...

, ''Michael Ferdinand'' was at

Sønderborg (; ) is a Denmark, Danish town in the Region of Southern Denmark. It is the main town and the administrative seat of Sønderborg Municipality (Kommune). The town has a population of 28,333 (1 January 2025),war prize A prize of war (also called spoils of war, bounty or booty) is a piece of enemy property or land seized by a belligerent party during or after a war or battle. This term was used nearly exclusively in terms of captured ships during the 18th and 1 ...

, passed to the MOWT and renamed ''Empire Farrar''. She was placed under the management of the Indo-China Steam Navigation Co Ltd. 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 ...

180644 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 ...

GDQG were allocated. Her port of registry was

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 ...

. In 1947, management passed to the Stratton Steamship Co Ltd. In 1949, ''Empire Farrar'' was sold to the Stanley Steamship Co Ltd,

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 was named ''Admiral Hardy''. On 29 July 1953, ''Admiral Hardy'' was fired on by a

Chinese Navy The People's Liberation Army Navy, also known as the People's Navy, PLA Navy or simply Chinese Navy, is the naval warfare branch of the People's Liberation Army, the national military of the People's Republic of China. It is composed of fiv ...

warship whilst leaving

Fuzhou Fuzhou is the capital of Fujian, China. The city lies between the Min River (Fujian), Min River estuary to the south and the city of Ningde to the north. Together, Fuzhou and Ningde make up the Eastern Min, Mindong linguistic and cultural regi ...

. She was subsequently boarded by a party from the ship. Her cargo of timber was seized by

Chinese Nationalist Chinese nationalism is a form of nationalism that asserts that the Chinese people are a nation and promotes the cultural and national unity of all Chinese people. According to Sun Yat-sen's philosophy in the Three Principles of the People, Chin ...

s. In September, her captain fell overboard and was drowned whilst the ship was off

Wenzhou Wenzhou; Chinese postal romanization, historically known as Wenchow is a prefecture-level city in China's Zhejiang province. Wenzhou is located at the extreme southeast of Zhejiang, bordering Lishui, Zhejiang, Lishui to the west, Taizhou, Zheji ...

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 ...

during a voyage from Fuzhou to

Qingdao Qingdao, Mandarin: , (Qingdao Mandarin: t͡ɕʰiŋ˧˩ tɒ˥) is a prefecture-level city in the eastern Shandong Province of China. Located on China's Yellow Sea coast, Qingdao was long an important fortress. In 1897, the city was ceded to G ...

, China. On 8 October, she was stopped in the

Straits of Formosa The Taiwan Strait is a strait separating the island of Taiwan and the Asian continent. The strait is part of the South China Sea and connects to the East China Sea to the north. The narrowest part is wide. Names Former names of the Taiwan ...

by an unidentified

gunboat A gunboat is a naval watercraft designed for the express purpose of carrying one or more guns to bombard coastal targets, as opposed to those military craft designed for naval warfare, or for ferrying troops or supplies. History Pre-steam ...

but was allowed to continue her voyage. On 13 November 1954, four Chinese crew members were detained and interrogated by police whilst the ship was 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 ...

over a missing Chinese crew member. Her captain was told by the

Chinese police The Ministry of Public Security (MPS, zh , c = , p = Gōng'ānbù ) is the primary law enforcement agency of the People's Republic of China. It oversees more than 1.9 million of the country's law enforcement officers and as such the vast majo ...

that as captain of the ship he was held responsible for the death of the crew member. He considered this as intimidation by the Chinese authorities. He and his four officers resigned their posts upon the ship returning to

Kobe Kobe ( ; , ), officially , is the capital city of Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan. With a population of around 1.5 million, Kobe is Japan's List of Japanese cities by population, seventh-largest city and the third-largest port city after Port of Toky ...

, Japan. In November 1955, ''Admiral Hardy'' was sold to Sig S Årstads Rederi,

Bergen Bergen (, ) is a city and municipalities of Norway, municipality in Vestland county on the Western Norway, west coast of Norway. Bergen is the list of towns and cities in Norway, second-largest city in Norway after the capital Oslo. By May 20 ...

, Norway for £115,000. She was placed under the management of Victor Müller Rederi AS. The Code Letters LAJQ were allocated. On 9 August 1964, ''Admiral Hardy'' ran aground on Arena Island () whilst on a voyage from

North Borneo North Borneo (usually known as British North Borneo, also known as the State of North Borneo) was a British Protectorate, British protectorate in the northern part of the island of Borneo, (present-day Sabah). The territory of North Borneo wa ...

, China. She had been refloated by 15 August. In October 1965, ''Admiral Hardy'' was sold for £67,500 to the Scanship Corporation, Panama and was renamed ''Dumai Trader''. She was placed under the management of the Panama Sea Express Line, Norway. Management passed to Manchester Navigation Ltd, Panama in 1967. She was scrapped in March 1967 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, and removed from

Lloyd's Register Lloyd's Register Group Limited, trading as Lloyd's Register (LR), is a technical and professional services organisation and a maritime classification society, wholly owned by the Lloyd’s Register Foundation, a UK charity dedicated to research ...

in 1971.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Admiral Hardy 1944 ships Ships built in Stettin World War II merchant ships of Germany Steamships of Germany Empire ships Ministry of War Transport ships Cargo ships of the United Kingdom Steamships of the United Kingdom Cargo ships of Hong Kong Steamships of Hong Kong Cargo ships of Norway Steamships of Norway Cargo ships of Panama Steamships of Panama