''Chaksang'' was a Hansa A type cargo ship which was built in 1944 as ''Weserbrück'' by

Deutsche Werft Deutsche Werft (English: German Shipyard) was a shipbuilding company in Finkenwerder Rüschpark, Hamburg, Germany. It was founded in 1918 by Albert Ballin and with Gutehoffnungshütte (GHH), ''Allgemeine Elektricitäts-Gesellschaft'' (AEG) and ...

Hamburg Hamburg (, ; ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg,. is the List of cities in Germany by population, second-largest city in Germany after Berlin and List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, 7th-lar ...

, Germany for

Norddeutscher Lloyd Norddeutscher Lloyd (NDL; North German Lloyd) was a German shipping company. It was founded by Hermann Henrich Meier and Eduard Crüsemann in Bremen on 20 February 1857. It developed into one of the most important German shipping companies of th ...

. She was seized by the Allies in an incomplete state in 1945 and completed as ''Empire Fraser'' 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). She was sold in 1946 to the Indo-China Steam Navigation Co Ltd and renamed ''Chaksang''. Suffering an on-board explosion and fire in September 1949, she sank at

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 ...

. She was subsequently raised and scrapped in 1950.

Description

The ship was long, with a beam of . She had a depth of . She was assessed at . The ship was powered by a two-cylinder

compound 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 ...

driving a single screw propeller. It could propel her at .

History

''Weserbrück'' was built in 1944 as yard number 587 by

for

. She was seized in 1945 in an incomplete state at

and was completed as ''Empire Fraser'' for the

(MoWT). 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 ...

. 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 ...

180843 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 ...

GDPV were allocated. She was operated under the management of the Indo-China Steam Navigation Co Ltd. In November 1946, ''Empire Fraser'' transported a cargo of raw

silk Silk is a natural fiber, natural protein fiber, some forms of which can be weaving, woven into textiles. The protein fiber of silk is composed mainly of fibroin and is most commonly produced by certain insect larvae to form cocoon (silk), c ...

from

Tokyo Tokyo, officially the Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital of Japan, capital and List of cities in Japan, most populous city in Japan. With a population of over 14 million in the city proper in 2023, it is List of largest cities, one of the most ...

, Japan to the United Kingdom. This was the first silk imported into the United Kingdom after the end of 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 ...

. ''Empire Fraser'' was sold to the Indo-China Steam Navigation Co Ltd in 1947 and was renamed ''Chaksang''. On 7 September 1949, there was an onboard explosion and fire whilst the ship was moored at

. No. 1 and No. 2 holds were affected, with flames reported to be high. Thirteen of her 66 crew were killed. She sank the next day. The ship had been delayed from sailing to

Tianjin Tianjin is a direct-administered municipality in North China, northern China on the shore of the Bohai Sea. It is one of the National Central City, nine national central cities, with a total population of 13,866,009 inhabitants at the time of the ...

due to Typhoon Nelly and the cause of the explosion was sabotage. The ship was refloated on 22 March 1950. She was declared a

constructive total loss Marine insurance covers the physical loss or damage of ships, cargo, terminals, and any transport by which the property is transferred, acquired, or held between the points of origin and the final destination. Cargo insurance a sub-branch of mari ...

and scrapped at Hong Kong.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Chaksang 1944 ships Ships built in Hamburg Ships sunk by non-combat internal explosions Steamships of Germany World War II merchant ships of Germany Empire ships Ministry of War Transport ships Steamships of the United Kingdom Maritime incidents in 1949 Explosions in 1949