The Greek Ship (, ) is the nickname of a cargo steamship, ''Khoula F'', that has been beached on the southwest coast of

Kish Island Kish ( ) is a resort island in Bandar Lengeh County, Hormozgan Province, off the southern coast of Iran in the Gulf. The island constitutes the city of Kish, Iran, Kish. Owing to its free trade zone status, the island is marketed as a consumers ...

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...

, since 1966. She was built in 1943 by the British shipyard of

William Hamilton and Company William Hamilton and Company was a British shipbuilding, shipyard in Port Glasgow, Scotland. The company was bought by Lithgows, Lithgow Ltd., which later became Scott Lithgow and was nationalisation, nationalised as part of British Shipbuilders i ...

Port Glasgow Port Glasgow (, ) is the second-largest town in the Inverclyde council area of Scotland. The population according to the 1991 census for Port Glasgow was 19,426 persons and in the 2001 census was 16,617 persons. The most recent census in 2011 s ...

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

, under the name ''Empire Trumpet''. From 1946 to 1966, she passed through a series of British and Iranian owners and various changes of name. Her final owners were Greek.

Propulsion

''Empire Trumpet'' was steam powered. She had nine corrugated furnaces with a combined grate area of that heated three 220 lb_f/in² single-ended boilers with a combined heating surface of . The boilers supplied a

triple-expansion 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 (engine), cylinder, then ha ...

, which had cylinders of , and bore by stroke, and was rated at 510 NHP. The engine was built by David Rowan & Co Ltd of

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 ...

Career

''Empire Trumpet'' first owner was the British Ministry of War Transport, which placed her under the management of Larrinaga Steam Ship Co from 1943 and then T&J Harrison Co from 1945. She was chartered to the South African Government from 1943 to 1946. In 1946, Charente Steam Ship Co bought the ship, renamed her ''Naturalist'', and continued the management arrangement with T&J Harrison. In 1959, Iranian Lloyd & Co Ltd of

Khorramshahr Khorramshahr (; ) is a city in the Central District of Khorramshahr County, Khuzestan province, Iran, serving as capital of both the county and the district. It is also known in Arabic by the local ethnically Arab population as Al-Muhamma ...

bought the ship and renamed her ''Persian Cyrus''. Iranian Lloyd placed ''Persian Cyrus'' under the management of B Ashworth and Co. (Overseas) Ltd of London. In 1965, Iranian Shipping Lines SA of Khorramshahr bought the ship and renamed her ''Hamadan''. In 1966, P.J. Frangoulis and A.I. Cliafas of

Greece Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...

bought the ship and renamed her ''Koula F''.

Wreck

On July 25, 1966, ''Koula F'' ran aground on the south-western coast of

in the

Persian Gulf The Persian Gulf, sometimes called the Arabian Gulf, is a Mediterranean seas, mediterranean sea in West Asia. The body of water is an extension of the Arabian Sea and the larger Indian Ocean located between Iran and the Arabian Peninsula.Un ...

. The Dutch

salvage tug A salvage tug, also known historically as a wrecking tug, is a specialized type of tugboat that is used to rescue ships that are in distress or in danger of sinking, or to salvage ships that have already sunk or run aground. Overview Few tugbo ...

''Orinoco'' tried to refloat the ship but was unsuccessful. The insurers declared ''Khoula F'' a

total loss In insurance claims, a total loss or write-off is a situation where the lost value, repair cost or salvage cost of a damaged property exceeds its insured value, and simply replacing the old property with a new equivalent is more cost-effect ...

and she has remained beached ever since. The ship's condition has deteriorated and her

stern The stern is the back or aft-most part of a ship or boat, technically defined as the area built up over the sternpost, extending upwards from the counter rail to the taffrail. The stern lies opposite the bow, the foremost part of a ship. O ...

has started to break up. The ship attracts tourists who come to view her at sunset.

References

{{Hormozgan Province 1943 ships Ships built on the River Clyde Kish Island Maritime incidents in 1966 Ships of Iran Shipwrecks in the Persian Gulf Steamships of Greece Steamships of the United Kingdom Buildings and structures in Hormozgan province 1943 establishments in Scotland 1966 in Iran