''Admiral Ushakov'' (Адмирал Ушаков) was a

cargo liner A cargo liner, also known as a passenger-cargo ship or passenger-cargoman, is a type of merchant ship which carries general cargo and often passengers. They became common just after the middle of the 19th century, and eventually gave way to conta ...

that was built in 1939 as ''Neidenfels'' by

Deutsche Schiff- und Maschinenbau AG Deutsche Schiff- und Maschinenbau Aktiengesellschaft (abbreviated Deschimag) was a cooperation of eight German shipyards in the period 1926 to 1945. The leading company was the shipyard AG Weser in Bremen. History The Deschimag was founded in ...

Bremen Bremen (Low German also: ''Breem'' or ''Bräm''), officially the City Municipality of Bremen (, ), is the capital of the States of Germany, German state of the Bremen (state), Free Hanseatic City of Bremen (), a two-city-state consisting of the c ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

for Deutsche Dampfschiffahrts-Gesellschaft "Hansa", Bremen. She was seized in May 1945 by the British at

Eckernförde Eckernförde (; , sometimes also ; , sometimes also ) is a city located in the of Rendsburg-Eckernförde, Schleswig-Holstein, northern Germany. Situated on the coast of the Baltic Sea, approximately 30 km north-west of Kiel, it has a populat ...

, Germany, passed to 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) and renamed ''Empire Dee''. In 1946, she was transferred to the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

and renamed ''Admiral Ushakov''. She served until 1975, when she was scrapped at

Split Split(s) or The Split may refer to: Places * Split, Croatia, the largest coastal city in Croatia * Split Island, Canada, an island in the Hudson Bay * Split Island, Falkland Islands * Split Island, Fiji, better known as Hạfliua Arts, enter ...

Yugoslavia , common_name = Yugoslavia , life_span = 1918–19921941–1945: World War II in Yugoslavia#Axis invasion and dismemberment of Yugoslavia, Axis occupation , p1 = Kingdom of SerbiaSerbia , flag_p ...

Description

The ship was built in 1939 by

Kiel Kiel ( ; ) is the capital and most populous city in the northern Germany, German state of Schleswig-Holstein. With a population of around 250,000, it is Germany's largest city on the Baltic Sea. It is located on the Kieler Förde inlet of the Ba ...

. She was yard number 950. The ship was long, with a beam of . She had a depth of and a draught of . She was assessed at , . Her DWT was 10,540. The ship was propelled by two 6-cylinder double-acting

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 ...

s, producing a total of 7,600 nhp. The engines drove 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 ...

. They were built by

Maschinenfabrik Augsburg-Nürnberg MAN SE (abbreviation of ''Maschinenfabrik Augsburg-Nürnberg'', ) was a manufacturing and engineering company based in Munich, Germany. Its primary output was commercial vehicles and diesel engines through its MAN Truck & Bus and MAN Latin Amer ...

Augsburg Augsburg ( , ; ; ) is a city in the Bavaria, Bavarian part of Swabia, Germany, around west of the Bavarian capital Munich. It is a College town, university town and the regional seat of the Swabia (administrative region), Swabia with a well ...

and could propel her at .

History

''Neidenfels'' was built for the Deutsche Dampfschiffahrts-Gesellschaft "Hansa", (DDG Hansa)

. The third DDG Hansa ship of that name. She was launched in October 1938, completed in January 1939 and delivered on 18 March 1939. As built, the ship had accommodation for 12 passengers and 43 crew. Her port of registry was Bremen and the

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 ...

DOUT were allocated. She was equipped with one 50-ton derrick, one 15-ton derrick, six 10-ton derricks, two 6-ton derricks and thirteen 5-ton derricks. On 7 March 1940, ''Neidenfels'' was requisitioned by the ''Kriegsdienstellen'', Bremen. In April 1940, she participated in ''

Operation Weserübung Operation Weserübung ( , , 9 April – 10 June 1940) was the invasion of Denmark and Norway by Nazi Germany during World War II. It was the opening operation of the Norwegian Campaign. In the early morning of 9 April 1940 (, "Weser Day"), Ge ...

''. ''Neidenfels'' was only lightly armed, unlike her sister ships and . In August 1940, ''Neidenfels'' was designated as "Transporter A4". It was intended that she would participate in '' Operation Seelöwe'', operating out of

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 Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...

. In May 1941, she participated in ''Operation Blaufuchs'', transporting German troops to

Finland Finland, officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It borders Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bothnia to the west and the Gulf of Finland to the south, ...

. In 1942. ''Neidenfels'' was used to transport materials to Finland. In 1945, she was delivering goods to

Riga Riga ( ) is the capital, Primate city, primate, and List of cities and towns in Latvia, largest city of Latvia. Home to 591,882 inhabitants (as of 2025), the city accounts for a third of Latvia's total population. The population of Riga Planni ...

Latvia Latvia, officially the Republic of Latvia, is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is one of the three Baltic states, along with Estonia to the north and Lithuania to the south. It borders Russia to the east and Belarus to t ...

in support of the '' Heeresgruppe Kurland''. On 8 May 1945, ''Neidenfels'' was seized by British Forces at

, Germany. She was passed to the Ministry of War Transport and renamed ''Empire Dee''. On 7 June, she was delivered to

Methil Methil () is a coastal town in Fife, Scotland. Methil has ancient origins: two Bronze Age cemeteries have been discovered which date the settlement as over 8,000 years old. The town was first recorded as "Methkil" in 1207, and belonged to ...

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 ...

. She was declared to be a

prize of war 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 ...

. ''Empire Dee'' was placed under the management of William Thompson & Co Ltd and her port of registry was changed to

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 ...

180594 and Code Letters GDNS were allocated. Her port of registry was changed to

. (Enter GDNS or Empire Dee in relevant search box) ''Empire Dee'' arrived at

Suez Suez (, , , ) is a Port#Seaport, seaport city with a population of about 800,000 in north-eastern Egypt, located on the north coast of the Gulf of Suez on the Red Sea, near the southern terminus of the Suez Canal. It is the capital and largest c ...

Egypt Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...

on 6 May 1946 for transfer to the

. She was renamed ''Admiral Ushakov'' (Адмирал Ушаков). Her port of registry was

Odessa ODESSA is an American codename (from the German language, German: ''Organisation der ehemaligen SS-Angehörigen'', meaning: Organization of Former SS Members) coined in 1946 to cover Ratlines (World War II aftermath), Nazi underground escape-pl ...

and the Code Letters UKTB were allocated. In February 1948, ''Admiral Ushakov'' was the second Russian ship to deliver grain to the United Kingdom following the signing of a trade agreement between the United Kingdom and the Soviet Union. of

barley Barley (), a member of the grass family, is a major cereal grain grown in temperate climates globally. It was one of the first cultivated grains; it was domesticated in the Fertile Crescent around 9000 BC, giving it nonshattering spikele ...

were delivered to the Alexander Dock,

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 Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated ''Lancs'') is a ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Cumbria to the north, North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire to the east, Greater Manchester and Merseyside to the south, and the Irish Sea to ...

. In May 1951, ''Admiral Ushakov'' towed a

floating dock Floating may refer to: * a type of dental work performed on horse teeth * use of an isolation tank * the guitar-playing technique where chords are sustained rather than scratched * ''Floating'' (play), by Hugh Hughes * Floating (psychological p ...

from

Vladivostok Vladivostok ( ; , ) is the largest city and the administrative center of Primorsky Krai and the capital of the Far Eastern Federal District of Russia. It is located around the Zolotoy Rog, Golden Horn Bay on the Sea of Japan, covering an area o ...

to Odessa via

Singapore Singapore, officially the Republic of Singapore, is an island country and city-state in Southeast Asia. The country's territory comprises one main island, 63 satellite islands and islets, and one outlying islet. It is about one degree ...

, assisted by the

tug A tugboat or tug is a marine vessel that manoeuvres other vessels by pushing or pulling them, with direct contact or a tow line. These boats typically tug ships in circumstances where they cannot or should not move under their own power, suc ...

''Vasley Beslaev''. With the introduction of

IMO Number The IMO number of the International Maritime Organization is a generic term with two distinct applications: * the IMO ship identification number is a unique ship identifier; or, * the IMO company and registered owner identification number is u ...

s. ''Admiral Ushakov'' was allocated IMO 5003021. In 1972, her port of registry was changed to

Illichivsk Chornomorsk (, ), formerly Illichivsk (), is a city in Odesa Raion, Odesa Oblast, south-western Ukraine, dependent on the Port of Chornomorsk. It hosts the administration of Chornomorsk urban hromada, one of the hromadas of Ukraine. The city ...

(in Russian Ilyichovsk, today

Chornomorsk Chornomorsk (, ), formerly Illichivsk (), is a city in Odesa Raion, Odesa Oblast, south-western Ukraine, dependent on the Port of Chornomorsk. It hosts the administration of Chornomorsk urban hromada, one of the hromadas of Ukraine. The city ...

). ''Admiral Ushakov'' arrived at

on 8 October 1975 for scrapping.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Admirak Ushakov 1938 ships Ships built in Bremen (state) Merchant ships of Germany Cargo liners World War II merchant ships of Germany Empire ships Ministry of War Transport ships Merchant ships of the United Kingdom Merchant ships of the Soviet Union Ships of Black Sea Shipping Company Ships of the Soviet Union