''British Bombardier'' was an tanker which was built in 1942 as ''Empire Fusilier'' and completed as ''Empire Bombardier''. She was built 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); postwar, she was sold to British Tanker Co Ltd, serving until she was scrapped in 1959.

Description

''Empire Fusilier'' was built by Harland and Wolff Ltd,

Belfast Belfast (, , , ; from ) is the capital city and principal port of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan and connected to the open sea through Belfast Lough and the North Channel (Great Britain and Ireland), North Channel ...

. She was yard number 1158, and was launched on 8 August 1942. She was completed in February 1943 as ''Empire Bombardier''. The ship was long, with a beam of and a depth of . She was propelled by a four stroke, 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 eight cylinders of bore by stroke. The engine was built by Harland & Wolff.

Career

The MoWT placed ''Empire Bombardier'' under the management of Dodd, Thomson & Co Ltd. Her port of registry was Belfast. ''Empire Bombardier'' was a member of a number of convoys during 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 ...

. ;HX 242 Convoy HX 242 departed

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

on 31 May 1943 and arrived at

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 ...

on 15 June. ''Empire Bombardier'' was bound for the

Stanlow Refinery Stanlow Refinery is an oil refinery owned by Essar Energy in Ellesmere Port, North West England. Until 2011, it was owned by Shell UK. The refinery is situated on the south bank of the Manchester Ship Canal, which is used to transport seabor ...

Ellesmere Port Ellesmere Port ( ) is a port town in the Cheshire West and Chester borough in Cheshire, England. Ellesmere Port is on the south-eastern edge of the Wirral Peninsula, north of Chester, on the bank of the Manchester Ship Canal. In the 2021 Unite ...

. ;HX 304 Convoy HX 304 departed New York on 17 August 1944 and arrived at Liverpool on 1 September. ''Empire Bombardier'' was bound for

Thameshaven Shell Haven was a port on the north bank of the Thames Estuary at the eastern end of Thurrock, Essex, England and then an oil refinery. The refinery closed in 1999 and the site was purchased by DP World who received planning consent in May 2007 ...

. In 1946, ''Empire Bombardier'' was sold to the British Tanker Co Ltd and renamed ''British Bombardier''. Her port of registry was changed to London. In 1955, the British Tanker Company was renamed to BP Tanker Company. She served until 1959, when she was sold for scrap to a firm in Tamise,

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 ...

. She arrived for scrapping on 15 March 1959.

Official Numbers and Code Letters

Official Numbers were a forerunner to

IMO Numbers 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 us ...

. The ship had the UK

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 ...

168521. ''Empire Bombardier'' used 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 ...

BFJY. ''British Bombardier'' is recorded as using the same code letters in 1946.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:British Bombardier 1942 ships Ships built in Belfast Ministry of War Transport ships Empire ships World War II tankers Tankers of the United Kingdom Ships built by Harland and Wolff