''Ricardor Manuel'' was an coaster which was built in 1940 by Goole Shipbuilding & Repairing Co Ltd,

Goole Goole is a port town and civil parish on the River Ouse, Yorkshire, River Ouse in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. The town's Historic counties of England, historic county is the West Riding of Yorkshire. At the 2021 United Kingdom censu ...

as ''Empire Cliff'' 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). In 1945 she was sold and renamed ''Marna''. A further sale in 1960 saw her renamed ''Harcliff''. In 1963, she was sold to a

Panama Panama, officially the Republic of Panama, is a country in Latin America at the southern end of Central America, bordering South America. It is bordered by Costa Rica to the west, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean Sea to the north, and ...

nian company and renamed ''Ricardo Manuel''. She sank in 1971 after a collision with another ship at the entrance to

Casablanca Casablanca (, ) is the largest city in Morocco and the country's economic and business centre. Located on the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic coast of the Chaouia (Morocco), Chaouia plain in the central-western part of Morocco, the city has a populatio ...

harbour,

Morocco Morocco, officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It has coastlines on the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to Algeria–Morocc ...

Description

The ship was built by Goole Shipbuilding & Repairing Co Ltd, Goole as yard number 357. She was launched on 16 October 1940 and completed in December. The ship was long, with a beam of and a depth of . She had a GRT of 873 and a NRT of 459. The ship was propelled by a 2-stroke Single Cycle 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 ...

, which had seven cylinders of diameter by stroke. The engine was built by British Auxiliaries Ltd, Glasgow.

History

''Empire Cliff'' was built for the MoWT. She was placed under the management of F T Everard & Co Ltd. Her port of registry was Goole. 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 ...

MLPK and 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 ...

164908 were allocated. In 1946, ''Empire Cliff'' was sold to The South Georgia Co Ltd. She was renamed ''Marna'', placed under the management of Christian Salvesen & Co Ltd and her port of registry was changed to

Leith Leith (; ) is a port area in the north of Edinburgh, Scotland, founded at the mouth of the Water of Leith and is home to the Port of Leith. The earliest surviving historical references are in the royal charter authorising the construction of ...

. In 1960, ''Marna'' was sold to Hargreaves Coal & Shipping Co Ltd,

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 ...

and was renamed ''Harcliff''. In 1963, ''Harcliff'' was sold to Comonave Cia de Portuguesa de Navegação Ltda,

and was renamed ''Ricardo Manuel''. On 4 September 1971, ''Ricardo Manuel'' was in collision with the Moroccan registered in foggy conditions at the entrance to Casablanca harbour. She was cut in two and sunk. ''Ricardo Manuel'' was inbound to Casablanca from

Lisbon Lisbon ( ; ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 567,131, as of 2023, within its administrative limits and 3,028,000 within the Lisbon Metropolitan Area, metropolis, as of 2025. Lisbon is mainlan ...

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. Featuring Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point in continental Europe, Portugal borders Spain to its north and east, with which it share ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ricardo Manuel 1940 ships Ships built in Goole Empire ships Ministry of War Transport ships Merchant ships of the United Kingdom Merchant ships of Panama Maritime incidents in 1971