''Brita'' was a

cargo ship A cargo ship or freighter is a merchant ship that carries cargo, goods, and materials from one port to another. Thousands of cargo carriers ply the world's List of seas, seas and Ocean, oceans each year, handling the bulk of international trade. ...

that was built in 1908 by Sunderland Shipbuilding Ltd,

Sunderland Sunderland () is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. It is a port at the mouth of the River Wear on the North Sea, approximately south-east of Newcastle upon Tyne. It is the most p ...

as ''Odland'' for Norwegian owners. A sale in 1922 saw her renamed ''Odland 1''. In 1928, she was sold to Sweden and renamed ''Brita''. She was seized by Germany in 1940 at

Bergen Bergen (, ) is a city and municipalities of Norway, municipality in Vestland county on the Western Norway, west coast of Norway. Bergen is the list of towns and cities in Norway, second-largest city in Norway after the capital Oslo. By May 20 ...

, Norway and impressed into service under the name ''Desiderus Siedler''. In May 1945, she was seized by the Allies at Copenhagen, 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 Connell''. In 1947, she was sold into merchant service and renamed ''Ballyholme Bay''. In 1951, she was sold to Hong Kong and renamed ''Laure Pattison''. She served until 1952, when she was scrapped.

Description

The ship was built in 1908 by Sunderland Shipbuilding Co Ltd, Sunderland. The ship was long, with a beam of . She had a depth of . The ship had a GRT of 1,252 and a NRT of 704. The ship was propelled by a

triple expansion 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 ...

, which had cylinders of , and diameter by . The engine was built by North East Marine Engine Co Ltd, Sunderland.

History

''Odland'' was built for Dampskibsakties Odland. She was placed under the management of H Fredriksen, Christiania. In June 1909, ''Odland'' was driven ashore in Murray Bay, Quebec, Canada. On 16 March 1920, ''Odland'' rescued the crew of the British

schooner A schooner ( ) is a type of sailing ship, sailing vessel defined by its Rig (sailing), rig: fore-and-aft rigged on all of two or more Mast (sailing), masts and, in the case of a two-masted schooner, the foremast generally being shorter than t ...

in the

English Channel The English Channel, also known as the Channel, is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that separates Southern England from northern France. It links to the southern part of the North Sea by the Strait of Dover at its northeastern end. It is the busi ...

, off

St Catherine's Point St Catherine's Point is the southernmost point on the Isle of Wight. It is close to the village of Niton and the point where the Back of the Wight changes to the Undercliff of Ventnor. On nearby St Catherine's Down is St Catherine's Orator ...

Isle of Wight The Isle of Wight (Help:IPA/English, /waɪt/ Help:Pronunciation respelling key, ''WYTE'') is an island off the south coast of England which, together with its surrounding uninhabited islets and Skerry, skerries, is also a ceremonial county. T ...

. The

Board of Trade The Board of Trade is a British government body concerned with commerce and industry, currently within the Department for Business and Trade. Its full title is The Lords of the Committee of the Privy Council appointed for the consideration of ...

awarded her captain a piece of plate for rescuing the crew of ''Rosa Harriette'', who had been adrift for 16 hours. In 1922, ''Odland'' was sold to Borre Dampskibsselskap AS and renamed ''Odland 1''. In 1924, she was sold to Dampskibs AS Martha and renamed ''Brita''. In 1928, she was sold to Rederi AB Väsby, Sweden. Her port of registry was changed to Lergerbet. 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 ...

KGNJ and Swedish

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 ...

7447 were allocated. ''Brita'' was operated under the management of Filip Ohlsson. In 1934, her code letters were changed to SDMI. On 9 April 1940, ''Brita'' was in port at

, Norway while on a voyage from Sweden to France with a cargo of

woodpulp Pulp is a fibrous lignocellulosic material prepared by chemically, semi-chemically, or mechanically isolating the cellulosic fibers of wood, fiber crops, waste paper, or rags. Mixed with water and other chemicals or plant-based additives, pul ...

when she was seized by German forces. She was transferred to a German port the following month and in December 1940 the

Prize Court A prize court is a court (or even a single individual, such as an ambassador or consul) authorized to consider whether prizes have been lawfully captured, typically whether a ship has been lawfully captured or seized in time of war or under the te ...

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 ...

declared that her cargo was contraband. Ownership of ''Brita'' was assumed by the German Government. ''Brita'' was renamed ''Desiderus Siedler'' and placed under the management of F G Rheingold, Danzig. In May 1945, ''Desiderus Siedler'' was seized by the Allies at Copenhagen. She was passed to the MoWT and renamed ''Empire Connell''. Her port of registry was changed to London and she was placed under the management of Charles M Willie & Co (Shipping) Ltd. The Code Letters GNMN and United Kingdom

were allocated. In 1947, ''Empire Connell'' was sold to H P Lenaghan & Sons Ltd, Belfast and was renamed ''Ballyholme Bay''. (Ballyholme Bay is off

Bangor, County Down Bangor ( ; ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city in County Down, Northern Ireland, on the southern side of Belfast Lough. It is within the Belfast metropolitan area and is 13 miles (22 km) east of Belfast city centre, to whic ...

, Northern Ireland, and US troops trained there for the

Normandy landings The Normandy landings were the landing operations and associated airborne operations on 6 June 1944 of the Allies of World War II, Allied invasion of Normandy in Operation Overlord during the Second World War. Codenamed Operation Neptune and ...

World War II 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 ...

.) In 1951, she was sold to Pattison Orient Line, Hong Kong and was renamed ''Laure Pattison'', serving until 1952 when she was scrapped.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Brita 1908 ships Ships built on the River Wear Steamships of Norway World War I merchant ships of Norway Steamships of Sweden Captured ships World War II merchant ships of Sweden Steamships of Germany World War II merchant ships of Germany Ministry of War Transport ships Empire ships Steamships of the United Kingdom Merchant ships of the United Kingdom Steamships of Hong Kong Merchant ships of Hong Kong