SS Gloria (1917)
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''Empire Conveyor'' was a shelter deck
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 1917 as ''Farnworth'' by Richardson, Duck and Company,
Thornaby-on-Tees Thornaby-on-Tees, commonly referred to as Thornaby, is a town and Civil parishes in England, civil parish in North Yorkshire, England, north of York and south-east of Middlesbrough. On the south bank of the River Tees, Thornaby falls within th ...
,
England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...
. After a sale in 1924 she was renamed ''Illinois''. In 1926, she was sold to
France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...
, and in 1934 to
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 ...
and was renamed ''Mount Pentelikon''. In 1939, she was sold to
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 ...
and was renamed ''Gloria''. At the outbreak of the Second World War she was in
Buenos Aires Buenos Aires, controlled by the government of the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Argentina. It is located on the southwest of the Río de la Plata. Buenos Aires is classified as an Alpha− glob ...
,
Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...
. She tried to return to Germany but was captured by the
Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the naval warfare force of the United Kingdom. It is a component of His Majesty's Naval Service, and its officers hold their commissions from the King of the United Kingdom, King. Although warships were used by Kingdom ...
, 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 Conveyor''. She served until 20 June 1940 when she was
torpedo A modern torpedo is an underwater ranged weapon launched above or below the water surface, self-propelled towards a target, with an explosive warhead designed to detonate either on contact with or in proximity to the target. Historically, such ...
ed and sunk by off
Barra Head Barra Head, also known as Berneray (), is the southernmost island of the Outer Hebrides in Scotland. Within the Outer Hebrides, it forms part of the Barra Isles archipelago. Originally, Barra Head only referred to the southernmost headland ...
.


Description

The ship was long, with a beam of . She had a depth of and a draught of . She was assessed at , . The ship had nine corrugated furnaces with a combined grate area of heating her three single-ended 180 lbf/in2 boilers, which had a combined heating surface of . The boilers fed a 440 NHP
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 ...
that was built by Blair & Co Ltd of
Stockton-on-Tees Stockton-on-Tees is a market town in County Durham, England, with a population of 84,815 at the 2021 UK census. It gives its name to and is the largest settlement in the wider Borough of Stockton-on-Tees. It is part of Teesside and the Tees Val ...
. It had cylinders of , and diameter, by stroke and could propel the ship at .


History

Richardson, Duck and Company of
Thornaby-on-Tees Thornaby-on-Tees, commonly referred to as Thornaby, is a town and Civil parishes in England, civil parish in North Yorkshire, England, north of York and south-east of Middlesbrough. On the south bank of the River Tees, Thornaby falls within th ...
built ''Farnworth'' was built for R.S. Dalgleish Ltd,
Newcastle upon Tyne Newcastle upon Tyne, or simply Newcastle ( , Received Pronunciation, RP: ), is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. It is England's northernmost metropolitan borough, located o ...
and completed her in June 1917. She was allocated the United Kingdom Official Number 140672. ''Farnworth'' was used on routes serving the east and west coast of the
United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
, the
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and
West Indies The West Indies is an island subregion of the Americas, surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea, which comprises 13 independent island country, island countries and 19 dependent territory, dependencies in thr ...
. In 1924, she was sold to the Harlem Steamship Co Ltd, Newcastle upon Tyne and was renamed ''Illinois''. She was initially operated under the management of F Newson. Later in 1924, management was transferred to Brown, Jenkinson & Co Ltd. In 1926 she was transferred to
Compagnie Générale Transatlantique The Compagnie Générale Transatlantique (CGT, and commonly named "Transat"), typically known overseas as the French Line, was a French shipping company. Established in 1855 by the brothers Émile and Issac Péreire under the name ''Compagnie ...
. Her port of registry was
Le Havre Le Havre is a major port city in the Seine-Maritime department in the Normandy (administrative region), Normandy region of northern France. It is situated on the right bank of the estuary of the Seine, river Seine on the English Channel, Channe ...
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 ...
OTRW were allocated. On 17 March 1932, ''Illinois'' was laid up at
Roscanvel Roscanvel (; ) is a commune in the Finistère department of Brittany in north-western France. History List of Mayors Population Inhabitants of Roscanvel are called in French ''Roscanvelistes''. See also * Quélern *Communes of the F ...
. In 1934, ''Illinois'' was sold to Kulukundis Shipping Co,
Piraeus Piraeus ( ; ; , Ancient: , Katharevousa: ) is a port city within the Athens urban area ("Greater Athens"), in the Attica region of Greece. It is located southwest of Athens city centre along the east coast of the Saronic Gulf in the Ath ...
,
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 ...
and renamed ''Mount Pentelikon''. She was placed under the management of Rethymnis & Kulukundis Ltd. Her port of registry was changed to Piraeus and the Code Letters SVAV were allocated. In 1939, ''Mount Pentelikon'' was sold to Orion Schiffahrts
GmbH (; ) is a type of Juridical person, legal entity in German-speaking countries. It is equivalent to a (Sàrl) in the Romandy, French-speaking region of Switzerland and to a (Sagl) in the Ticino, Italian-speaking region of Switzerland. It is a ...
,
Rostock Rostock (; Polabian language, Polabian: ''Roztoc''), officially the Hanseatic and University City of Rostock (), is the largest city in the German States of Germany, state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and lies in the Mecklenburgian part of the sta ...
,
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 ...
. She was operated under the management of E Behnke. The Code Letters DHBB were allocated. At the outbreak of the Second World War ''Gloria'' was at
Buenos Aires Buenos Aires, controlled by the government of the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Argentina. It is located on the southwest of the Río de la Plata. Buenos Aires is classified as an Alpha− glob ...
,
Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...
. She departed Buenos Aires on 6 October, bound for
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 ...
. On 21 October she was captured south-east of
Iceland Iceland is a Nordic countries, Nordic island country between the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic and Arctic Oceans, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge between North America and Europe. It is culturally and politically linked with Europe and is the regi ...
() by , escorted into
Kirkwall Kirkwall (, , or ; ) is the largest town in Orkney, an archipelago to the north of mainland Scotland. First mentioned in the ''Orkneyinga saga'', it is today the location of the headquarters of the Orkney Islands Council and a transport hub wi ...
and then taken 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 ...
. During the voyage into Kirkwall, three of her crew attempted to escape by lifeboat but were recaptured and taken 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 ...
,
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 ...
. ''Gloria'' was passed to the MoWT and renamed ''Empire Conveyor''. Her port of registry was changed to London, and the Code Letters GLTN were allocated. ''Empire Conveyor'' regained her Official Number 140572. She was placed under the management of H Hogarth & Sons Ltd. On 20 June 1940, ''Empire Conveyor'' was
torpedo A modern torpedo is an underwater ranged weapon launched above or below the water surface, self-propelled towards a target, with an explosive warhead designed to detonate either on contact with or in proximity to the target. Historically, such ...
ed by south west of
Barra Head Barra Head, also known as Berneray (), is the southernmost island of the Outer Hebrides in Scotland. Within the Outer Hebrides, it forms part of the Barra Isles archipelago. Originally, Barra Head only referred to the southernmost headland ...
, Scotland at . Her radio aerials were damaged in the attack and ''Empire Conveyor'' was unable to call for assistance. She was spotted by a
Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the Air force, air and space force of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. It was formed towards the end of the World War I, First World War on 1 April 1918, on the merger of t ...
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 ...
aircraft, which attacked ''U-122'' and drove her away. The crew of the Sunderland raised the alarm, and the tug was sent to her aid, escorted by and . ''Empire Conveyor'' sank before the ships reached her. The crew took to the lifeboats and liferafts but one of them was swamped at launch, killing the captain, Finlay Macintyre,UK and Ireland, Masters and Mates, Certificates, 1850-1927, Certificate #0012007 for Finlay Black McIntyre as Master of a foreign-going steamship the second engineer and the cook. Thirty-eight survivors were rescued by HMS ''Campbell'' and landed 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 21 June. ''Empire Conveyor'' was the only ship sunk by ''U-122''. Those lost on ''Empire Conveyor'' are commemorated at the
Tower Hill Memorial The Tower Hill Memorial is a pair of Commonwealth War Graves Commission memorials in Trinity Square Gardens, on Tower Hill in London, England. The memorials, one for the First World War and one for the Second, commemorate civilian, merchant seaf ...
, London.


References


External links


Photo of ''Farnworth''Photo of ''Farnworth''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Empire Conveyor 1917 ships Empire ships Maritime incidents in October 1939 Maritime incidents in June 1940 Merchant ships of France Merchant ships of Germany Merchant ships of the United Kingdom Ministry of War Transport ships Shipwrecks of Scotland Ships of Counties Ship Management Ships of the Compagnie Générale Transatlantique Ships sunk by German submarines in World War II World War II shipwrecks in the Atlantic Ocean Steamships of France Steamships of Germany Steamships of the United Kingdom Ships built on the River Tees World War I merchant ships of the United Kingdom World War II merchant ships of Germany