''Hoxie'' was a 4,714 ton cargo ship which was built in 1918. She was renamed ''Empire Albatross'' in 1940. In 1942, she was renamed ''Belgian Fisherman''. In 1946 she was renamed ''Belgique'' and then ''Martha Hendrik Fisser'' in 1950. She was scrapped in 1958.

History

Pre Second World War

''Hoxie'' was built by

Bethlehem Steel Corporation The Bethlehem Steel Corporation was an American steelmaking company headquartered in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. Until its closure in 2003, it was one of the world's largest steel-producing and shipbuilding companies. At the height of its success ...

, at Sparrows Point, Baltimore, as Emergency Fleet Corporation (EFC) hull number 4182. She was launched on 7 December 1918 and completed in March 1919. She was owned by the

United States Shipping Board The United States Shipping Board (USSB) was a corporation established as an emergency agency by the 1916 Shipping Act (39 Stat. 729), on September 7, 1916. The United States Shipping Board's task was to increase the number of US ships supporting ...

. ''Hoxie'' was chartered by the Baltimore Steam Ship Co in the 1920s. She passed to the

United States Maritime Commission The United States Maritime Commission was an independent executive agency of the U.S. federal government that was created by the Merchant Marine Act of 1936, which was passed by Congress on June 29, 1936, and was abolished on May 24, 1950. The co ...

in 1937.

War service

''Hoxie'' 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 ...

in 1940 and was renamed ''Empire Albatross'', under the management of Sir W Reardon Smith & Sons,

Cardiff Cardiff (; ) is the capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of Wales. Cardiff had a population of in and forms a Principal areas of Wales, principal area officially known as the City and County of Ca ...

. Management later passed to Dene Management Co. She was a member of a number of convoys. ;HX 145 Convoy HX 145 sailed from Halifax,

Nova Scotia Nova Scotia is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada, located on its east coast. It is one of the three Maritime Canada, Maritime provinces and Population of Canada by province and territory, most populous province in Atlan ...

on 16 August 1941 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 31 August. ;SC 74 Convoy SC 74 sailed from Halifax on 12 March 1942 and arrived at Liverpool on 28 March. ''Empire Albatross'' was carrying a cargo of steel and trucks. Her final destination was

Hull Hull may refer to: Structures * The hull of an armored fighting vehicle, housing the chassis * Fuselage, of an aircraft * Hull (botany), the outer covering of seeds * Hull (watercraft), the body or frame of a sea-going craft * Submarine hull Ma ...

. In 1942, ''Empire Albatross'' was sold to the

Belgian Government The Federal Government of Belgium ( ; ; ) exercises executive power in the Kingdom of Belgium. It consists of ministers and secretaries of state ("junior", or deputy-ministers who do not sit in the Council of Ministers) drawn from the polit ...

and renamed ''Belgian Fisherman'', under the management of L Dens et Compagnie,

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 ...

. On 28 February 1944, ''Belgian Fisherman'' was damaged in a collision with the SS ''Grodno'' near Safi en route to Gibraltar.

Post war

In 1946 ''Belgian Fisherman'' was sold to the Compagnie Royale Belgo-Argentine SA, Antwerp and renamed ''Belgique''. In 1950, ''Belgique'' was sold for scrapping to Van Heyghen Frères,

Gent Gent is a shortened form of the word gentleman. It may also refer to: * Ghent ( Dutch: Gent), a Belgian city ** K.A.A. Gent, a football club from Ghent ** K.R.C. Gent, a football club from Ghent ** Gent RFC, a rugby club in Ghent ** .gent, ...

, who resold her to Hendrik Fisser AG,

Emden Emden () is an Independent city (Germany), independent town and seaport in Lower Saxony in the north-west of Germany and lies on the River Ems (river), Ems, close to the Germany–Netherlands border, Netherlands border. It is the main town in t ...

who renamed her ''Martha Hendrik Fisser''. She served with them for eight years. ''Martha Hendrik Fisser'' was sold for scrapping to Walter Ritscher who resold her to Eckhardt & Co She was scrapped at

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 ...

in the first quarter of 1958.

Official Number 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 ...

. ''Hoxie'' had the American

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 ...

217613 and used the code letters LQBF. ''Empire Albatross'' had the

168090 on

Lloyds Register Lloyd's Register Group Limited, trading as Lloyd's Register (LR), is a technical and professional services organisation and a maritime classification society, wholly owned by the Lloyd’s Register Foundation, a UK charity dedicated to research ...

and used the code letters GNLF.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hoxie 1918 ships Ships built in San Francisco Merchant ships of the United States Steamships of the United States Ministry of War Transport ships Steamships of the United Kingdom World War II merchant ships of Belgium Steamships of Belgium Merchant ships of West Germany Steamships of West Germany Ships built in Sparrows Point, Maryland