''Empire Buckler'' 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. ...

which was built in 1941 by Lithgows Ltd for the Ministry of War Transport (MoWT). Postwar she was sold into merchant service, being renamed ''Ovingdean Grange'', ''Sabrina'', and ''Noemi'', serving until she ran aground in 1965 and was declared a constructive total loss.

Description

''Empire Buckler'' was built by Lithgows Ltd,

Port Glasgow Port Glasgow (, ) is the second-largest town in the Inverclyde council area of Scotland. The population according to the 1991 census for Port Glasgow was 19,426 persons and in the 2001 census was 16,617 persons. The most recent census in 2011 s ...

. She was yard number 979. Launched on 30 June 1942, she was completed in September 1942. The ship was long, with a beam of and a depth of . She was propelled by a triple expansion steam engine which had cylinders of , , and bore by stroke. The engine was built by D Rowan & Co Ltd,

Glasgow Glasgow is the Cities of Scotland, most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in Strathclyde, west central Scotland. It is the List of cities in the United Kingdom, third-most-populous city in the United Kingdom ...

. The ship had a speed of . She had a GRT of 7,046 with a NRT of 4,906. Her DWT was 9,959.

Career

Wartime

''Empire Buckler's'' port of registry was

Greenock Greenock (; ; , ) is a town in Inverclyde, Scotland, located in the west central Lowlands of Scotland. The town is the administrative centre of Inverclyde Council. It is a former burgh within the historic county of Renfrewshire, and forms ...

. She was operated under the management of Houlder Brothers Ltd. She 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 ...

. ;KMS 2 Convoy KMS 2 departed from Loch Ewe on 25 October 1942, with sections sailing from

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 ...

and the Clyde on 26 October. It arrived at

Gibraltar Gibraltar ( , ) is a British Overseas Territories, British Overseas Territory and British overseas cities, city located at the southern tip of the Iberian Peninsula, on the Bay of Gibraltar, near the exit of the Mediterranean Sea into the A ...

on 10 November,

Oran Oran () is a major coastal city located in the northwest of Algeria. It is considered the second most important city of Algeria, after the capital, Algiers, because of its population and commercial, industrial and cultural importance. It is w ...

Algeria Algeria, officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It is bordered to Algeria–Tunisia border, the northeast by Tunisia; to Algeria–Libya border, the east by Libya; to Alger ...

, on 11 November, and

Algiers Algiers is the capital city of Algeria as well as the capital of the Algiers Province; it extends over many Communes of Algeria, communes without having its own separate governing body. With 2,988,145 residents in 2008Census 14 April 2008: Offi ...

on 12 November. ''Empire Buckler'' was carrying a cargo of 600 tons of

petrol Gasoline (North American English) or petrol ( Commonwealth English) is a petrochemical product characterized as a transparent, yellowish, and flammable liquid normally used as a fuel for spark-ignited internal combustion engines. When formul ...

, 843 tons of stores, and nine troops. On 27 October, ''Empire Buckler'' hauled out from the convoy as her cargo had shifted. She later rejoined the convoy. ;MKS 3X Convoy MKS 3X departed Bône, Algeria, on 3 December 1942, and arrived at Liverpool on 19 December. ''Empire Buckler'' joined the convoy at Gibraltar. On 14 December, ''Empire Buckler'' lost her propeller and was adrift for several days. She arrived at

Swansea Swansea ( ; ) is a coastal City status in the United Kingdom, city and the List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, second-largest city of Wales. It forms a Principal areas of Wales, principal area, officially known as the City and County of ...

under tow on 20 December. ;MKS 9 Convoy MKS 9 departed Bône on 4 March 1943, and Algiers on 6 March. It arrived at Liverpool on 18 March. ''Empire Buckler'' was likely a member of this convoy. On 24 February 1944, ''Empire Buckler'' was sighted at by , but the submarine was being pursued at the time and was unable to attack. ''U-66'' reported the sighting to .

Postwar

In 1946, ''Empire Buckler'' was sold to Houlder Bros and renamed ''Ovingdean Grange''. She served Houlder's until 1959 when she was sold to Devon Shipping Co,

Liberia Liberia, officially the Republic of Liberia, is a country on the West African coast. It is bordered by Sierra Leone to Liberia–Sierra Leone border, its northwest, Guinea to Guinea–Liberia border, its north, Ivory Coast to Ivory Coast–Lib ...

, and renamed ''Sabrina''. She was operated under the management of Empresa Navigacion Proamar SRL,

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 ...

. In 1961, she was sold to Compagnia Navigazione Marcasa SA and renamed ''Noemi''. She was reflagged to

Lebanon Lebanon, officially the Republic of Lebanon, is a country in the Levant region of West Asia. Situated at the crossroads of the Mediterranean Basin and the Arabian Peninsula, it is bordered by Syria to the north and east, Israel to the south ...

and operated under the management of J Livanos & Sons 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 ...

. On 17 December 1965, ''Noemi'' ran aground at Masirah,

Oman Oman, officially the Sultanate of Oman, is a country located on the southeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula in West Asia and the Middle East. It shares land borders with Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Yemen. Oman’s coastline ...

, and was declared a constructive total loss. The wreckage of the ship was then partially salvaged.

Official Numbers and Code Letters

Official Numbers were a forerunner to IMO Numbers. ''Empire Buckler'', and ''Ovingdean Grange'' 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 ...

168987. ''Sabrina'' had the Liberian

1354 ''Empire Buckler'' and ''Ovingdean Grange'' 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 ...

BCVV.

Culture and media

''Empire Buckler'' under tow after the loss of her propeller is the subject of a painting by Montague Dawson.

References

External links

Photo of ''Ovingdean Grange''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Empire Buckler 1942 ships Ships built on the River Clyde Empire ships Ministry of War Transport ships Steamships of the United Kingdom Merchant ships of the United Kingdom Steamships of Liberia Merchant ships of Liberia Steamships of Lebanon Merchant ships of Lebanon Maritime incidents in 1965