''Empire Buckler'' was a cargo ship which was built in 1941 by Lithgows Ltd 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). 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 ( gd, Port Ghlaschu, ) 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 rece ...

. 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 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 he ...

which had cylinders of , , and bore by stroke. The engine was built by D Rowan & Co Ltd,

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated pop ...

. 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 (; sco, Greenock; gd, Grianaig, ) is a town and administrative centre in the Inverclyde council area in Scotland, United Kingdom and a former burgh within the historic county of Renfrewshire, located in the west central Lowlands of ...

. 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, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

. ;KMS 2 Convoy KMS 2 departed from

Loch Ewe Loch Ewe ( gd, Loch Iùbh) is a sea loch in the region of Wester Ross in the Northwest Highlands of Scotland. The shores are inhabited by a traditionally Gàidhlig-speaking people living in or sustained by crofting villages, the most notab ...

on 25 October 1942, with sections sailing from

Liverpool Liverpool is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the List of English districts by population, 10th largest English district by population and its E ...

and the Clyde on 26 October. It arrived at Gibraltar on 10 November, Oran,

Algeria ) , image_map = Algeria (centered orthographic projection).svg , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Algiers , coordinates = , largest_city = capital , religi ...

, on 11 November, and Algiers on 12 November. ''Empire Buckler'' was carrying a cargo of 600 tons of

petrol Gasoline (; ) or petrol (; ) (see ) is a transparent, petroleum-derived flammable liquid that is used primarily as a fuel in most spark-ignited internal combustion engines (also known as petrol engines). It consists mostly of organic c ...

, 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 Annaba ( ar, عنّابة, "Place of the Jujubes"; ber, Aânavaen), formerly known as Bon, Bona and Bône, is a seaport city in the northeastern corner of Algeria, close to the border with Tunisia. Annaba is near the small Seybouse Rive ...

, 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 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 its northwest, Guinea to its north, Ivory Coast to its east, and the Atlantic Ocean to its south and southwest. It ...

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

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, t ...

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

Lebanon Lebanon ( , ar, لُبْنَان, translit=lubnān, ), officially the Republic of Lebanon () or the Lebanese Republic, is a country in Western Asia. It is located between Syria to Lebanon–Syria border, the north and east and Israel to Blue ...

and operated under the management of J Livanos & Sons Ltd,

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

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

Masirah Masirah Island ( ar, جَزِيْرَة مَصِيْرَة, Jazīrat Maṣīrah), also referred to as Mazeira Island or ''Wilāyat Maṣīrah'' ( ar, وِلَايَة مَصِيْرَة), is an island off the east coast of mainland Oman in the ...

Oman Oman ( ; ar, عُمَان ' ), officially the Sultanate of Oman ( ar, سلْطنةُ عُمان ), is an Arabian country located in southwestern Asia. It is situated on the southeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula, and spans the mouth of ...

, 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 IMO or Imo may refer to: Biology and medicine * Irish Medical Organisation, the main organization for doctors in the Republic of Ireland * Intelligent Medical Objects, a privately held company specializing in medical vocabularies * Isomaltoolig ...

. ''Empire Buckler'', and ''Ovingdean Grange'' had the UK

Official Number Official numbers are ship identifier numbers assigned to merchant ships by their 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 have sometimes ...

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 and today also. Later, with the i ...

BCVV.

Culture and media

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

Montague Dawson Montague Dawson RSMA, FRSA (1890–1973) was a British painter who was renowned as a maritime artist. His most famous paintings depict sailing ships, usually clippers or warships of the 18th and 19th centuries. Life Montague Dawson was the so ...

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