The ''Bernhard Blumenfeld'' 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 seas and oceans each year, handling the bulk of international trade. Cargo ships are usu ...

that was completed in 1921 as the SS ''Dalewood'' by Eltringham's, Ltd., Willington on Tyne,

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. She was sold to a German company in 1923 and renamed the ''Bernhard Blumenfeld''. She was sold again in 1938 and renamed the ''Carl Jüngst''. This ship was seized by the

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...

in the port of

Kiel, Germany Kiel () is the capital and most populous city in the northern Germany, German state of Schleswig-Holstein, with a population of 246,243 (2021). Kiel lies approximately north of Hamburg. Due to its geographic location in the southeast of the J ...

, in May 1945 and given 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 Transport ...

which renamed her the ''Empire Durant''. In 1946, she was donated to the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...

and there renamed the ''Tambov''. She was deleted from the

Soviet The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

shipping registries in 1958.

Description

This ship was built in 1921 by Eltringham's, Ltd., Willington on Tyne,

. This ship was long, with a beam of . She had a draft of and a draught of . She was assessed at , . Her DWT was 4,450. This ship was propelled by a 288

nominal horsepower Horsepower (hp) is a unit of measurement of power, or the rate at which work is done, usually in reference to the output of engines or motors. There are many different standards and types of horsepower. Two common definitions used today are the ...

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 ...

that had cylinders of , and diameter by stroke. The engine was built by Eltringham's.

History

''Dalewood'' was built in 1921 for W France, Fenwick & Co, Ltd., London. She was completed in August. The United Kingdom

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 ...

146080 was allocated. (Enter GMQJ or Empire Durent in relevant search box - ''Note'' the typo Durent.) In 1923, she was sold to the B. Blumenfeld Kommandit Gesellschaft auf Aktien, Hamburg and renamed ''Bernhard Blumenfeld''. The Code Letters RDSN were allocated and her port of registry was Hamburg. With the change of Code Letters in 1934, she was allocated DHCG. In 1938, the ''Bernhard Blumenfeld'' was sold to the Krupp Reederei und Kohlenhandel GmbH,

Essen Essen (; Latin: ''Assindia'') is the central and, after Dortmund, second-largest city of the Ruhr, the largest urban area in Germany. Its population of makes it the fourth-largest city of North Rhine-Westphalia after Cologne, Düsseldorf and D ...

and renamed the ''Carl Jüngst''. Her Code Letters and port of registry remained unchanged. In May 1945, the ''Carl Jüngst'' was seized by the

. Declared a

war prize A prize of war is a piece of enemy property or land seized by a belligerent party during or after a war or battle, typically at sea. This term was used nearly exclusively in terms of captured ships during the 18th and 19th centuries. Basis in inte ...

, she was passed to the MoWT and renamed the SS ''Empire Durant''. She regained her

146080 and was allocated the Code Letters GMQJ. She was assessed as , . In 1946, the ''Empire Durant'' was donated to the

. She was renamed the ''Tambov'', serving as the

mother ship A mother ship, mothership or mother-ship is a large vehicle that leads, serves, or carries other smaller vehicles. A mother ship may be a maritime ship, aircraft, or spacecraft. Examples include bombers converted to carry experimental airc ...

for Soviet fishing fleets. In May 1950, the ''Tambov'', along with 30 trawlers, called at

Mount's Bay Mount's Bay ( kw, Baya an Garrek) is a large, sweeping bay on the English Channel coast of Cornwall, United Kingdom, stretching from the Lizard Point to Gwennap Head. In the north of the bay, near Marazion, is St Michael's Mount; the origin o ...

Cornwall Cornwall (; kw, Kernow ) is a historic county and ceremonial county in South West England. It is recognised as one of the Celtic nations, and is the homeland of the Cornish people. Cornwall is bordered to the north and west by the Atlantic ...

, for refueling. This fleet was on a voyage from the

Baltic Sea The Baltic Sea is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that is enclosed by Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, Sweden and the North and Central European Plain. The sea stretches from 53°N to 66°N latitude and from ...

to the

Black Sea The Black Sea is a marginal mediterranean sea of the Atlantic Ocean lying between Europe and Asia, east of the Balkans, south of the East European Plain, west of the Caucasus, and north of Anatolia. It is bounded by Bulgaria, Georgia, Roma ...

, where they were to fish for

sprat Sprat is the common name applied to a group of forage fish belonging to the genus ''Sprattus'' in the family Clupeidae. The term also is applied to a number of other small sprat-like forage fish (''Clupeoides'', ''Clupeonella'', '' Corica'', ' ...

s. ''Tambov'' was deleted from shipping registers in 1958.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bernhard Blumenfeld 1921 ships Ships built on the River Tyne Steamships of the United Kingdom Merchant ships of the United Kingdom Steamships of Germany Merchant ships of Germany World War II merchant ships of Germany Empire ships Ministry of War Transport ships Steamships of the Soviet Union Merchant ships of the Soviet Union