SS ''Empire Abbey'' was a

refrigerated The term refrigeration refers to the process of removing heat from an enclosed space or substance for the purpose of lowering the temperature.International Dictionary of Refrigeration, http://dictionary.iifiir.org/search.phpASHRAE Terminology, ht ...

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 ...

built in 1943 and in service until 1966. She was also known as SS ''Teviot'', SS ''Ardilles'' and SS ''Tung An''.

History

War service

''Empire Abbey'' was built by Shipbuilding Corporation Ltd,

Newcastle upon Tyne Newcastle upon Tyne ( RP: , ), or simply Newcastle, is a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. The city is located on the River Tyne's northern bank and forms the largest part of the Tyneside built-up area. Newcastle is ...

for the MoWT and launched on 10 December 1943 and completed in March 1944. She was placed under the management of Elders & Fyffes Ltd. On 26 April 1944, ''Empire Abbey'' sailed from

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

as part of Convoy HX289, arriving in

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...

on 13 May. On 23 November 1944, ''Empire Abbey'' sailed from

Milford Haven Milford Haven ( cy, Aberdaugleddau, meaning "mouth of the two Rivers Cleddau") is both a town and a community in Pembrokeshire, Wales. It is situated on the north side of the Milford Haven Waterway, an estuary forming a natural harbour that has ...

as part of Convoy OS96 bound for

Gibraltar ) , anthem = " God Save the King" , song = " Gibraltar Anthem" , image_map = Gibraltar location in Europe.svg , map_alt = Location of Gibraltar in Europe , map_caption = United Kingdom shown in pale green , mapsize = , image_map2 = Gib ...

, ''Empire Abbey'' was in ballast, with a final destination of

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires ( or ; ), officially the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires ( es, link=no, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires), is the capital and primate city of Argentina. The city is located on the western shore of the Río de la Plata, on South ...

. On 15 February 1945, ''Empire Abbey'' was in a collision with Free French Ship ''L'Ardent'' in Cora Harbour which resulted in ''L'Ardent'' being sunk.

Postwar

In February 1946, ''Empire Abbey'', en route to Europe laden with food, was hit by a storm off

Newfoundland Newfoundland and Labrador (; french: Terre-Neuve-et-Labrador; frequently abbreviated as NL) is the easternmost province of Canada, in the country's Atlantic region. The province comprises the island of Newfoundland and the continental region ...

which lasted for over three weeks. On the 16th day of the storm, her propeller shaft broke off, leaving ''Empire Abbey'' drifting without propulsion. On the 24th day, the tug ''

Foundation Franklin SS ''Foundation Franklin'' was a seagoing salvage tug built for the Royal Navy as HMS ''Frisky'' in 1918. In 1924, the tugboat was sold and renamed ''Gustavo Ipland'' before being acquired in 1930 by Foundation Maritime and renamed ''Foundation ...

'' managed to take ''Empire Abbey'' in tow. A message was sent from ''Empire Abbey'' that the captain had died after thirteen days without sleep. In May 1946 she was sold to

Royal Mail Line The Royal Mail Steam Packet Company was a British shipping company founded in London in 1839 by a Scot, James MacQueen. The line's motto was ''Per Mare Ubique'' (everywhere by sea). After a troubled start, it became the largest shipping group ...

and renamed ''Teviot'', the third Royal Mail Line ship to bear that name. In 1959, ''Teviot'' was laid up. In 1960, ''Teviot'' was sold to Mullion & Co,

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China ( abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delt ...

and renamed ''Ardellis'', She was sold to Hai An Shipping Co in 1963 and being renamed ''Tung An''. She arrived for scrapping in

Kaohsiung Kaohsiung City (Mandarin Chinese: ; Wade–Giles: ''Kao¹-hsiung²;'' Pinyin: ''Gāoxióng'') is a special municipality located in southern Taiwan. It ranges from the coastal urban center to the rural Yushan Range with an area of . Kaohsi ...

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the nort ...

on 6 August 1967.

Official number 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 * Isomaltooligosa ...

. ''Empire Abbey'' 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 ...

169178 and 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 ...

BFKK.

References

External links

Photo of SS ''Teviot''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Empire Abbey 1943 ships Ships built on the River Tyne Empire ships Ministry of War Transport ships Merchant ships of the United Kingdom Steamships of the United Kingdom Merchant ships of Hong Kong Steamships of Hong Kong