SS ''Empire Adur'' was a 1,479 ton steamship which was built in 1920 as the ''Griffdu''. She was renamed ''Noyo'' in 1935 and in 1940 was sold to Thailand, being renamed ''Nang Suang Nawa'', being seized in 1942 and renamed ''Empire Adur''. She was sold to Thailand in 1948, reverting to ''Nang Suang Nawa'' and was lost at sea in 1955 while being towed to Hong Kong for scrapping.

History

''Griffdu'' was built by J. F. Duthie & Company, Seattle, Washington. She was the 37th and last ship built by Duthie. ''Griffdu'' was launched on 20 September 1920, and completed the following month. Her original owner was the Universal Steamship & Barge Co, Seattle. In 1925, ''Griffdu'' was sold to The Charles Nelson Co, San Francisco, serving with them for ten years. In 1935, ''Griffdu'' was sold to the Union Lumber Co, San Francisco, who renamed her ''Noyo''. She served for five years before being sold to the Thai Niyom Panich Co, (''Thai Navigation Co Ltd'') Bangkok, who reflagged her and renamed her ''Nang Suang Nawa''. In 1942, ''Nang Suang Nawa'' was seized, and passed to the Ministry of War Transport and renamed ''Empire Adur''. She was placed under the management of the Singapore Straits Steamship Company. ''Empire Adur'' was not a popular member of convoys due to the condition of her boilers, and the fact that she would belch black smoke and flames from her funnel. The convoy escorts threatened to ask ''Empire Adur'' to leave the convoy or sink her. Another of her faults was that the nut holding the steering wheel on often came loose, with the result that the wheel came off in the helmsman's hands. ''Empire Adur'' joined Convoy KMS 21 at

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on 29 July 1943, arriving at

Port Said Port Said ( ar, بورسعيد, Būrsaʿīd, ; grc, Πηλούσιον, Pēlousion) is a city that lies in northeast Egypt extending about along the coast of the Mediterranean Sea, north of the Suez Canal. With an approximate population of 6 ...

on 9 August. ''Empire Adur'' had a final destination of

Tripoli Tripoli or Tripolis may refer to: Cities and other geographic units Greece *Tripoli, Greece, the capital of Arcadia, Greece * Tripolis (region of Arcadia), a district in ancient Arcadia, Greece * Tripolis (Larisaia), an ancient Greek city in ...

and Alexandria. In 1948, ''Empire Adur'' was sold to the Thai Maritime Navigation Co, Bangkok and regained her former name of ''Nang Suang Nawa''. She served for a further seven years but went missing under tow by the Philippines registered tug ''Albacore'' to Hong Kong for scrapping. Both vessels were presumed lost. Her last reported position was north of the Paracel Islands at on 23 November 1955.

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 ...

. ''Griffdu'' and ''Noyo'' had the US Official Number 220755. ''Nang Suang Nawa'' and ''Empire Adur'' 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 ...

166215. ''Griffdu'' and ''Noyo'' 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 ...

KJLP. ''Nang Suang Nawa'' used the Code Letters VSTP. ''Empire Adur'' used the Code Letters BFBW.

References

External links

Photo
showing launch of SS ''Griffdu'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Empire Adur 1920 ships Steamships of the United States Merchant ships of the United States Steamships of the United Kingdom Empire ships Ministry of War Transport ships Steamships of Thailand Merchant ships of Thailand Steamships of Singapore Merchant ships of Singapore Missing ships People lost at sea Ships lost with all hands Maritime incidents in 1955