HMS ''Rocksand'' was an infantry landing ship in service with the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against F ...

during the late stages of 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 vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. She was launched in 1943 as ''Cape Argos'' and renamed ''Empire Anvil'' before being taken into Royal Navy service. Postwar she reverted to ''Empire Anvil'' and then ''Cape Argos'' and back to ''Empire Anvil'' again. She spent ten years laid up before resuming service as ''Hai Ya'' and ''Fu Ming'' before being scrapped in 1974.

Career

Wartime

HMS ''Rocksand'' was built by

Consolidated Steel Corporation Consolidated Steel Corporation (formed 18 December 1928) was an American steel and shipbuilding business. Consolidated built ships during World War II in two locations: Wilmington, California and Orange, Texas. It was created in 1929 by the merg ...

, Wilmington,

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

as the ''Cape Argos'', and transferred under the terms of

lend lease Lend-Lease, formally the Lend-Lease Act and introduced as An Act to Promote the Defense of the United States (), was a policy under which the United States supplied the United Kingdom, the Soviet Union and other Allied nations with food, oil, ...

shortly after being completed in late 1943 under the name ''Empire Anvil''. She was taken over by the Ministry of War Transport in 1944 and operated by Furness, Withy & Co. At the

Normandy Landings The Normandy landings were the landing operations and associated airborne operations on Tuesday, 6 June 1944 of the Allied invasion of Normandy in Operation Overlord during World War II. Codenamed Operation Neptune and often referred to as ...

, she and a sister ship ''

Empire Javelin SS ''Empire Javelin'' was an Infantry Landing Ship or "LSI (Large)" in service with the UK in the latter part of the Second World War. Launched on 25 October 1943, she was a United States Maritime Commission C1-S-AY1 subtype, one of thirtee ...

'', were carrying US troops for

Omaha Beach Omaha Beach was one of five beach landing sectors designated for the amphibious assault component of operation Overlord during the Second World War. On June 6, 1944, the Allies invaded German-occupied France with the Normandy landings. "Omaha" r ...

. In November 1944 she was requisitioned by the

Admiralty Admiralty most often refers to: *Admiralty, Hong Kong * Admiralty (United Kingdom), military department in command of the Royal Navy from 1707 to 1964 *The rank of admiral * Admiralty law Admiralty can also refer to: Buildings *Admiralty, Tr ...

and commissioned as HMS ''Rocksand'', under which name she served out the remainder of the war.

Post war

HMS ''Rocksand'' participated in the reoccupation of the

Nicobar Islands The Nicobar Islands are an archipelagic island chain in the eastern Indian Ocean. They are located in Southeast Asia, northwest of Aceh on Sumatra, and separated from Thailand to the east by the Andaman Sea. Located southeast of the Indian s ...

in October 1945, after which she was returned to the Ministry of War Transport in 1946, which briefly returned her to Furness, Withy & Co under her original name of ''Empire Anvil''. By June 1946 she had been returned to the

US Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage of ...

. In May 1947, ''Empire Anvil'' transported 1,300

Ukrainian Ukrainian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Ukraine * Something relating to Ukrainians, an East Slavic people from Eastern Europe * Something relating to demographics of Ukraine in terms of demography and population of Ukraine * So ...

refugee A refugee, conventionally speaking, is a displaced person who has crossed national borders and who cannot or is unwilling to return home due to well-founded fear of persecution.

s from

Venice Venice ( ; it, Venezia ; vec, Venesia or ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400 ...

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

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 ...

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a historic county, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significantly. The non-metropolitan county of Lancashi ...

. She was operated from 1947 by the United States Maritime Commission, under her original name of ''Cape Argos'', until 1948. It was then arranged that she would be sold to

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

, and she was renamed ''Hai Ya'' in preparation. The arrangement was subsequently cancelled due to the Communist take over and also she was not paid for, and by 1950 she had been renamed ''Empire Anvil'' and was laid up in the

James River The James River is a river in the U.S. state of Virginia that begins in the Appalachian Mountains and flows U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map , accessed April 1, 2011 to Chesapea ...

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...

. She returned to service on 27 July 1960, when the deal finally went ahead. She was renamed ''Hai Ya'', and entered service with the China Merchants Steam Navigation Co., of

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 ...

. She sailed with them until 1973, when she was sold to Yang Ming Marine Transport Corporation, and renamed ''Fu Ming''. She had a brief career with them, being scrapped at

Keelung Keelung () or Jilong () (; Hokkien POJ: '), officially known as Keelung City, is a major port city situated in the northeastern part of Taiwan. The city is a part of the Taipei–Keelung metropolitan area, along with its neighbors, New Taipe ...

in 1974.

Notes

References

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Rocksand (F184) Type C1-S ships Ships built in Los Angeles 1943 ships Empire ships Troop ships of the Royal Navy Ministry of War Transport ships Steamships of the United Kingdom Merchant ships of the Republic of China Steamships of the Republic of China Merchant ships of the United States Steamships of the United States