''Empire Bard'' was a

heavy lift ship A heavy-lift ship is a vessel designed to move very large loads that cannot be handled by normal ships. They are of two types: *''Semi-submersible'' ships that take on water ballast to allow the load—usually another vessel—to be floated o ...

which was built in 1941 for the Ministry of War Transport (MoWT). She was sold in 1946 and renamed ''Angusburn'' and sold again in 1955 and renamed ''Brettenham''. After a career lasting 29 years she was scrapped in 1971.

History

''Empire Bard'' was built by Caledon Shipbuilding & Engineering Co Ltd,

Dundee Dundee (; sco, Dundee; gd, Dùn Dè or ) is Scotland's fourth-largest city and the 51st-most-populous built-up area in the United Kingdom. The mid-year population estimate for 2016 was , giving Dundee a population density of 2,478/km2 or ...

as yard number 369. She was launched on 30 December 1941 and completed in March 1942. ''Empire Bard'' was built for the MoWT and operated under the management of Dover Navigation Co Ltd.

War service

''Empire Bard'' 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 vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. She spent the war years in service in

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

. ;PQ 14 Convoy PQ 14, sailed from

Oban Oban ( ; ' in Scottish Gaelic meaning ''The Little Bay'') is a resort town within the Argyll and Bute council area of Scotland. Despite its small size, it is the largest town between Helensburgh and Fort William. During the tourist season, th ...

on 26 March 1942 and arrived at

Murmansk Murmansk (Russian: ''Мурманск'' lit. "Norwegian coast"; Finnish: ''Murmansk'', sometimes ''Muurmanski'', previously ''Muurmanni''; Norwegian: ''Norskekysten;'' Northern Sámi: ''Murmánska;'' Kildin Sámi: ''Мурман ланнҍ'') i ...

on 19 April. ''Empire Bard'' sailed from Loch Ewe on 27 March and arrived at

Reykjavík Reykjavík ( ; ) is the capital and largest city of Iceland. It is located in southwestern Iceland, on the southern shore of Faxaflói bay. Its latitude is 64°08' N, making it the world's northernmost capital of a sovereign state. With a po ...

on 31 March. She sailed from Hvalfjörður on 8 April and put into Akureyri on 13 April due to heavy pack ice and dense fog. She waited there until she was able to join Convoy PQ 15. ;PQ 15 Convoy PQ 15, departed Oban on 10 April 1942 and arrived at Murmansk on 5 May. As noted above, ''Empire Bard'' joined the convoy at Akureyri. ;RA 57 Convoy RA 57, departed the Kola Inlet on 2 March 1944 and arrived at Loch Ewe on 10 March. ''Empire Bard'' returned to ''Murmansk'' ''Empire Bard'' was judged to be capable of and the convoy's speed had to be reduced to accommodate this. She was supplied with the best coal available but on the morning of 5 March she was missing from the convoy. ''Empire Bard'' had put into Iokanka alleging steering trouble. She then sailed to the Kola Inlet, averaging with occasional bursts of when

U-boats U-boats were naval submarines operated by Germany, particularly in the First and Second World Wars. Although at times they were efficient fleet weapons against enemy naval warships, they were most effectively used in an economic warfare rol ...

were reported in the area. Only two of the agreed four escorts accompanied her on this voyage. ;RA 59A Convoy RA 59A, departed the Kola Inlet on 28 August 1944 and arrived at Loch Ewe on 5 September.

Postwar

In 1946, ''Empire Bard'' was sold to Dundee, Perth & London Shipping Co Ltd, Dundee and renamed ''Angusburn''. She was employed as general tramps, carrying various cargos such as

timber Lumber is wood that has been processed into dimensional lumber, including beams and planks or boards, a stage in the process of wood production. Lumber is mainly used for construction framing, as well as finishing (floors, wall panels, wi ...

from

Archangel Archangels () are the second lowest rank of angel in the hierarchy of angels. The word ''archangel'' itself is usually associated with the Abrahamic religions, but beings that are very similar to archangels are found in a number of other relig ...

iron ore Iron ores are rocks and minerals from which metallic iron can be economically extracted. The ores are usually rich in iron oxides and vary in color from dark grey, bright yellow, or deep purple to rusty red. The iron is usually found in the fo ...

from

North Africa North Africa, or Northern Africa is a region encompassing the northern portion of the African continent. There is no singularly accepted scope for the region, and it is sometimes defined as stretching from the Atlantic shores of Mauritania in ...

sugar Sugar is the generic name for sweet-tasting, soluble carbohydrates, many of which are used in food. Simple sugars, also called monosaccharides, include glucose, fructose, and galactose. Compound sugars, also called disaccharides or double ...

from

Jamaica Jamaica (; ) is an island country situated in the Caribbean Sea. Spanning in area, it is the third-largest island of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean (after Cuba and Hispaniola). Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, and west of His ...

and esparto grass from

Libya Libya (; ar, ليبيا, Lībiyā), officially the State of Libya ( ar, دولة ليبيا, Dawlat Lībiyā), is a country in the Maghreb region in North Africa. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to Egypt–Libya bo ...

. ''Angusburn'' served until 1955 when she was sold to Rederei A/B Hildegaard

Mariehamn Mariehamn ( , ; fi, Maarianhamina ; la, Portus Mariae) is the capital city, capital of Åland, an autonomous territory under Finland, Finnish sovereignty. Mariehamn is the seat of the Government of Åland, Government and Parliament of Åland, ...

and renamed ''Brettenham'', operated under the management of F Lundqvist,

Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...

. She served with them for sixteen years. ''Brettenham'' arrived on 14 April 1971 at Cartagena,

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

for scrapping.

Propulsion

She was propelled by a triple expansion steam engine which was built by North East Marine Engineering Company (1938) Ltd, Newcastle upon Tyne. She could make .

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 Bard'' 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 ...

166213 and 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 ...

BDPK.

References

External links

Photo of SS ''Brettenham''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Empire Bard 1941 ships Ships built in Dundee Empire ships Ministry of War Transport ships Steamships of the United Kingdom Merchant ships of Finland Steamships of Finland