''Empire Beaumont'' was a British

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 ...

which was built by Furness Shipbuilding Ltd,

Haverton Hill-on-Tees Haverton Hill is an area within the borough of Stockton-on-Tees and ceremonial county of County Durham, England. Once considered a part of Billingham, Haverton Hill was once a thriving industrial community which has suffered significant depopulat ...

in 1942. She was owned by 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 ...

(MoWT) and managed by W Runciman & Co Ltd. ''Empire Beaumont'' had a short career, being sunk on 13 September 1942 while a member of

Convoy PQ 18 Convoy PQ 18 was an Arctic convoy of forty Allied freighters from Scotland and Iceland to Arkhangelsk in the Soviet Union in the war against Nazi Germany. The convoy departed Loch Ewe, Scotland on 2 September 1942, rendezvoused with more ships an ...

Description

''Empire Beaumont'' was built by Furness Shipbuilding Co Ltd, Haverton Hill-on-Tees. She was yard number 345 and was laid down on 15 August 1941 ''Empire Beatrice'' was launched on 31 March 1942 and completed in June that year. She had a GRT of 7,044. Her port of registry was

Middlesbrough Middlesbrough ( ) is a town on the southern bank of the River Tees in North Yorkshire, England. It is near the North York Moors national park. It is the namesake and main town of its local borough council area. Until the early 1800s, the a ...

. ''Empire Beaumont'' was managed by W Runciman & Co Ltd for the MoWT.

Career

''Empire Beaumont'' was a member of a number of convoys during the Second World War. ;UR 32 onvoy UR 32 sailed from

Loch Ewe Loch Ewe ( gd, Loch Iùbh) is a sea loch in the region of Wester Ross in the Northwest Highlands of Scotland. The shores are inhabited by a traditionally Gàidhlig-speaking people living in or sustained by crofting villages, the most notab ...

on 11 July 1942 and was destined for

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 ...

, Iceland. Arrival was on or about 16 July. ;PQ 18

sailed from Loch Ewe on 2 September 1942 and arrived at

Archangelsk Arkhangelsk (, ; rus, Арха́нгельск, p=ɐrˈxanɡʲɪlʲsk), also known in English as Archangel and Archangelsk, is a city and the administrative center of Arkhangelsk Oblast, Russia. It lies on both banks of the Northern Dvina near i ...

on 12 September. At 15:15 on 13 September, ''Empire Beaumont'' was attacked by

Heinkel He 111 The Heinkel He 111 is a German airliner and bomber designed by Siegfried and Walter Günter at Heinkel Flugzeugwerke in 1934. Through development, it was described as a "wolf in sheep's clothing". Due to restrictions placed on Germany after th ...

aircraft of KG26 and

torpedo A modern torpedo is an underwater ranged weapon launched above or below the water surface, self-propelled towards a target, and with an explosive warhead designed to detonate either on contact with or in proximity to the target. Historically, su ...

ed. ''Empire Beaumont'' was still afloat at 16:45 although it was believed that she had sunk by 18:30. Thirty-three survivors were rescued by . The majority of them were transferred to and five were landed at Archangelsk for transfer to . Those lost on ''Empire Beaumont'' are commemorated at the

Tower Hill Memorial The Tower Hill Memorial is a pair of Commonwealth War Graves Commission memorials in Trinity Square Gardens, on Tower Hill in London, England. The memorials, one for the First World War and one for the Second, commemorate civilian, merchant seaf ...

, London.

Official Numbers 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 Beaumont'' 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 ...

164854 and used the Code Letters BDWD.

Propulsion

''Empire Beaumont'' was propelled by a

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 ...

which had cylinders of , , and diameter by stroke. It was built by Richardsons, Westgarth & Co Ltd,

Hartlepool Hartlepool () is a seaside and port town in County Durham, England. It is the largest settlement and administrative centre of the Borough of Hartlepool. With an estimated population of 90,123, it is the second-largest settlement in County ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Empire Beaumont 1942 ships Ships built on the River Tees Empire ships Ministry of War Transport ships Steamships of the United Kingdom Ships sunk by German aircraft World War II shipwrecks in the Arctic Ocean Maritime incidents in September 1942