''Argobeam'' was a

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 in 1945 as ''Empire Calshot'' for 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). In 1946 she was sold and renamed ''Derrycunihy''. A further sale in 1952 saw her renamed ''Argobeam''. In August 1955 an engine room fire left her listing 40° to port and she was abandoned. She was salvaged, repaired and sold, being renamed ''Parkgate''. In 1960 she was sold to

Panama Panama ( , ; es, link=no, Panamá ), officially the Republic of Panama ( es, República de Panamá), is a transcontinental country spanning the southern part of North America and the northern part of South America. It is bordered by Cos ...

and renamed ''Panagos'', serving until scrapped in 1968.

Description

The ship was built by

Burntisland Shipbuilding Company The Burntisland Shipbuilding Company was a shipbuilder and repairer in Burntisland, Fife, Scotland that was founded in 1918. In 1969 it was taken over by Robb-Caledon Shipbuilders, which in turn was nationalised in 1977 as part of British Ship ...

Ltd,

Burntisland Burntisland ( , sco, also Bruntisland) is a former royal burgh and parish in Fife, Scotland, on the northern shore of the Firth of Forth. According to the 2011 census, the town has a population of 6,269. It was previously known as Wester Kingho ...

Fife Fife (, ; gd, Fìobha, ; sco, Fife) is a council area, historic county, registration county and lieutenancy area of Scotland. It is situated between the Firth of Tay and the Firth of Forth, with inland boundaries with Perth and Kinross (i ...

, Scotland, as yard number 289. She was launched on 10 July 1945 and completed in November. The ship was long, with a beam of and a depth of . She had a GRT of 7,130 and a NRT of 4,860. She was propelled by a two-stroke, single cycle single action

diesel engine The diesel engine, named after Rudolf Diesel, is an internal combustion engine in which ignition of the fuel is caused by the elevated temperature of the air in the cylinder due to mechanical compression; thus, the diesel engine is a so-call ...

which had three cylinders of diameter by stroke.

History

''Empire Calshot'' was built for the MoWT. She was operated under the management of H Hogarth & Sons Ltd. ''Empire Calshot'' was allocated the United Kingdom

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 ...

180352. Her port of registry was Burntisland. In 1946, she was sold to McCowan & Gross Ltd,

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

and renamed ''Derrycunihy'', serving until 1952 when she was sold to Argobeam Shipping Co Ltd, London and renamed ''Argobeam''. She was placed under the management of A Luisi Ltd, London. On 19 August 1955, a fire in her engine room left ''Argobeam'' listing 40° to port and the ship was abandoned. She was taken in tow by the tug ''Salveda'' on 21 August, involving a rescue mission of

Sea Captain A sea captain, ship's captain, captain, master, or shipmaster, is a high-grade licensed mariner who holds ultimate command and responsibility of a merchant vessel.Aragon and Messner, 2001, p.3. The captain is responsible for the safe and efficie ...

John Nordlander John Leonard Nordlander (1894–1961) was a Swedish sea captain and Commander commissioned by the shipping line Swedish American Line, crossing the Atlantic Ocean 532 times. During World War II, while serving as Master of , Captain Nordlander wa ...

, arriving at

Stromness Stromness (, non, Straumnes; nrn, Stromnes) is the second-most populous town in Orkney, Scotland. It is in the southwestern part of Mainland Orkney. It is a burgh with a parish around the outside with the town of Stromness as its capital. E ...

Orkney Islands Orkney (; sco, Orkney; on, Orkneyjar; nrn, Orknøjar), also known as the Orkney Islands, is an archipelago in the Northern Isles of Scotland, situated off the north coast of the island of Great Britain. Orkney is 10 miles (16 km) north ...

on 25 August. Following pumping out, she was towed to

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( or .; da, København ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a proper population of around 815.000 in the last quarter of 2022; and some 1.370,000 in the urban area; and the wider Copenhagen metropolitan ar ...

Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark ...

to discharge her cargo and then to

Hamburg (male), (female) en, Hamburger(s), Hamburgian(s) , timezone1 = Central (CET) , utc_offset1 = +1 , timezone1_DST = Central (CEST) , utc_offset1_DST = +2 , postal ...

. During their time on board ''Salveda'' the crew of ''Argobeam'' smoked a number of

duty-free A duty-free shop (or store) is a retail outlet whose goods are exempt from the payment of certain local or national taxes and duties, on the requirement that the goods sold will be sold to travelers who will take them out of the country, w ...

cigarette A cigarette is a narrow cylinder containing a combustible material, typically tobacco, that is rolled into thin paper for smoking. The cigarette is ignited at one end, causing it to smolder; the resulting smoke is orally inhaled via the opp ...

s, which were being shipped from the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

as part of ''Argobeams'' cargo. The unsmoked cigarettes were declared on arrival at Broad Bay,

Isle of Lewis The Isle of Lewis ( gd, Eilean Leòdhais) or simply Lewis ( gd, Leòdhas, ) is the northern part of Lewis and Harris, the largest island of the Western Isles or Outer Hebrides archipelago in Scotland. The two parts are frequently referred to as ...

, and initially no action was taken. As ''Salveda'' was considered to be "British soil" by

HM Customs and Excise HM Customs and Excise (properly known as Her Majesty's Customs and Excise at the time of its dissolution) was a department of the British Government formed in 1909 by the merger of HM Customs and HM Excise; its primary responsibility was the ...

and not entitled to have duty-free goods on board, officials later demanded the surrender of the unsmoked cigarettes and demanded £7 7s 3d in

duty A duty (from "due" meaning "that which is owing"; fro, deu, did, past participle of ''devoir''; la, debere, debitum, whence "debt") is a commitment or expectation to perform some action in general or if certain circumstances arise. A duty may ...

. Captain Watson paid the duty himself, pledging to fight for the return of the money. ''Argobeam'' was sold to Turnbull, Scott & Co, London, who had her repaired and renamed ''Parkgate''. In 1960, she was sold to Compagnia Navigazione Patlem SA,

and renamed ''Panagos''. She was operated under the management of G Lemos,

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders with ...

, flying the Lebanese flag. ''Panagos'' was scrapped in 1968 in

Shanghai Shanghai (; , , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ) is one of the four direct-administered municipalities of the People's Republic of China (PRC). The city is located on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the Huangpu River flow ...

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 ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Argobeam 1945 ships Ships built in Scotland Empire ships Ministry of War Transport ships Merchant ships of the United Kingdom Steamships of the United Kingdom Merchant ships of Lebanon Steamships of Lebanon Maritime incidents in 1955