SS ''Empire Comfort'' was a convoy rescue ship which was launched in 1944 as HMS ''York Castle'' a

corvette A corvette is a small warship. It is traditionally the smallest class of vessel considered to be a proper (or " rated") warship. The warship class above the corvette is that of the frigate, while the class below was historically that of the slo ...

, but was renamed ''Empire Castle'' and converted for merchant service before completion by

Ferguson Brothers (Port Glasgow) Ltd. Ferguson Marine (Port Glasgow) Limited is a shipbuilding company whose yard, located in Port Glasgow on the Firth of Clyde in Scotland, was established in 1903. It is the last remaining shipbuilder on the lower Clyde and is currently the only ...

Port Glasgow Port Glasgow ( gd, Port Ghlaschu, ) is the second-largest town in the Inverclyde council area of Scotland. The population according to the 1991 census for Port Glasgow was 19,426 persons and in the 2001 census was 16,617 persons. The most recen ...

as yard number 372. She was launched on 20 September 1944. The ship was long, with a beam of and a draught of .

History

The ship was completed in December 1944 as ''Empire Comet'' for the Ministry of War Transport (MoWT). She was placed under the management of Ellerman City Line. ''Empire Comfort'' 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 ...

. ;OS 113 Convoy OS 113 departed the Clyde and The Downs on 25 February 1945. It dispersed at sea on 1 March 1945. ''Empire Comfort'' made her first voyage as a convoy rescue ship as a member of this convoy. ;MKS 85G Convoy MKS 85G departed

Gibraltar ) , anthem = " God Save the King" , song = " Gibraltar Anthem" , image_map = Gibraltar location in Europe.svg , map_alt = Location of Gibraltar in Europe , map_caption = United Kingdom shown in pale green , mapsize = , image_map2 = Gib ...

on 24 February 1945 bound for the United Kingdom. ''Empire Comfort'' was employed as a convoy rescue ship for this convoy. ;OS 116 Convoy OS 116 departed from the Clyde and The Downs on 12 March 1945. It dispersed at on 17 March. ''Empire Comfort'' was a member of this convoy. ;MKS 88G Convoy MKS 88G departed from

Casablanca Casablanca, also known in Arabic as Dar al-Bayda ( ar, الدَّار الْبَيْضَاء, al-Dār al-Bayḍāʾ, ; ber, ⴹⴹⴰⵕⵍⴱⵉⴹⴰ, ḍḍaṛlbiḍa, : "White House") is the largest city in Morocco and the country's econom ...

Morocco Morocco (),, ) officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the westernmost country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to ...

on 11 March 1945 bound for the United Kingdom. ''Empire Comfort'' was employed as a convoy rescue ship for this convoy. ;OS 121 Convoy OS 121 departed from the Clyde on 7 April 1945 and dispersed at sea on 14 April. ''Empire Comfort'' was employed as a convoy rescue ship for this convoy.> ;MKS 93G Convoy MKS 93G departed from Gibraltar on 5 April 1945 bound for the United Kingdom. ''Empire Comfort'' was employed as a convoy rescue ship for this convoy. In 1948, ''Empire Comfort'' was in the

Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on the e ...

where she was working under the control of the

Middle East Command Middle East Command, later Middle East Land Forces, was a British Army Command established prior to the Second World War in Egypt. Its primary role was to command British land forces and co-ordinate with the relevant naval and air commands to ...

. ''Empire Comfort'' was used as a troopship between

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 ...

, Egypt and

Famagusta Famagusta ( , ; el, Αμμόχωστος, Ammóchostos, ; tr, Gazimağusa or ) is a city on the east coast of Geography of Cyprus, Cyprus. It is located east of Nicosia District, Nicosia and possesses the deepest harbour of the island. Duri ...

, Cyprus and also between Port Said and Tobruk, Libya. She was used in this role from July 1948 to at least February 1949. In 1954, ''Empire Comfort'' was laid up at Falmouth, Cornwall. In June 1955, ''Empire Comfort'', along with and were offered for sale "as lying at Falmouth". In July 1955, she was sold to Belgian buyers and towed to

Antwerp Antwerp (; nl, Antwerpen ; french: Anvers ; es, Amberes) is the largest city in Belgium by area at and the capital of Antwerp Province in the Flemish Region. With a population of 520,504,

. It was intended that she would be converted for service in the Belgian Congo, but she was scrapped in December 1955 at Ghent.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Empire Comfort Ships built on the River Clyde Empire ships Castle-class corvettes 1944 ships Steamships of the United Kingdom Merchant ships of the United Kingdom

History

See also

References