''Theresia L M Russ'' 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 ...

that was built in 1927 by Neptun AG, Rostock, Germany for Ernst Russ. She was requisitioned by the

Kriegsmarine The (, ) was the navy of Germany from 1935 to 1945. It superseded the Imperial German Navy of the German Empire (1871–1918) and the inter-war (1919–1935) of the Weimar Republic. The was one of three official branches, along with the a ...

for two years during the Second World War. In 1944, she was sunk by bombing at Gotenhafen, German occupied Poland. The ship was raised and repaired in 1945. She was seized by the Allies at Copenhagen and passed to the Ministry of War Transport (MoWT) and renamed ''Empire Concrete''. In 1946, she was passed to the Dutch Government and renamed ''Velsen''. She was sold into merchant service in 1947 and renamed ''Cronenburgh''. In 1955, she was sold to Italy and renamed ''Astor'' under Panamanian management. She served until scrapped in 1970.

Description

The ship was built in 1927 by Neptun AG, Rostock, as yard number 413. The ship was long, with a beam of a depth of . She had a GRT of 1,6964 and a NRT of 993. Her DWT was 2,658. The ship was propelled by a triple expansion steam engine, which had two cylinders of , and diameter by stroke. The engine was built by AG Neptun. The engine was supplied with steam from two boilers with a total heating area of , operating at . The engine could propel her at .

History

''Theresia L M Russ'' was built for Ernst Russ, Hamburg. 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 ...

RGNK were allocated. She made her maiden voyage on 20 December 1927. On 26 July 1932, ''Theresa L M Russ'' rescued the 40 survivors from the Reichsmarine training

schooner A schooner () is a type of sailing vessel defined by its rig: fore-and-aft rigged on all of two or more masts and, in the case of a two-masted schooner, the foremast generally being shorter than the mainmast. A common variant, the topsail schoon ...

''Niobe'', which had capsized off Fehmarn in a squall. In 1934, her Code Letters were changed to DHXN. On 14 August 1938, the

French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...

steamship struck a mine and sank south east of

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 ...

. ''Theresia L M Russ'' rescued her crew of 14, who had taken to the lifeboats. They were landed at Gibraltar. On 9 April 1940, ''Theresia L M Russ'' was requisitioned at Bergen, Norway by the

. She was returned to Ernst Russ on 29 April. On 15 August 1940, she was again requisitioned by the Kriegsmarine. On 9 December 1941, ''Theresia L M Russ'' was one of seven ships in a convoy travelling from

Kirkenes Kirkenes (; ; Skolt Sami: ''Ǩeârkknjargg;'' fi, Kirkkoniemi; ; russian: Киркенес) is a List of towns and cities in Norway, town in Sør-Varanger Municipality in Troms og Finnmark county, in the far northeastern part of Norway. The town ...

, Norway to Tromsø, Norway when the convoy was attacked by and was sunk. ''Theresia L M Russ'' was returned to her owners on 23 May 1942. She was damaged in an air raid on 26 February 1944 at Helsinki, Finland. On 18 December 1944, ''Theresia L M Russ'' was sunk in a Royal Air Force raid on Gotenhafen, German-occupied Poland. On 13 January 1945, she entered

dry dock A dry dock (sometimes drydock or dry-dock) is a narrow basin or vessel that can be flooded to allow a load to be floated in, then drained to allow that load to come to rest on a dry platform. Dry docks are used for the construction, maintenance, ...

for repairs. ''Theresia L M Russ'' was seized by the Allies in May 1945 at

Flensburg Flensburg (; Danish, Low Saxon: ''Flensborg''; North Frisian: ''Flansborj''; South Jutlandic: ''Flensborre'') is an independent town (''kreisfreie Stadt'') in the north of the German state of Schleswig-Holstein. Flensburg is the centre of the ...

. She arrived at

Methil Methil (Scottish Gaelic: Meadhchill) is an eastern coastal town in Scotland. It was first recorded as "Methkil" in 1207, and belonged to the Bishop of St Andrews. Two Bronze Age cemeteries have been discovered which date the settlement as ov ...

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 ...

on 4 July 1945. ''Theresia L M Russ'' was passed to the MoWT and renamed ''Empire Concrete''. Her port of registry was London. The Code Letter GLOL and 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 ...

180708 were allocated. She was operated under the management of Stockwood, Rees & Co Ltd. On 25 October 1946, ''Empire Concrete'' was transferred to the Dutch Government and renamed ''Velsen''. She was placed under the management of Wm Müller & Co NV, Rotterdam. On 9 February 1947, ''Velsen'' was sold to Müllers and renamed ''Cronenburgh''. Her port of registry was changed to Rotterdam and the Code Letters PDMW were allocated. On 20 July 1948, ''Cronenburgh'' grounded on a voyage between

Stockholm Stockholm () is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, largest city of Sweden as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in Scandinavia. Approximately 980,000 people liv ...

and Mäntyluoto, Finland. It was subsequently discovered that she was leaking and she was drydocked for repairs. In 1955, ''Cronenburgh'' was sold to U Gennari & Co, Italy. She was operated under the management of Compania de Navigation Caribbean Cargo Carriers SA, Panama and was renamed ''Astor''. When IMO Numbers were introduced, ''Astor'' was allocated number 5102755. On 15 February 1970, ''Astor'' was on a voyage from

Algiers Algiers ( ; ar, الجزائر, al-Jazāʾir; ber, Dzayer, script=Latn; french: Alger, ) is the capital and largest city of Algeria. The city's population at the 2008 Census was 2,988,145Census 14 April 2008: Office National des Statistiques ...

Oran Oran ( ar, وَهران, Wahrān) is a major coastal city located in the north-west of Algeria. It is considered the second most important city of Algeria after the capital Algiers, due to its population and commercial, industrial, and cultural ...

when she suffered damage to her boilers. She was sold on 9 March 1970 to Industry Varie SJV,

La Spezia La Spezia (, or , ; in the local Spezzino dialect) is the capital city of the province of La Spezia and is located at the head of the Gulf of La Spezia in the southern part of the Liguria region of Italy. La Spezia is the second largest city ...

, Italy and arrived there under tow. Scrapping commenced on 23 March 1970.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Theresia L M Russ 1927 ships Ships built in Rostock Steamships of Germany Merchant ships of Germany Maritime incidents in 1932 World War II merchant ships of Germany Auxiliary ships of the Kriegsmarine Maritime incidents in December 1944 Maritime incidents in 1948 Ministry of War Transport ships Empire ships Steamships of the United Kingdom Merchant ships of the United Kingdom Ships sunk by British aircraft Steamships of the Netherlands Merchant ships of the Netherlands Steamships of Panama Merchant ships of Panama