''Memel'' 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 1925 as ''Reval'' by Schiffs-und Dockbauwerft Flender AG, Lübeck, Germany for German owners. A sale in 1934 saw her renamed ''Memel''. She was seized by the Allies in May 1945, passed to the Ministry of War Transport (MoWT) and was renamed ''Empire Constellation''. In 1946, she was transferred to the Soviet Union and renamed ''Ivan Sechenov''.

Description

The ship was built in 1925 by Schiffs-und Dockbauwerft Flender AG, Lübeck. The ship was long, with a beam of and a depth of . The ship had a GRT of 1,102 and a NRT of 575. The ship was propelled by a triple expansion steam engine, which had cylinders of , and diameter by stroke. The engine was built by Waggon-und Maschinenbau AG,

Görlitz Görlitz (; pl, Zgorzelec, hsb, Zhorjelc, cz, Zhořelec, :de:Ostlausitzer Mundart, East Lusatian dialect: ''Gerlz'', ''Gerltz'', ''Gerltsch'') is a town in the Germany, German state of Saxony. It is located on the Lusatian Neisse River, and ...

History

''Reval'' was built for Lübeck Linie AG, Lübeck. Her port of registry was Lübeck. 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 ...

PCDL were allocated. In 1929, her captain was Walter Heinrich Giermann, who had previously captained the four-masted schooner ''Vaterland''. In 1934, ''Reval'' was sold to Mathies Reederei, Hamburg and was renamed ''Memel'' after the Baltic port ceded to Lithuania after World War I. Her port of registry was changed to Hamburg and the Code Letters DRBK were allocated. In May 1945, ''Memel'' was seized by the Allies 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 was passed to the MoWT and renamed ''Empire Constellation''. Her port of registry was changed to London and she was placed under the management of J Hay & Sons Ltd. The Code Letters GKTC 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 ...

180774 were allocated. In 1946, ''Empire Constellation'' was transferred to the Soviet Union, and was renamed ''Ivan Gegenov''. On 14 January 1977, the ship, now renamed ''Ivan Sechenov'', sank after colliding with the

Liberia Liberia (), officially the Republic of Liberia, is a country on the West African coast. It is bordered by Sierra Leone to Liberia–Sierra Leone border, its northwest, Guinea to its north, Ivory Coast to its east, and the Atlantic Ocean ...

n cargo ship in

fog Fog is a visible aerosol consisting of tiny water droplets or ice crystals suspended in the air at or near the Earth's surface. Reprint from Fog can be considered a type of low-lying cloud usually resembling stratus, and is heavily influ ...

gy conditions in the Sea of Marmara, Turkey, with the loss of 22 crew.

Notes

Mitchell & Sawyer give the name as ''Ivan Sechenov'' (Ива́н Се́ченов), but it was recorded as ''Ivan Gegenov'' in contemporary shipping registers. It is possible that she was later renamed ''Ivan Sechenov'' or that ''Ivan Gegenov'' is an error.

References

External links

Photo of ''Ivan Sechenov''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Memel 1925 ships Ships built in Lübeck Steamships of Germany Merchant ships of Germany World War II merchant ships of Germany Ministry of War Transport ships Empire ships Steamships of the United Kingdom Merchant ships of the United Kingdom Steamships of the Soviet Union Merchant ships of the Soviet Union Soviet Union–United Kingdom relations Germany–Soviet Union relations Maritime incidents in 1977