''Empire Curzon'' was a cargo that was built in 1943 by John Readhead & Sons Ltd,

Sunderland, Co Durham Sunderland () is a port city in Tyne and Wear, England. It is the City of Sunderland's administrative centre and in the Historic counties of England, historic county of County of Durham, Durham. The city is from Newcastle-upon-Tyne and is on t ...

for the Ministry of War Transport (MoWT). She had a short career, running aground in September 1944 and then being laid up before being sold for scrap in December 1945.

Description

The ship was built in 1943 by John Readhead & Sons Ltd,

Sunderland Sunderland () is a port city in Tyne and Wear, England. It is the City of Sunderland's administrative centre and in the Historic counties of England, historic county of County of Durham, Durham. The city is from Newcastle-upon-Tyne and is on t ...

. She was Yard Number 538. The ship was long, with a beam of . She was assessed at , Her DWT was 10,280. The ship was propelled by a triple expansion steam engine.

History

''Empire Curzon'' was launched on 24 December 1943 and completed in February 1944. 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 ...

169055 and

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 ...

GFTP were allocated. Her port of registry was

South Shields South Shields () is a coastal town in South Tyneside, Tyne and Wear, England. It is on the south bank of the mouth of the River Tyne. Historically, it was known in Roman times as Arbeia, and as Caer Urfa by Early Middle Ages. According to the 20 ...

. (Enter GFTP or Empire Curzon in relevant search box) She was placed under the management of R Chapman & Son Ltd. ''Empire Curzon'' departed from the

Tyne Tyne may refer to: __NOTOC__ Geography * River Tyne, England *Port of Tyne, the commercial docks in and around the River Tyne in Tyne and Wear, England *River Tyne, Scotland * River Tyne, a tributary of the South Esk River, Tasmania, Australia Peop ...

on her maiden voyage on 29 February 1944, joining Convoy FN 1281, which had departed from Southend, Essex that day and arrived the following day 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 3 March, she joined Convoy EN 353, which arrived at Loch Ewe two days later. ''Empire Curzon'' then joined Convoy ON 227, which had departed from Liverpool, Lancashire on 8 March and arrived at

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

, United States on 22 March. She was equipped with anti-torpedo nets. She departed from New York on 1 April as a member of Convoy NG 426, which arrived at

Guantánamo Bay Guantánamo Bay ( es, Bahía de Guantánamo) is a bay in Guantánamo Province at the southeastern end of Cuba. It is the largest harbor on the south side of the island and it is surrounded by steep hills which create an enclave that is cut off ...

, Cuba on 8 April. ''Empire Curzon'' then sailed to Cape Trujillo and San Pedro de Macorís, Dominican Republic before returning to Guantánamo Bay. On 28 April, ''Empire Curzon'' departed from Guantánamo Bay as a member of Convoy GN 129, which arrived at New York on 5 May. On 10 May, she departed New York as a member of Convoy HX 291, which arrived at Liverpool on 27 May. She was carrying a cargo of

sugar Sugar is the generic name for sweet-tasting, soluble carbohydrates, many of which are used in food. Simple sugars, also called monosaccharides, include glucose, fructose, and galactose. Compound sugars, also called disaccharides or double ...

. ''Empire Curzon'' departed from Liverpool on 15 July bound for

Milford Haven Milford Haven ( cy, Aberdaugleddau, meaning "mouth of the two Rivers Cleddau") is both a town and a community in Pembrokeshire, Wales. It is situated on the north side of the Milford Haven Waterway, an estuary forming a natural harbour that has ...

Pembrokeshire Pembrokeshire ( ; cy, Sir Benfro ) is a Local government in Wales#Principal areas, county in the South West Wales, south-west of Wales. It is bordered by Carmarthenshire to the east, Ceredigion to the northeast, and the rest by sea. The count ...

, arriving on 17 July. She departed the next day as a member of Convoy EBC 45, arriving at the

Seine Bay The Baie de Seine (Bay of the Seine River) is a bay in northern France. Geography It is a wide, rectangular inlet of the English Channel, approximately 100 kilometres (east-west) by 45 kilometres, bounded in the west by the Cotentin Peninsula, in ...

, France on 20 July. She departed from the Seine Bay on 3 August, joining convoy FTM 56, which arrived at Southend two days later. She then joined Convoy FN 1440, which departed Southend that day and arrived at Methil on 7 August. She left the convoy at

Hull Hull may refer to: Structures * Chassis, of an armored fighting vehicle * Fuselage, of an aircraft * Hull (botany), the outer covering of seeds * Hull (watercraft), the body or frame of a ship * Submarine hull Mathematics * Affine hull, in affi ...

, Yorkshire, arriving on 7 August. ''Empire Curzon'' departed from Hull on 17 August, joining Convoy FS 1547 off Spurn Head. The convoy had departed from Methil that day and arrived at Southend on 19 August. She then joined Convoy ETM 67, which arrived at the Seine Bay on 28 August. On 2 September 1944, ''Empire Curzon'' ran aground off Normandy in bad weather. She was driven onto the wreck of the . She was refloated and towed to Southampton, arriving on 25 September. It was found that her bottom was extensively damaged. On 27 October, she was towed to Falmouth, Cornwall, where she was laid up. In November 1945, ''Empire Curzon'' was sold for scrap. ''Empire Curzon'' departed from Falmouth under tow on 14 December 1945. She arrived at

Briton Ferry Briton Ferry ( cy, Llansawel) is a town and community in the county borough of Neath Port Talbot, Wales. The Welsh name may indicate that the church, ''llan'', is protected from the wind, ''awel''. Alternatively, ''Sawel'' may be a derivative ...

, West Glamorgan on 16 December for scrapping.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Empire Curlew 1943 ships Ships built on the River Wear Empire ships Ministry of War Transport ships Steamships of the United Kingdom Maritime incidents in September 1944