''Empire Fisher'' was a trawler that was built as ''Herrlichkeit'' ( en, Glory) in 1922 by

Reiherstieg Schiffswerfte & Maschinenfabrik Reiherstieg Schiffswerfte & Maschinenfabrik, also known as Reiherstiegwerft, was a German shipbuilding company, located on the Reiherstieg River in Hamburg. It was founded in 1706 by Lucas Kramer. In the 1880s, Reiherstieg built , the first wa ...

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

, Germany for the Nordsee Deutsche Hochsee Fischerei Bremen-Cuxhaven AG. She was captured in 1940 by , passed to the Ministry of War Transport (MoWT) and renamed ''Empire Fisher''. She was sold in 1948. Sold for scrapping in 1952, she was resold to Ireland and scrapped later that year.

Description

The ship was a trawler built in 1922 by

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

, Germany. She was yard number 549. As built, the ship was long, with a beam of . She had a depth of . She was assessed at , . The ship was propelled by a 58

nhp Horsepower (hp) is a unit of measurement of power, or the rate at which work is done, usually in reference to the output of engines or motors. There are many different standards and types of horsepower. Two common definitions used today are the ...

triple expansion steam engine A compound steam engine unit is a type of steam engine where steam is expanded in two or more stages. A typical arrangement for a compound engine is that the steam is first expanded in a high-pressure ''(HP)'' cylinder, then having given up he ...

, which had cylinders of , 23 inches (59 cm) and 32 inches (83 cm) diameter by 25 inches (64 cm) stroke. The engine was built by Reiherstieg Schiffswerfte & Maschinenfabrik. It drove a single screw

propeller A propeller (colloquially often called a screw if on a ship or an airscrew if on an aircraft) is a device with a rotating hub and radiating blades that are set at a pitch to form a helical spiral which, when rotated, exerts linear thrust upon ...

History

The ship was built by

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

in 1922 for the Nordsee Deutsche Hochsee Fischerei Bremen-Cuxhaven AG. She was launched on 29 June 1922. 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 ...

RCQV were allocated. Her port of registry was

Cuxhaven Cuxhaven (; ) is an independent town and seat of the Cuxhaven district, in Lower Saxony, Germany. The town includes the northernmost point of Lower Saxony. It is situated on the shore of the North Sea at the mouth of the Elbe River. Cuxhaven has ...

. In 1928, the ship was lengthened to . She was now , . With the change in Code Letters in 1934, ''Herrlichkeit'' was allocated the Code Letters DHLN. On 13 January 1940, ''Herrlichkeit'' was captured by off

Tromsø Tromsø (, , ; se, Romsa ; fkv, Tromssa; sv, Tromsö) is a List of municipalities of Norway, municipality in Troms og Finnmark county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the Tromsø (city), city of Tromsø. Tromsø lies ...

, Norway () . She was taken under escort with the intention of putting into

Aberdeen Aberdeen (; sco, Aiberdeen ; gd, Obar Dheathain ; la, Aberdonia) is a city in North East Scotland, and is the third most populous city in the country. Aberdeen is one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas (as Aberdeen City), and ...

. Due to the poor condition of the ship, she was taken in tow by HMS ''Glasgow'' as the weather deteriorated and they put into

Fraserburgh Fraserburgh (; sco, The Broch or ; gd, A' Bhruaich) is a town in Aberdeenshire (unitary), Aberdeenshire, Scotland with a population recorded in the United Kingdom Census 2011, 2011 Census at 13,100. It lies at the far northeast corner of Aber ...

Aberdeenshire Aberdeenshire ( sco, Aiberdeenshire; gd, Siorrachd Obar Dheathain) is one of the 32 Subdivisions of Scotland#council areas of Scotland, council areas of Scotland. It takes its name from the County of Aberdeen which has substantially differe ...

on 17 January. ''Herrlichkeit'' arrived at Aberdeen on 21 January. Her crew were interned and the 80 tonnes of fish on board was sold. She was declared a prize of war. was passed to the MoWT and renamed ''Empire Fisher''. 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 ...

167620 and Code Letters MJSL were allocated. She was placed under the management of H Markham Cook and her port of registry was

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 ...

. The fishing registration LO 315 was allocated. By 1944, ''Empire Fisher'' was under the management of the Boston Deep Sea Fishery & Ice Co Ltd, Fleetwood,

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a historic county, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significantly. The non-metropolitan county of Lancashi ...

. ''Empire Fisher'' was sold on 3 February 1948 to the Hunter Fishing Co Ltd,

and placed under the management of Robert Souza. On 26 February, she was registered at

Leith Leith (; gd, Lìte) is a port area in the north of the city of Edinburgh, Scotland, founded at the mouth of the Water of Leith. In 2021, it was ranked by '' Time Out'' as one of the top five neighbourhoods to live in the world. The earliest ...

Lothian Lothian (; sco, Lowden, Loudan, -en, -o(u)n; gd, Lodainn ) is a region of the Scottish Lowlands, lying between the southern shore of the Firth of Forth and the Lammermuir Hills and the Moorfoot Hills. The principal settlement is the Sco ...

with the fishing registration LH 251. She was remeasured during 1948 and was now assessed at , . In 1950, management passed to George Hunter. ''Empire Fisher'' was laid up in 1952 at Granton, Edinburgh and stripped of usable parts. She was sold to the

British Iron & Steel Corporation The British Iron & Steel Corporation (Salvage) Ltd., commonly referred to as BISCO, was an organisation created during World War II to recycle scrap steel. BISCO's duties included making the arrangements for the scrapping of surplus Royal Navy s ...

for scrapping, but was resold on 26 March 1952 to W J Sweeney,

Achill Sound ''Gob an Choire'' or ''Gob a' Choire'' (English name: Achill Sound), formerly anglicised as ''Gubacurra'', is a Gaeltacht village in County Mayo, Ireland. It lies on the east coast of Achill Island and is the first settlement one reaches afte ...

County Mayo County Mayo (; ga, Contae Mhaigh Eo, meaning "Plain of the Taxus baccata, yew trees") is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. In the West Region, Ireland, West of Ireland, in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Conn ...

, Ireland. She was registered at

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of th ...

with the fishing registration D 315. The ship was later scrapped by Haulbowline Industries Ltd

Passage West Passage West (locally known as "Passage"; ) is a port town in County Cork, Ireland, situated on the west bank of Cork Harbour, some 10 km south-east of Cork city. The town has many services, amenities and social outlets. Passage West was ...

County Cork County Cork ( ga, Contae Chorcaí) is the largest and the southernmost county of Ireland, named after the city of Cork, the state's second-largest city. It is in the province of Munster and the Southern Region. Its largest market towns are ...

, Ireland.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Empire Fisher 1922 ships Ships built in Hamburg Trawlers Steamships of Germany Merchant ships of Germany World War II merchant ships of Germany Maritime incidents in January 1940 Captured ships Empire ships Ministry of War Transport ships Steamships of the United Kingdom Fishing vessels of the United Kingdom Steamships of the Republic of Ireland Merchant ships of the Republic of Ireland