''Sukhumi'' (russian: Суху́ми) was a Hansa A Type cargo ship which was built as ''Benue'' in 1944 by A Vuyk & Zonen,

Capelle aan den Ijssel Capelle aan den IJssel (; en, Capelle on the IJssel) is a small city and municipality in the western Netherlands, in the province of South Holland. The municipality had a population of in , and covers an area of , of which is water. It is situ ...

, Overijssel, Netherlands for the Deutsche Afrika Linien, Hamburg. She was seized as a

prize of war A prize of war is a piece of enemy property or land seized by a belligerent party during or after a war or battle, typically at sea. This term was used nearly exclusively in terms of captured ships during the 18th and 19th centuries. Basis in inte ...

in 1945, passing to the

Ministry of War Transport The Ministry of War Transport (MoWT) was a department of the British Government formed early in the Second World War to control transportation policy and resources. It was formed by merging the Ministry of Shipping and the Ministry of Transport ...

and renamed ''Empire Gable''. Allocated to the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

in 1946, she served until 1969 when she was scrapped at

Bo'ness Borrowstounness (commonly known as Bo'ness ( )) is a town and former burgh and seaport on the south bank of the Firth of Forth in the Central Lowlands of Scotland. Historically part of the county of West Lothian, it is a place within the Fal ...

, Lothian, United Kingdom.

Description

The ship was long, with a beam of . She had a depth of . She was assessed as , , . The ship was propelled by a

compound 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 two cylinders of 42 cm (16 inches) and two cylinders of 90 cm (35 inches) diameter by 90 cm (35 inches) stroke. The engine was built by Gebroeders Stork & Co., N.V.,

Hengelo Hengelo (; Tweants: ) is a city in the eastern part of the Netherlands, in the province of Overijssel. The city lies along the motorways A1/E30 and A35 and it has a station for the international Amsterdam – Hannover – Berlin service. Popu ...

, Overijssel, Netherlands. Rated at 1,200 IHP, it could propel the ship at .

History

''Benue'' was built in 1944 as

yard number __NOTOC__ M ...

688 by A Vuyk & Zonen,

Capelle aan den IJssel Capelle aan den IJssel (; en, Capelle on the IJssel) is a small city and municipality in the western Netherlands, in the province of South Holland. The municipality had a population of in , and covers an area of , of which is water. It is situ ...

South Holland, Netherlands under orders from

Deutsche Werft Deutsche Werft (English: German Shipyard) was a shipbuilding company in Finkenwerder Rüschpark, Hamburg, Germany. It was founded in 1918 by Albert Ballin and with Gutehoffnungshütte (GHH), ''Allgemeine Elektricitäts-Gesellschaft'' (AEG) and ' ...

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

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

. She was built for the Deutsche Afrika Linien, Hamburg. She was launched on 2 February and completed on 25 July. ''Benue'' was seized as a

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 ...

on 7 June 1945 and was passed to the

. She was renamed ''Empire Gable''. Her port of registry was

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, 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 dow ...

and she was operated under the management of Angel, Son & Co. Ltd.,

Cardiff Cardiff (; cy, Caerdydd ) is the capital and largest city of Wales. It forms a principal area, officially known as the City and County of Cardiff ( cy, Dinas a Sir Caerdydd, links=no), and the city is the eleventh-largest in the United Kingd ...

. In February 1946, she was allocated to the

under the Potsdam Agreement. She was renamed ''Sukhumi'' and was placed under the management of the

Murmansk Shipping Company Murmansk Shipping Company (russian: Мурманское морское пароходство), often abbreviated as MSCO, is a Russian shipping company based in Murmansk (hence the name). One of the primary shipping companies operating in Ar ...

, and the Code Letters UOOL were allocated. In February 1961, a sailor from ''Sukhumi'' rescued a boy who fell into the water at Granton, Lothian, United Kingdom when his

raft A raft is any flat structure for support or transportation over water. It is usually of basic design, characterized by the absence of a hull. Rafts are usually kept afloat by using any combination of buoyant materials such as wood, sealed barrels ...

collided with the ship. With their introduction in the 1960s, ''Sukhumi'' was allocated the

IMO Number The IMO number of the International Maritime Organization is a generic term covering two distinct meanings. The IMO ship identification number, is a type of hull number used as a unique ship identifier, and the IMO company and registered owne ...

5343421. She served until 1969, arriving at

, Lothian on 27 November for scrapping by P & W MacLellan.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sukhumi 1944 ships Ships built in the Netherlands World War II merchant ships of Germany Steamships of Germany Empire ships Ministry of War Transport ships Merchant ships of the United Kingdom Steamships of the United Kingdom Merchant ships of the Soviet Union Steamships of the Soviet Union Murmansk Shipping Company