''Arsterturm'' was a Hansa A Type cargo ship which was built as ''Betzdorf'' in 1945 by

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 ...

for Unternehmen der Eisenstahlindustrie, Bremen. 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 Gaffer''. Sold in 1947, renamed ''Baltrader'' then ''Baltic Fir'' in 1952, she was sold to

West Germany West Germany is the colloquial term used to indicate the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG; german: Bundesrepublik Deutschland , BRD) between its formation on 23 May 1949 and the German reunification through the accession of East Germany on 3 O ...

in 1956, rebuilt and renamed ''Arsterturm''. She was sold in 1969 to India and renamed ''Unigoolnar''. A further sale in 1976 saw her renamed ''Sudarsan Shakti'', serving until 1981 when she was scrapped.

Description

As built, the ship was long, with a beam of . She had a depth of , and a draught of . She was assessed as , , . She was equipped with 1x20-tonne, 1x10-tonne and 9x5-tonne cranes. 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 Ottensener Eisenwerk AG,

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

. Rated at 1,200 IHP, it drove a single screw propeller and could propel the ship at .

History

''Betzdorf'' was a Hansa A Type cargo ship built in 1945 as

yard number __NOTOC__ M ...

450 by

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

for Unternehmen der EisenStahlindustrie, Bremen. She was launched on 15 January 1945 and completed on 28 February. With a complement of 35 men, ''Betzdorf'' was operated under the management of Friedrich Krupp & Co., Bremen. Her port of registry was Bremen and the Code Letters DOZE were allocated. ''Betzdorf'' was seized as a

Kiel Kiel () is the capital and most populous city in the northern German state of Schleswig-Holstein, with a population of 246,243 (2021). Kiel lies approximately north of Hamburg. Due to its geographic location in the southeast of the Jutland ...

on 8 May 1945, and was passed to the

. She was renamed ''Empire Gaffer''. The Code Letters GJCB and United Kingdom Official Number 180643 were allocated. 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 T. L. Duff & Co. In June 1947, ''Empire Gaffer'' was sold to the United Baltic Corporation, London and was renamed ''Baltrader''. She was renamed ''Baltic Fir'' in 1952. In January 1956, ''Baltic Fir'' was sold to Partenreederei Dampfer Arstenturm, which was 95% owned by Bohlen & Behn and 5% by DDG Hansa Linie, both of

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

. She was rebuilt at

Bremerhaven Bremerhaven (, , Low German: ''Bremerhoben'') is a city at the seaport of the Free Hanseatic City of Bremen, a state of the Federal Republic of Germany. It forms a semi-enclave in the state of Lower Saxony and is located at the mouth of the Riv ...

and renamed ''Arsterturm''. On 18 June, she was bought by DDG Hansa. Her port of registry was Bremen and the Code Letters DLCF were allocated. With their introduction in the 1960s, ''Arsterturm'' 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 ...

5025433. On 29 March 1969, ''Arsterturm'' was sold to Universal Shipping & Coastal Trading Pte Ltd,

Bombay Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the second-m ...

, India and was renamed ''Unigoolnar''. Her port of registry was Bombay and the Code Letters ATEK were allocated. She was sold in 1976 to Sudarsan Liners Ltd, Madras, India and was renamed ''Sudarsan Shakti''. Damaged at

Kuwait Kuwait (; ar, الكويت ', or ), officially the State of Kuwait ( ar, دولة الكويت '), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated in the northern edge of Eastern Arabia at the tip of the Persian Gulf, bordering Iraq to the nort ...

in 1980, she was scrapped in March 1981 by City Steel, Bombay.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Arsterturm 1945 ships Ships built in Hamburg 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 West Germany Steamships of West Germany Steamships of India Merchant ships of India