The Greek Ship ( fa, کشتی یونانی, ) is the nickname of a cargo steamship, ''Khoula F'', that has been beached on the southwest coast of

Kish Island Kish ( fa, کیش ) is a resort island in Bandar Lengeh County, Hormozgān Province, off the southern coast of Iran in the Persian Gulf. Owing to its free trade zone status, the island is touted as a consumer's paradise, with numerous malls, ...

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

, since 1966. She was built in 1943 by the British shipyard of

William Hamilton and Company William Hamilton and Company was a British shipyard in Port Glasgow, Scotland. The company was bought by Lithgow Ltd., which later became Scott Lithgow and was nationalised as part of British Shipbuilders in 1977. During the Second World War th ...

Port Glasgow Port Glasgow ( gd, Port Ghlaschu, ) is the second-largest town in the Inverclyde council area of Scotland. The population according to the 1991 census for Port Glasgow was 19,426 persons and in the 2001 census was 16,617 persons. The most recen ...

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

, under the name ''Empire Trumpet''. From 1946 to 1966, she passed through a series of British and Iranian owners and various changes of name. Her final owners were Greek, and the nickname given to her derives from them.

Propulsion

''Empire Trumpet'' had nine corrugated furnaces with a combined grate area of that heated three 220 lb_f/in² single-ended boilers with a combined heating surface of . The boilers raised steam for its

triple-expansion 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 h ...

, which had cylinders of , and bore by stroke and was rated at 510

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 ...

. The engine was built by David Rowan & Co Ltd of

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...

Career

''Empire Trumpet'' first owner was the British

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 ...

, which placed her under the management of Larrinaga Steam Ship Co from 1943 and then T&J Harrison Co from 1945. She was chartered to the

South African __NOTOC__ South African may relate to: * The nation of South Africa * South African Airways * South African English * South African people * Languages of South Africa * Southern Africa Southern Africa is the southernmost subregion of the Afric ...

Government from 1943 to 1946. In 1946, Charente Steam Ship Co bought the ship, renamed her ''Naturalist'', and continued the management arrangement with T&J Harrison. In 1959, Iranian Lloyd & Co Ltd of

Khorramshahr Khorramshahr ( fa, خرمشهر , also romanized as ''Khurramshahr'', ar, المحمرة, romanized as ''Al-Muhammerah'') is a city and capital of Khorramshahr County, Khuzestan Province, Iran. At the 2016 census, its population was 170,976, in ...

bought the ship and renamed her ''Persian Cyrus''. Iranian Lloyd placed ''Persian Cyrus'' under the management of B Ashworth and Co. (Overseas) Ltd of London. In 1965, Iranian Shipping Lines SA of Khorramshahr bought the ship and renamed her ''Hamadan''. In 1966, P.J. Frangoulis and A.I. Cliafas of

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders with ...

bought the ship and renamed her ''Koula F''.

Wreck

On July 25, 1966, ''Koula F'' ran aground on the south-western coast of Kish in the

Persian Gulf The Persian Gulf ( fa, خلیج فارس, translit=xalij-e fârs, lit=Gulf of Persis, Fars, ), sometimes called the ( ar, اَلْخَلِيْجُ ٱلْعَرَبِيُّ, Al-Khalīj al-ˁArabī), is a Mediterranean sea (oceanography), me ...

. The Dutch

salvage tug A salvage tug, known also historically as a wrecking tug, is a specialized type of tugboat that is used to rescue ships that are in distress or in danger of sinking, or to salvage ships that have already sunk or run aground. Overview Few tugbo ...

''Orinoco'' tried to refloat the ship but was unsuccessful. The insurers declared ''Khoula F'' a

total loss In insurance claims, a total loss or write-off is a situation where the lost value, repair cost or salvage cost of a damaged property exceeds its insured value, and simply replacing the old property with a new equivalent is more cost-effecti ...

and she has remained beached ever since. The ship's condition has deteriorated and her

stern The stern is the back or aft-most part of a ship or boat, technically defined as the area built up over the sternpost, extending upwards from the counter rail to the taffrail. The stern lies opposite the bow, the foremost part of a ship. Ori ...

has started to break up.

Tourist attraction

, the ship attracts tourists who come to view her at sunset.

References

{{1966 shipwrecks 1943 ships Ships built on the River Clyde Kish Island Maritime incidents in 1966 Ships of Iran Shipwrecks in the Persian Gulf Steamships of Greece Steamships of the United Kingdom Buildings and structures in Hormozgan Province 1943 establishments in Scotland 1966 in Iran