''Pelikan'' was a 3,264 ton German

refrigerated The term refrigeration refers to the process of removing heat from an enclosed space or substance for the purpose of lowering the temperature.International Dictionary of Refrigeration, http://dictionary.iifiir.org/search.phpASHRAE Terminology, ht ...

cargo ship A cargo ship or freighter is a merchant ship that carries cargo, goods, and materials from one port to another. Thousands of cargo carriers ply the world's seas and oceans each year, handling the bulk of international trade. Cargo ships are usu ...

built in 1934. In 1945, during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, the United Kingdom seized her and renamed her ''Empire Alde''. She changed names twice more: back to ''Pelikan'' in 1946, and to ''Pacuare'' in 1947. She was scrapped in 1959/60.

History

''Pelikan'' was built by Bremer Vulkan Schiff- und Maschinenbau,

Bremen Bremen (Low German also: ''Breem'' or ''Bräm''), officially the City Municipality of Bremen (german: Stadtgemeinde Bremen, ), is the capital of the German state Free Hanseatic City of Bremen (''Freie Hansestadt Bremen''), a two-city-state consis ...

as yard number 712 and launched in 1934, being completed in January 1935. She was owned by the Afrikanische Frucht-Cie AG and managed by F Laeisz, Hamburg. In 1940, ownership passed to the

Kriegsmarine The (, ) was the navy of Germany from 1935 to 1945. It superseded the Imperial German Navy of the German Empire (1871–1918) and the inter-war (1919–1935) of the Weimar Republic. The was one of three official branches, along with the a ...

(German navy) although

Lloyds Register Lloyd's Register Group Limited (LR) is a technical and professional services organisation and a maritime classification society, wholly owned by the Lloyd’s Register Foundation, a UK charity dedicated to research and education in science and ...

continued to show ''Pelikan'' as a merchant ship. In May 1945 ''Pelikan'' was seized at

Brunsbüttel Brunsbüttel () is a town in the district of Dithmarschen, in Schleswig-Holstein, northern Germany that lies at the mouth of the Elbe river, near the North Sea. It is the location of the western entrance to the Kiel Canal. History The earliest re ...

, and ownership passed 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 ...

; she was renamed ''Empire Alde'', under the management of the Southern Railway and later Kaye, Sons & Co. In 1946 ''Empire Alde'' was sold to Elders & Fyffes Ltd, regaining her original name of ''Pelikan'' before being renamed ''Pacuare'' in 1947. She served until 1959, when she was sent to

Troon Troon is a town in South Ayrshire, situated on the west coast of Ayrshire in Scotland, about north of Ayr and northwest of Glasgow Prestwick Airport. Troon has a port with freight services and a yacht marina. Up until January 2016, P&O Ferrie ...

for scrapping, arriving on 22 September.

Official number and code letters

Official Numbers were a forerunner to

IMO Numbers IMO or Imo may refer to: Biology and medicine * Irish Medical Organisation, the main organization for doctors in the Republic of Ireland * Intelligent Medical Objects, a privately held company specializing in medical vocabularies * Isomaltooligosa ...

. ''Pelikan'' used 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 ...

DJNP until 1945. ''Empire Alde'', ''Pelican'' and ''Pacuare'' used the UK

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 ...

181664 from 1945-59

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pelikan 1934 ships Ships built in Bremen (state) Merchant ships of Germany World War II merchant ships of Germany Auxiliary ships of the Kriegsmarine Empire ships Ministry of War Transport ships Merchant ships of the United Kingdom Ships of the Southern Railway (UK)