''Wave Baron'' was a that was built in 1946 as ''Empire Flodden'' by

Furness Shipbuilding Co Ltd Furness ( ) is a peninsula and region of Cumbria in northwestern England. Together with the Cartmel Peninsula it forms North Lonsdale, historically an exclave of Lancashire. The Furness Peninsula, also known as Low Furness, is an area of villag ...

County Durham County Durham ( ), officially simply Durham,UK General Acts 1997 c. 23Lieutenancies Act 1997 Schedule 1(3). From legislation.gov.uk, retrieved 6 April 2022. is a ceremonial county in North East England.North East Assembly �About North East E ...

, United Kingdom for the Ministry of War Transport (MoWT). She was transferred to the Royal Fleet Auxiliary and renamed ''Wave Baron''. She was withdrawn from service in 1969 and scrapped in 1972.

Description

The ship was long overall with a beam of . She had a depth of . She was assessed at , , . Her full displacement was 16,483 tons. The ship was propelled by two

steam turbine A steam turbine is a machine that extracts thermal energy from pressurized steam and uses it to do mechanical work on a rotating output shaft. Its modern manifestation was invented by Charles Parsons in 1884. Fabrication of a modern steam turbin ...

s, double reduction geared, driving a single screw propeller. The turbines were made by Richardsons, Westgarth & Co Ltd,

Hartlepool Hartlepool () is a seaside and port town in County Durham, England. It is the largest settlement and administrative centre of the Borough of Hartlepool. With an estimated population of 90,123, it is the second-largest settlement in County ...

, County Durham. They were rated at 6,800 shp. They could propel her at . Steam was supplied by three

drum boiler A high pressure watertube boiler (also spelled water-tube and water tube) is a type of boiler in which water circulates in tubes heated externally by the fire. Fuel is burned inside the furnace, creating hot gas which boils water in the steam-gen ...

History

The ship was built in 1946 by Furness Shipbuilding Co Ltd, Haverton Hill-on-Tees,

, United Kingdom. Laid down on 1 September 1944, she was yard number 378. She was launched on 19 February 1946 as ''Empire Flodden''. Her port of registry was Middlesbrough, Yorkshire. 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 ...

GKRV were allocated. ''Empire Flodden'' was initially operated under the management of Gow, Harrison & Co. Ltd., Glasgow, Renfrewshire. Ownership was transferred to the

Admiralty Admiralty most often refers to: *Admiralty, Hong Kong * Admiralty (United Kingdom), military department in command of the Royal Navy from 1707 to 1964 *The rank of admiral * Admiralty law Admiralty can also refer to: Buildings *Admiralty, Tr ...

and her port of registry was changed to London. ''Empire Flodden'' sailed from the

River Tees The River Tees (), in Northern England, rises on the eastern slope of Cross Fell in the North Pennines and flows eastwards for to reach the North Sea between Hartlepool and Redcar near Middlesbrough. The modern day history of the river has be ...

on her maiden voyage on 10 July 1946. She operated in the Middle East, calling at Abadan, Iran,

Aden Aden ( ar, عدن ' Yemeni: ) is a city, and since 2015, the temporary capital of Yemen, near the eastern approach to the Red Sea (the Gulf of Aden), some east of the strait Bab-el-Mandeb. Its population is approximately 800,000 people. ...

and

Port Said Port Said ( ar, بورسعيد, Būrsaʿīd, ; grc, Πηλούσιον, Pēlousion) is a city that lies in northeast Egypt extending about along the coast of the Mediterranean Sea, north of the Suez Canal. With an approximate population of 6 ...

, Egypt over the next 21 months. On 1 April 1948, she was transferred to the Royal Fleet Auxiliary and renamed ''Wave Baron''. The

Pennant number In the Royal Navy and other navies of Europe and the Commonwealth of Nations, ships are identified by pennant number (an internationalisation of ''pendant number'', which it was called before 1948). Historically, naval ships flew a flag that iden ...

X137 was allocated. This would later be changed to A242. ''Wave Baron'' was made a voyage to Trinidad in August 1948, following which she returned to the Middle East. On 16 July 1950, a crewman was severely

scalded Scalding is a form of thermal burn resulting from heated fluids such as boiling water or steam. Most scalds are considered first- or second-degree burns, but third-degree burns can result, especially with prolonged contact. The term is from the L ...

on board ''Wave Baron'' when a pipe burst when the ship was in the Irish Sea off the Isle of Man. The Peel Lifeboat attended and he was taken to Peel and thence to

Noble's Hospital Noble’s Hospital is a hospital on the Isle of Man. It is one of only two hospitals on the island, and as of 1 April 2021, is run by Manx Care; having previously been run by the Department of Health and Social Care History In 1947 the hospit ...

Douglas, Isle of Man Douglas ( gv, Doolish, ) is the capital and largest town of the Isle of Man, with a population of 26,677 (2021). It is located at the mouth of the River Douglas, and on a sweeping bay of . The River Douglas forms part of the town's harbour ...

for treatment. In January 1951, was unable to call at the Cocos Islands to collect mail. ''Wave Baron'' performed the task, taking the mail to Colombo,

Ceylon Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...

for onward transmission. In November 1951, she replenished in the Mediterranean Sea. The task took eight hours. In 1952, ''Wave Baron'' was awarded the battle honour "Korea 1952". In May 1953, she took part in a naval exercise in the English Channel involving 39 ships and 80 aircraft. In December, she replenished and in the Pacific Ocean. They were escorting the

cargo liner A cargo liner, also known as a passenger-cargo ship or passenger-cargoman, is a type of merchant ship which carries general cargo and often passengers. They became common just after the middle of the 19th century, and eventually gave way to conta ...

, which

Queen Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 1926 – 8 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until Death and state funeral of Elizabeth II, her death in 2022. She was queen ...

was travelling on as part of a tour of the

Commonwealth A commonwealth is a traditional English term for a political community founded for the common good. Historically, it has been synonymous with "republic". The noun "commonwealth", meaning "public welfare, general good or advantage", dates from the ...

. In July 1954, she escorted , which had been damaged in a collision with , into

Gibraltar ) , anthem = " God Save the King" , song = " Gibraltar Anthem" , image_map = Gibraltar location in Europe.svg , map_alt = Location of Gibraltar in Europe , map_caption = United Kingdom shown in pale green , mapsize = , image_map2 = Gib ...

. A fight on board the ship in August 1954 resulted in the death of a crewman. He was buried in Trinidad, where the ship was when the incident occurred. Both

Fife Constabulary Fife Constabulary was the territorial police force responsible for the Scottish council area of Fife. The area policed by Fife Constabulary had a resident population of just over 350,000, almost a third of whom lived in one of the three princ ...

and the

Admiralty Constabulary The Admiralty Constabulary was a police force in the United Kingdom formed under the Special Constables Act 1923 which existed from 1949 to 1971. History The Constabulary can trace its history back to 1686 when the Royal Navy needed an organisati ...

investigated the incident. In November 1957, ''Wave Baron'' deployed to Christmas Island as part of Operation Grapple. From November 1958 to January 1961, she was operating off Iceland in support of Royal Navy ships engaged in the

First Cod War The Cod Wars ( is, Þorskastríðin; also known as , ; german: Kabeljaukriege) were a series of 20th-century confrontations between the United Kingdom (with aid from West Germany) and Iceland about fishing rights in the North Atlantic. Each o ...

. In September 1960 she took part in a naval exercise inside the

Arctic Circle The Arctic Circle is one of the two polar circles, and the most northerly of the five major circles of latitude as shown on maps of Earth. Its southern equivalent is the Antarctic Circle. The Arctic Circle marks the southernmost latitude at w ...

. In April 1961, she took part in a NATO exercise off Malta. Between August 1961 and May 1962, she was refitted and modernised. In June 1962, ''Wave Baron'' took a number of detectives based at New Scotland Yard from Gibraltar to rendezvous with . They were investigating drug smuggling on the

cruiser A cruiser is a type of warship. Modern cruisers are generally the largest ships in a fleet after aircraft carriers and amphibious assault ships, and can usually perform several roles. The term "cruiser", which has been in use for several hu ...

following the discovery of $3,000,000 (~ £834,000£1 =$3.5965: ) of

heroin Heroin, also known as diacetylmorphine and diamorphine among other names, is a potent opioid mainly used as a recreational drug for its euphoric effects. Medical grade diamorphine is used as a pure hydrochloride salt. Various white and brow ...

on board after HMS ''Belfast'' had sailed from Honolulu, Hawaii, United States in May 1962. In September 1962, a crewman died in a fall on board the ship. He was buried in Bermuda. An inquest was unable to determine the exact circumstances that led to his death. In January 1968, ''Wave Baron'' supported Royal Navy ships taking part in the search for the

submarine A submarine (or sub) is a watercraft capable of independent operation underwater. It differs from a submersible, which has more limited underwater capability. The term is also sometimes used historically or colloquially to refer to remotely op ...

, which had foundered in the Mediterranean Sea. ''Wave Baron'' was withdrawn from service in December 1969 and laid up at

HMNB Devonport His Majesty's Naval Base, Devonport (HMNB Devonport) is one of three operating bases in the United Kingdom for the Royal Navy (the others being HMNB Clyde and HMNB Portsmouth) and is the sole nuclear repair and refuelling facility for the Roy ...

. She was sold for £6,500 in March 1972 to Dutch company N.V. Intershitra, but was resold. She arrived at Bilbao, Spain on 23 April 1972 for scrapping by Revalorizacion de Materials SA.

References

External links

Photograph of ''Wave Baron''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wave Baron 1946 ships Ships built on the River Tees Empire ships Ministry of War Transport ships Wave-class oilers Steamships of the United Kingdom Merchant ships of the United Kingdom