SS ''Bury'' was a passenger and cargo vessel completed for Britain's

Great Central Railway The Great Central Railway in England was formed when the Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway changed its name in 1897, anticipating the opening in 1899 of its London Extension. On 1 January 1923, the company was grouped into the ...

in 1911. ''Bury'' was employed as a

packet boat Packet boats were medium-sized boats designed for domestic mail, passenger, and freight transportation in European countries and in North American rivers and canals, some of them steam driven. They were used extensively during the 18th and 19th ...

for the company between

Harwich Harwich is a town in Essex, England, and one of the Haven ports on the North Sea coast. It is in the Tendring district. Nearby places include Felixstowe to the north-east, Ipswich to the north-west, Colchester to the south-west and Clacton-on- ...

and the

Hook of Holland Hook of Holland ( nl, Hoek van Holland, ) is a town in the southwestern corner of Holland, hence the name; ''hoek'' means "corner" and was the word in use before the word ''kaap'' – "cape", from Portuguese ''cabo'' – became Dutch. The English t ...

for most of her career. During the Second World War ''Bury'' was outfitted as a

convoy rescue ship A convoy is a group of vehicles, typically motor vehicles or ships, traveling together for mutual support and protection. Often, a convoy is organized with armed defensive support and can help maintain cohesion within a unit. It may also be used ...

History

''Bury'' was built by

Earle's Shipbuilding Earle's Shipbuilding was an engineering company that was based in Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, England from 1845 to 1932. Earle Brothers The company was started in Hull in 1845 by two brothers, Charles and William Earle. The firm was made ...

of Hull and launched in 1910. She was one of an order for four ships, the others being , and . In 1914 she was in Hamburg at the outbreak of the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

and the crew were taken prisoner of war and detained until the end of hostilities. The stewardesses were released early in 1914 after representation of the Railway Company through the American Consul in Hamburg. 1923 she transferred to the

London and North Eastern Railway The London and North Eastern Railway (LNER) was the second largest (after LMS) of the " Big Four" railway companies created by the Railways Act 1921 in Britain. It operated from 1 January 1923 until nationalisation on 1 January 1948. At th ...

and then in 1935 to

Associated Humber Lines Associated Humber Lines (AHL) was created in 1935 to manage the services of various railway controlled shipping lines including port activities in the Humber area of the United Kingdom. The ownership of the respective vessels did not transfer to A ...

. On 23 July 1936 she was in collision with the German steamer ''Virgilia'' in the River Elbe. The ''Virgilia'' sank and the crew of the ''Bury'' rescued the German crew. In 1941 ''Bury'' was taken up by the Rescue Service for conversion as a convoy rescue ship. She was suited for conversion for rescue service as she had a low freeboard and plenty of accommodation. She was fitted with deck platforms for landing survivors, a well-stocked sickbay with two surgeon-doctors and a sick-berth attendant, and supplies of blankets and clothing. She was equipped with two motor lifeboats, and carried

HF/DF High-frequency direction finding, usually known by its abbreviation HF/DF or nickname huff-duff, is a type of radio direction finder (RDF) introduced in World War II. High frequency (HF) refers to a radio band that can effectively communicate over ...

equipment for locating ships in distress. Entering service in December 1941 ''Bury'' sailed with 48 convoys and rescued 237 survivors during the war. In May 1942, on her 4th voyage as a rescue ship, ''Bury'' left

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...

as part of

Convoy ON 92 Convoy ON 92 was a trade convoy of merchant ships during the Second World War. It was the 92nd of the numbered series of ON convoys Outbound from the British Isles to North America. The ships departed from Liverpool on 6 May 1942Hague, p. 158 an ...

which was attacked by Wolfpack Hecht on 11 May 1942. She collected 178 survivors from three different ships in the convoy, taking them to St John's in

Newfoundland Newfoundland and Labrador (; french: Terre-Neuve-et-Labrador; frequently abbreviated as NL) is the easternmost province of Canada, in the country's Atlantic region. The province comprises the island of Newfoundland and the continental region ...

.ON 92 at warsailors.com
retrieved 15 October 2022 The ship was sent for scrapping in June 1958.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bury 1910 ships Steamships of the United Kingdom Ships built on the Humber Ships of the Great Central Railway Ships of the London and North Eastern Railway Ships of Associated Humber Lines