''Empire Bell'' was a collier which was built by

Öresundsvarvet Öresundsvarvet was a Swedish shipyard in Landskrona that was established in 1915 and largely phased out between 1980 and 1982. Foundation Öresundsvarvet was constituted on 16 December 1915 by Gothenburg shipbuilder, Arthur Du Rietz. During a ...

Landskrona Landskrona (old da, Landskrone) is a town in Scania, Sweden. Located on the shores of the Öresund, it occupies a natural port, which has lent the town at first military and subsequent commercial significance. Ferries operate from Landskrona t ...

, Sweden as the passenger ship ''Belgia'' in 1930. In 1940 she was rebuilt as a cargo ship. In 1941, she was damaged by enemy bombing and burnt out. She was salvaged and sold 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 ...

(MoWT), repaired and renamed ''Empire Bell''. She was

torpedo A modern torpedo is an underwater ranged weapon launched above or below the water surface, self-propelled towards a target, and with an explosive warhead designed to detonate either on contact with or in proximity to the target. Historically, s ...

ed and sunk by ''U-442'' on 25 September 1942.

Description

''Belgia'' was built by Öresundsvarvet, Landskrona. She was yard number 28 and was launched on 11 January 1930 with completion on 7 May. She was long, with a beam of and a depth of . Her GRT was 2,023, with a NRT of 1,074. She was originally built as a passenger ship.

Career

''Belgia'' was owned by Förnyade Ångfartygs Aktiebolag Götha. She was managed by F Sternberg, Gothenborg, trading as the Gotha Line. Her port of registry was Gothenborg. ''Belgia'' was employed on the Gothenborg - Antwerp route. In 1940, she was withdrawn from service and converted to a cargo ship, or collier. The rebuilt ship was . During the Second World War, ''Belgia'' was a member of a number of convoys. ;HN 23B / HN 25 Convoy HN 23B departed from

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the ...

on 31 March 1940 and arrived at Methil, Fife on 4 April. ''Belgia'' was carrying general cargo and was bound for Rouen,

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

. ''Belgia'' may have been a member of this convoy, or of Convoy HN 25, which departed

Bergen Bergen (), historically Bjørgvin, is a city and municipality in Vestland county on the west coast of Norway. , its population is roughly 285,900. Bergen is the second-largest city in Norway. The municipality covers and is on the peninsula o ...

, Norway on 7 April and arrived at Methil on 12 April. ;HG 41 Convoy HG 41 departed from

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 ...

on 11 August 1940 and arrived at

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 populat ...

on 25 August. ''Belgia'' was carrying a cargo of

iron pyrite The mineral pyrite (), or iron pyrite, also known as fool's gold, is an iron sulfide with the chemical formula Fe S2 (iron (II) disulfide). Pyrite is the most abundant sulfide mineral. Pyrite's metallic luster and pale brass-yellow hue giv ...

s from

Huelva Huelva (, ) is a city in southwestern Spain, the capital of the province of Huelva in the autonomous community of Andalusia. It is between two short rias though has an outlying spur including nature reserve on the Gulf of Cádiz coast. The ria ...

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

and was bound for

Ardrossan Ardrossan (; ) is a town on the North Ayrshire coast in southwestern Scotland. The town has a population of 10,670 and forms part of a conurbation with Saltcoats and Stevenston known as the ' Three Towns'. Ardrossan is located on the east shore ...

, Ayrshire, arriving on 26 August. On 26 January 1941, ''Belgia'' was bombed by German aircraft and set on fire. At the time she was in the

Thames Estuary The Thames Estuary is where the River Thames meets the waters of the North Sea, in the south-east of Great Britain. Limits An estuary can be defined according to different criteria (e.g. tidal, geographical, navigational or in terms of salini ...

. Six crew were killed in the attack. On 14 February she was salvaged and towed to Harwich,

Essex Essex () is a county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the River Thames to the south, and Grea ...

. Her owners sold her to the MoWT who had her repaired and she was renamed ''Empire Bell''. She was placed under the management of James Westroll Ltd and her port of registry was changed to South Shields. ''Empire Bell'' was a member of a number of convoys. ;RU 29 Convoy RU 29 departed

Reykjavík Reykjavík ( ; ) is the capital and largest city of Iceland. It is located in southwestern Iceland, on the southern shore of Faxaflói bay. Its latitude is 64°08' N, making it the world's northernmost capital of a sovereign state. With a po ...

Iceland Iceland ( is, Ísland; ) is a Nordic island country in the North Atlantic Ocean and in the Arctic Ocean. Iceland is the most sparsely populated country in Europe. Iceland's capital and largest city is Reykjavík, which (along with its s ...

on 25 June 1942 and arrived at

Loch Ewe Loch Ewe ( gd, Loch Iùbh) is a sea loch in the region of Wester Ross in the Northwest Highlands of Scotland. The shores are inhabited by a traditionally Gàidhlig-speaking people living in or sustained by crofting villages, the most notab ...

on 29 June. ''Empire Bell'' was carrying a cargo of vehicles with a destination of Hull. ;UW 42 Convoy UR 42 departed Loch Ewe on 22 September 1942 and arrived at Reykjavík on 27 September. At 16:16 German time (15:16 British Double Summer Time) ''Empire Bell'' was torpedoed and sunk by ''U-442'' at with the loss of ten of her 41 crew. The survivors were picked up by and landed at Reykjavík. Those lost on ''Empire Bell'' are commemorated at the Tower Hill Memorial, London.

Official Numbers and Code Letters

Official Numbers were a forerunner to IMO Numbers. ''Belgia'' had the Swedish Official Number 7636 and the Code Letters KHDP. In 1934, her Code Letters were changed to SHTN. ''Empire Bell'' had the UK Official Number 168654 and the Code Letters BDSW.

Propulsion

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 four cylinders, two of 16 inches (420 mm) diameter and two of 35 inches (900 mm) by 35 inches (900 mm) stroke. The engine was built by Aktiebolag Lindholmen-Motala.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Empire Bell 1930 ships Ships built in Landskrona Steamships of Sweden Passenger ships of Sweden Merchant ships of Sweden World War II merchant ships of Sweden Empire ships Ministry of War Transport ships Steamships of the United Kingdom Ships sunk by German submarines in World War II World War II shipwrecks in the Atlantic Ocean Maritime incidents in January 1941 Maritime incidents in September 1942