''Empire Conveyor'' was a shelter deck cargo ship that was built in 1917 as ''Farnworth'' by

Richardson, Duck and Company Richardson, Duck and Company was a shipbuilding company in Thornaby-on-Tees, England that traded between 1855 and 1925. History The yard was founded as the South Stockton Iron Ship Building Co in 1852. Its premises were the former yard of engine ...

Thornaby-on-Tees Thornaby-on-Tees, commonly referred to as Thornaby, is a town and civil parish on the River Tees's southern bank. It is in the Borough of Stockton-on-Tees, North Yorkshire, England. The parish had a population of 24,741 at the 2011 census, in t ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. After a sale in 1924 she was renamed ''Illinois''. In 1926, she was sold to

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 ...

, and in 1934 to

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 ...

and was renamed ''Mount Pentelikon''. In 1939, she was sold to

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

and was renamed ''Gloria''. At the outbreak of the Second World War she was in

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires ( or ; ), officially the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires ( es, link=no, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires), is the capital and primate city of Argentina. The city is located on the western shore of the Río de la Plata, on South ...

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

. She tried to return to Germany but was captured by the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against ...

, 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 ...

(MoWT) and renamed ''Empire Conveyor''. She served until 20 June 1940 when 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 off

Barra Head Barra Head, also known as Berneray ( gd, Beàrnaraigh; sco, Barra Heid), is the southernmost island of the Outer Hebrides in Scotland. Within the Outer Hebrides, it forms part of the Barra Isles archipelago. Originally, Barra Head only r ...

Description

The ship was long, with a beam of . She had a depth of and a draught of . She was assessed at , . The ship had nine corrugated furnaces with a combined grate area of heating her three single-ended 180 lb_f/in² boilers, which had a combined heating surface of . The boilers fed a 440

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 ...

triple expansion 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 ...

that was built by Blair & Co Ltd of Stockton-on-Tees. It had cylinders of , and diameter, by stroke and could propel the ship at .

History

Certificate of Competency for Finlay Black Macintyre

built ''Farnworth'' was built for R.S. Dalgleish Ltd,

Newcastle upon Tyne Newcastle upon Tyne ( RP: , ), or simply Newcastle, is a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. The city is located on the River Tyne's northern bank and forms the largest part of the Tyneside built-up area. Newcastle is ...

and completed her in June 1917. She was allocated the United Kingdom Official Number 140672. ''Farnworth'' was used on routes serving the east and west coast of the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

, the Caribbean and

West Indies The West Indies is a subregion of North America, surrounded by the North Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea that includes 13 independent island countries and 18 dependencies and other territories in three major archipelagos: the Greate ...

. In 1924, she was sold to the Harlem Steamship Co Ltd, Newcastle upon Tyne and was renamed ''Illinois''. She was initially operated under the management of F Newson. Later in 1924, management was transferred to Brown, Jenkinson & Co Ltd. In 1926 she was transferred to

Compagnie Générale Transatlantique The Compagnie Générale Transatlantique (CGT, and commonly named "Transat"), typically known overseas as the French Line, was a French shipping company. Established in 1855 by the brothers Émile and Issac Péreire under the name ''Compagnie ...

. Her port of registry was

Le Havre Le Havre (, ; nrf, Lé Hâvre ) is a port city in the Seine-Maritime department in the Normandy region of northern France. It is situated on the right bank of the estuary of the river Seine on the Channel southwest of the Pays de Caux, very ...

and the Code Letters OTRW were allocated. On 17 March 1932, ''Illinois'' was laid up at

Roscanvel Roscanvel (; br, Roskañvel) is a commune in the Finistère department of Brittany in north-western France. Population Inhabitants of Roscanvel are called in French ''Roscanvelistes''. See also * Quélern *Communes of the Finistère departm ...

. In 1934, ''Illinois'' was sold to Kulukundis Shipping Co,

Piraeus Piraeus ( ; el, Πειραιάς ; grc, Πειραιεύς ) is a port city within the Athens urban area ("Greater Athens"), in the Attica region of Greece. It is located southwest of Athens' city centre, along the east coast of the Saron ...

and renamed ''Mount Pentelikon''. She was placed under the management of Rethymnis & Kulukundis Ltd. Her port of registry was changed to Piraeus and the Code Letters SVAV were allocated. In 1939, ''Mount Pentelikon'' was sold to Orion Schiffahrts GmbH,

Rostock Rostock (), officially the Hanseatic and University City of Rostock (german: link=no, Hanse- und Universitätsstadt Rostock), is the largest city in the German state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and lies in the Mecklenburgian part of the state, ...

. She was operated under the management of E Behnke. The Code Letters DHBB were allocated. At the outbreak of the Second World War ''Gloria'' was at

. She departed Buenos Aires on 6 October, bound for

Hamburg (male), (female) en, Hamburger(s), Hamburgian(s) , timezone1 = Central (CET) , utc_offset1 = +1 , timezone1_DST = Central (CEST) , utc_offset1_DST = +2 , postal ...

. On 21 October she was captured south-east of

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 ...

() by , escorted into

Kirkwall Kirkwall ( sco, Kirkwaa, gd, Bàgh na h-Eaglaise, nrn, Kirkavå) is the largest town in Orkney, an archipelago to the north of mainland Scotland. The name Kirkwall comes from the Norse name (''Church Bay''), which later changed to ''Kirkv ...

and then taken to

Leith Leith (; gd, Lìte) is a port area in the north of the city of Edinburgh, Scotland, founded at the mouth of the Water of Leith. In 2021, it was ranked by ''Time Out'' as one of the top five neighbourhoods to live in the world. The earliest ...

. During the voyage into Kirkwall, three of her crew attempted to escape by

lifeboat Lifeboat may refer to: Rescue vessels * Lifeboat (shipboard), a small craft aboard a ship to allow for emergency escape * Lifeboat (rescue), a boat designed for sea rescues * Airborne lifeboat, an air-dropped boat used to save downed airmen ...

but were recaptured and taken to Methil,

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...

. ''Gloria'' was passed to the MoWT and renamed ''Empire Conveyor''. Her port of registry was changed to London, and the Code Letters GLTN were allocated. ''Empire Conveyor'' regained her Official Number 140572. She was placed under the management of H Hogarth & Sons Ltd. On 20 June 1940, ''Empire Conveyor'' was

ed by south west of

, Scotland at . Her radio aerials were damaged in the attack and ''Empire Conveyor'' was unable to call for assistance. She was spotted by a

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) an ...

Sunderland aircraft, which attacked ''U-122'' and drove her away. The crew of the Sunderland raised the alarm, and the tug was sent to her aid, escorted by and . ''Empire Conveyor'' sank before the ships reached her. The crew took to the lifeboats and liferafts but one of them was swamped at launch, killing the captain, Finlay Macintyre,UK and Ireland, Masters and Mates, Certificates, 1850-1927, Certificate #0012007 for Finlay Black McIntyre as Master of a foreign-going steamship the second engineer and the cook. Thirty-eight survivors were rescued by HMS ''Campbell'' and landed 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 21 June. ''Empire Conveyor'' was the only ship sunk by ''U-122''. Those lost on ''Empire Conveyor'' are commemorated at the Tower Hill Memorial, London.

References

External links

Photo of ''Farnworth''Photo of ''Farnworth''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Empire Conveyor 1917 ships Empire ships Maritime incidents in October 1939 Maritime incidents in June 1940 Merchant ships of France Merchant ships of Germany Merchant ships of the United Kingdom Ministry of War Transport ships Shipwrecks of Scotland Ships of Counties Ship Management Ships of the Compagnie Générale Transatlantique Ships sunk by German submarines in World War II World War II shipwrecks in the Atlantic Ocean Steamships of France Steamships of Germany Steamships of the United Kingdom Ships built on the River Tees World War I merchant ships of the United Kingdom World War II merchant ships of Germany