''Empire Conyngham'' was a

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 ...

that was built as ''Marie'' in 1899 by Neptun AG,

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, c ...

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 ...

for

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

owners. A sale in 1923 saw her renamed ''Norburg''. She was sold to

Latvia Latvia ( or ; lv, Latvija ; ltg, Latveja; liv, Leţmō), officially the Republic of Latvia ( lv, Latvijas Republika, links=no, ltg, Latvejas Republika, links=no, liv, Leţmō Vabāmō, links=no), is a country in the Baltic region of ...

in 1925 and renamed ''Gauja'', serving until 1941 when she was captured by 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 It superseded the Imperial German Navy of the German Empire (1871–1918) and the inter-war (1919–1935) of the Weimar Republic.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 ...

in the

Baltic Sea The Baltic Sea is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that is enclosed by Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, Sweden and the North and Central European Plain. The sea stretches from 53°N to 66°N latitude and from ...

. In 1945, she was seized by the Allies, 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 was renamed ''Empire Conyngham''. In 1946, she was

scuttled Scuttling is the deliberate sinking of a ship. Scuttling may be performed to dispose of an abandoned, old, or captured vessel; to prevent the vessel from becoming a navigation hazard; as an act of self-destruction to prevent the ship from being ...

with a cargo of obsolete bombs.

Description

The ship was built in 1899 by Neptun AG,

. The ship was long, with a beam of and a depth of . She was assessed at , . The ship was propelled by a

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 ...

, which had cylinders of , and diameter by stroke. The engine was built by Neptun AG.

History

''Marie'' was built for the Flensburger Dampfschiff Gesellschaft,

Flensburg Flensburg (; Danish, Low Saxon: ''Flensborg''; North Frisian: ''Flansborj''; South Jutlandic: ''Flensborre'') is an independent town (''kreisfreie Stadt'') in the north of the German state of Schleswig-Holstein. Flensburg is the centre of the ...

. She was operated under the management of H Schuldt. In 1923, she was sold to Ozean Dampschiff AG and was renamed ''Norburg''. In 1925, she was sold to the

Government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive, and judiciary. Government is a ...

and was renamed ''Gauja''. Her port of registry was

Riga Riga (; lv, Rīga , liv, Rīgõ) is the capital and largest city of Latvia and is home to 605,802 inhabitants which is a third of Latvia's population. The city lies on the Gulf of Riga at the mouth of the Daugava river where it meets the Ba ...

and 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 ...

TBDP were allocated. ''Gauja'' was operated under the management of Valsts Kuģu Pārvalde. By 1935, her code letters had been changed to YLCZ and the ship was assessed at , . On 8 June 1941, ''Gauja'' was captured by the

in the

. She was renamed ''Friedrich'' and operated by Otto Wiggers, Rostock. ''Friedrich'' was captured by the Allies in May 1945. She was passed to the MoWT and renamed ''Empire Conyngham''. Her port of registry was changed to London and the Code Letters GKWN were allocated. On 18 June 1949, ''Empire Conyngham'' departed

Dartmouth, Devon Dartmouth () is a town and civil parish in the English county of Devon. It is a tourist destination set on the western bank of the estuary of the River Dart, which is a long narrow tidal ria that runs inland as far as Totnes. It lies within the ...

with a cargo of obsolete bombs. She was escorted by . On 20 June, she was scuttled in the

Bay of Biscay The Bay of Biscay (), known in Spain as the Gulf of Biscay ( es, Golfo de Vizcaya, eu, Bizkaiko Golkoa), and in France and some border regions as the Gulf of Gascony (french: Golfe de Gascogne, oc, Golf de Gasconha, br, Pleg-mor Gwaskogn), ...

().

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Empire Conyngham 1899 ships Captured ships Empire ships Maritime incidents in June 1941 Maritime incidents in 1949 Merchant ships of Latvia Merchant ships of Germany Merchant ships of the United Kingdom Ministry of War Transport ships Scuttled vessels of the United Kingdom Ships built in Rostock Shipwrecks in the Bay of Biscay Steamships of Latvia Steamships of Germany Steamships of the United Kingdom World War I merchant ships of Germany World War II merchant ships of Germany