SS ''Narwik,'' formerly ''Empire Roamer'', was a Polish general cargo ship built in 1941 to the order of the British government, as one of the Empire B type ships. In 1942, together with four others (''

Tobruk Tobruk or Tobruck (; grc, Ἀντίπυργος, ''Antipyrgos''; la, Antipyrgus; it, Tobruch; ar, طبرق, Tubruq ''Ṭubruq''; also transliterated as ''Tobruch'' and ''Tubruk'') is a port city on Libya's eastern Mediterranean coast, near th ...

'', ''Bałtyk,'' ''Białystok'', ''Borysław'' - since 1950 ''Bytom''), it was transferred to the

Polish Government in Exile The Polish government-in-exile, officially known as the Government of the Republic of Poland in exile ( pl, Rząd Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej na uchodźstwie), was the government in exile of Poland formed in the aftermath of the Invasion of Pola ...

for the

Polish Merchant Navy The Polish Merchant Navy ( pl, Polska Marynarka Handlowa, ''PMH'') was created in the interwar period when the Second Polish Republic regained independence. During World War II, many ships of the Polish Navy joined the Allied merchant navy and it ...

. In Polish service, the name of the ship was changed to "Narwik" to commemorate the Polish contribution to the

Battle of Narvik The Battles of Narvik were fought from 9 April to 8 June 1940, as a naval battle in the Ofotfjord and as a land battle in the mountains surrounding the north Norwegian town of Narvik, as part of the Norwegian Campaign of the Second World War. ...

. The transferred ships formally became the property of GAL ( Gdynia-America Shipping Lines), but they were chartered to the War Transport Administration. ''Narwik'' sailed under the Polish flag to 1972. ''Empire Roamer'' was built by

Charles Connell and Company Charles Connell and Company was a Scottish shipbuilding company based in Scotstoun in Glasgow on the River Clyde. History The company was founded by Charles Connell (1822-1894) who had served an apprenticeship with Robert Steele and Co befor ...

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...

and launched on 5 January 1942. On 11 March 1942 she was sold by

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 ...

to Polish government, and was commissioned from the shipyard on that day. Her first captain was Tadeusz Niefiedowicz. On 17 March 1942 the ship went on her maiden voyage in a conwoy from

Gourock Gourock ( ; gd, Guireag ) is a town in the Inverclyde council area and formerly a burgh of the County of Renfrew in the west of Scotland. It was a seaside resort on the East shore of the upper Firth of Clyde. Its main function today is as a r ...

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

. On 30 April she departed back for

Cape Town Cape Town ( af, Kaapstad; , xh, iKapa) is one of South Africa's three capital cities, serving as the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. It is the legislative capital of the country, the oldest city in the country, and the second largest ...

, and then to

Bombay Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the second- ...

, and back to

Durban Durban ( ) ( zu, eThekwini, from meaning 'the port' also called zu, eZibubulungwini for the mountain range that terminates in the area), nicknamed ''Durbs'',Ishani ChettyCity nicknames in SA and across the worldArticle on ''news24.com'' from ...

. On the way to Durban the crew spent several days fighting coal fire in bunkers, finally extinguished in the port. On October 10, 1942, during a cruise to 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 territorie ...

from Durban, ''Narwik'' encountered lifeboats from the SS ''Orcades'' that was torpedoed by the German submarine U-172. Despite possible threat by the German submarine, a rescue operation was launched, which resulted in 1022 survivors being taken on board in several hours, from over 20 boats, including women and children. On the way with survivors to Cape Town, at night, the ''Narwik'' located also missing lifeboats with a captain of ''Orcades'' and volunteers, who had been trying to save sinking ship. It was the most effective and largest rescue action carried out by one ship during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. At that time, the ship was commanded by its First Officer Czesław Zawada, because the captain had to disembark before the cruise due to illness. Czesław Zawada and his crew were honored with Polish and British decorations for the rescue operation, including

Lloyd's War Medal for Bravery at Sea The Lloyd's War Medal for Bravery at Sea is one of the four Lloyd's Medal types bestowed by Lloyd's of London. In 1939, with the coming of the Second World War, Lloyd's set up a committee to find means of honouring seafarers who performed acts of e ...

for the captain. During the war, the ship took part in further convoys and military operations, including

landing in Sicily Landing is the last part of a flight, where a flying animal, aircraft, or spacecraft returns to the ground. When the flying object returns to water, the process is called alighting, although it is commonly called "landing", "touchdown" or ...

in July 1943. On 29 July 1946, the ship returned to Poland from where it continued to make transatlantic voyages. From 1951 the ''Narwik'' became part of

Polish Ocean Lines Polish Ocean Lines (PLO, pl, Polskie Linie Oceaniczne) is a Polish commercial shipping company, with headquarters in Gdynia. The company was created in 1951 in a merger of three smaller shipping companies. Currently, PLO acts as a holding compan ...

fleet. Since 1967 she sailed in a charter in Polish-Korean company Korpol. On 16 February 1972 she was sold for scrap to Spain. On 8 March 1972 she entered breakers yard in Bilbao.

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Narwik Empire ships Ships of the Gdynia-America Line 1942 ships Ministry of War Transport ships Steamships of Poland Steamships of the United Kingdom Merchant ships of Poland