''North Britain'' 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 in 1945 by

Lithgows Lithgows Limited is a family-owned Scottish company that had a long involvement in shipbuilding, based in Kingston, Port Glasgow, on the River Clyde in Scotland. It has a continued involvement in marine resources. History Founding The Company w ...

Port Glasgow Port Glasgow ( gd, Port Ghlaschu, ) is the second-largest town in the Inverclyde council area of Scotland. The population according to the 1991 census for Port Glasgow was 19,426 persons and in the 2001 census was 16,617 persons. The most recen ...

as ''Empire Cyprus'' for the Ministry of War Transport (MoWT). She was sold into merchant service in 1948 and renamed ''North Britain''. In 1962, she was sold to Hong Kong and renamed ''Jesselton Bay'', serving until 1968 when she was scrapped.

Description

The ship was built in 1945 by Lithgows Ltd,

. She was yard number 1005. The ship was long, with a beam of . The ship was propelled by a triple expansion steam engine.

History

''Empire Cyprus'' was launched on 18 April 1945, and completed in June. She was operated under the management of Charlton, McAllum & Co Ltd. Her port of registry was

Greenock Greenock (; sco, Greenock; gd, Grianaig, ) is a town and administrative centre in the Inverclyde council areas of Scotland, council area in Scotland, United Kingdom and a former burgh of barony, burgh within the Counties of Scotland, historic ...

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 ...

GFWV were allocated. (Enter GFWV or Empire Cyprus in relevant search box) She departed from the Clyde on her maiden voyage on 23 June 1945, bound for

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

, United States. Over the next six months, she would visit

Port Said Port Said ( ar, بورسعيد, Būrsaʿīd, ; grc, Πηλούσιον, Pēlousion) is a city that lies in northeast Egypt extending about along the coast of the Mediterranean Sea, north of the Suez Canal. With an approximate population of 6 ...

, and Suez, Egypt; Colombo,

Ceylon Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...

; Calcutta, India; and

Rangoon Yangon ( my, ရန်ကုန်; ; ), formerly spelled as Rangoon, is the capital of the Yangon Region and the largest city of Myanmar (also known as Burma). Yangon served as the capital of Myanmar until 2006, when the military government ...

and

Kyaukpyu Kyaukpyu ( my, ကျောက်ဖြူမြို့ ; also spelt Kyaukphyu) is a major town in Rakhine State, in western Myanmar. It is located on the north western corner of Yanbye Island on Combermere Bay, and is 250 miles (400 ...

, Burma. In 1947, management was transferred to Hugh Roberts & Son, Newcastle upon Tyne. In 1948, she was sold to North Shipping Co Ltd and renamed ''North Britain''. She remained under the management of Hugh Roberts & Son. On 28 January 1952, ''North Britain'' ran aground off

Fiji Fiji ( , ,; fj, Viti, ; Fiji Hindi: फ़िजी, ''Fijī''), officially the Republic of Fiji, is an island country in Melanesia, part of Oceania in the South Pacific Ocean. It lies about north-northeast of New Zealand. Fiji consists ...

. She was refloated later that day. In 1962, ''North Britain'' was sold to Kinabatagan Shipping Co Ltd, Hong Kong and renamed ''Jesselton Bay''. She was operated under the management of United China Shipping Ltd, Hong Kong. She arrived on 2 April 1968 at

Kaohsiung Kaohsiung City (Mandarin Chinese: ; Wade–Giles: ''Kao¹-hsiung²;'' Pinyin: ''Gāoxióng'') is a special municipality located in southern Taiwan. It ranges from the coastal urban center to the rural Yushan Range with an area of . Kaohsi ...

, Taiwan for scrapping.

References

External links

Photo of ''North Britain''
{{DEFAULTSORT:North Britain 1945 ships Ships built on the River Clyde Empire ships Ministry of War Transport ships Steamships of the United Kingdom Merchant ships of the United Kingdom Maritime incidents in 1952 Steamships of Hong Kong Merchant ships of Hong Kong