The SS ''Belgian'' was a 5,287-ton steamship which was built in 1919, sold in 1934 becoming ''Amelia Lauro'', seized in 1940 and renamed ''Empire Activity'' and wrecked in 1943.

History

''Belgian'' was built by Swan Hunter and Wigham Richardson Ltd,

Wallsend Wallsend is a town in North Tyneside, England, at the eastern end of Hadrian's Wall. It has a population of 43,842 and lies east of Newcastle upon Tyne. History Roman Wallsend In Roman times, this was the site of the fort of Segedunum. This f ...

and launched on 29 August 1919, being completed in October 1919. From 1919 to 1934 ''Belgian'' was owned by the Leyland Line. In 1934, she was sold to Achille Lauro, and renamed ''Amelia Lauro''. On 7 March 1940, ''Amelia Lauro'' was damaged by German bombing at en route from

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 ...

Piombino Piombino is an Italian town and ''comune'' of about 35,000 inhabitants in the province of Livorno (Tuscany). It lies on the border between the Ligurian Sea and the Tyrrhenian Sea, in front of Elba Island and at the northern side of Maremma. Ove ...

laden with coal. She was set on fire and the crew anchored her, then abandoned her. The SS ''Titania'' rescued 37 of the crew, and the sloops ''Pintail'' and ''Londonderry'' assisted. ''Amelia Lauro'' was escorted to Immingham with her superstructure burnt out. One crew member was killed outright and three were wounded. One of the wounded crewmen later died from his injuries. In an expression of gratitude, Lauro Lines owner Achille Lauro donated £26. 5s to the Royal National Lifeboat Institution in appreciation of assistance rendered by the Great Yarmouth and Gorleston lifeboat in bringing 29 crew to shore. Permission was given for temporary repairs to be carried out. As a consequence of Italy's declaration of war on 10 June 1940, ''Amelia Lauro'' was seized as a

prize of war A prize of war is a piece of enemy property or land seized by a belligerent party during or after a war or battle, typically at sea. This term was used nearly exclusively in terms of captured ships during the 18th and 19th centuries. Basis in inte ...

. The seizure was ratified by the

prize court A prize court is a court (or even a single individual, such as an ambassador or consul) authorized to consider whether prizes have been lawfully captured, typically whether a ship has been lawfully captured or seized in time of war or under the t ...

on 4 May 1941. ''Amelia Lauro'' was taken over by 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 ...

, being renamed ''Empire Activity''. Galbraith, Pembroke & Co were appointed managers. On 3 October 1943, ''Empire Activity'' was wrecked on Peckford Reef Newfoundland at , 1 nautical mile south of the Peckford Reef. She was en route from

Botwood Botwood is a town in north-central Newfoundland, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada in Census Division 6. It is located on the west shore of the Bay of Exploits on a natural deep water harbour used by cargo ships and seaplanes throughout the town ...

to the United Kingdom laden with

zinc Zinc is a chemical element with the symbol Zn and atomic number 30. Zinc is a slightly brittle metal at room temperature and has a shiny-greyish appearance when oxidation is removed. It is the first element in group 12 (IIB) of the periodi ...

concentrates.

Official Number and code letters

Official Numbers were a forerunner to

IMO Numbers IMO or Imo may refer to: Biology and medicine * Irish Medical Organisation, the main organization for doctors in the Republic of Ireland * Intelligent Medical Objects, a privately held company specializing in medical vocabularies * Isomaltooligosa ...

. ''Belgian'' had the UK Official Number 140659. ''Amelia Lauro'' had the Italian Official Number 423 ''Empire Activity'' had the UK Official Number 140659. ''Belgian'' used the Code Letters KCQH. ''Amelia Lauro'' used the Code Letters IBEZ. ''Empire Activity'' used the Code Letters GQXX.

References

External links

Photo
of ''Empire Activity'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Belgian 1919 ships Standard World War I ships Ships built on the River Tyne Steamships of Italy World War II merchant ships of Italy Steamships of the United Kingdom Ministry of War Transport ships Shipwrecks of the Newfoundland and Labrador coast World War II shipwrecks in the Atlantic Ocean Maritime incidents in October 1943 Ships built by Swan Hunter