''Empire Bardolph'' was a

refrigerated The term refrigeration refers to the process of removing heat from an enclosed space or substance for the purpose of lowering the temperature.International Dictionary of Refrigeration, http://dictionary.iifiir.org/search.phpASHRAE Terminology, ht ...

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 ...

which was built in 1942 for 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). It was sold in 1946 and renamed ''Memling'' and sold again in 1953 and renamed ''Vancouver Star'', being renamed ''Memling'' in 1957. It was scrapped in 1959.

History

''Empire Bardolph'' was built by Short Brothers Ltd,

Sunderland Sunderland () is a port city in Tyne and Wear, England. It is the City of Sunderland's administrative centre and in the Historic counties of England, historic county of County of Durham, Durham. The city is from Newcastle-upon-Tyne and is on t ...

as yard number 474. She was launched on 8 December 1942 and completed in March 1943. ''Empire Bardolph'' was built for the MoWT and initially operated under the management of Donaldson Brothers & Black Ltd. Management passed to Lamport and Holt Line Ltd in 1944 ''Empire Bardolph'' had of refrigerated cargo space in her holds.

War service

''Empire Bardolph'' was a member of a number of convoys 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 ...

. ;SL 165 Convoy SL 162 departed

Freetown Freetown is the capital and largest city of Sierra Leone. It is a major port city on the Atlantic Ocean and is located in the Western Area of the country. Freetown is Sierra Leone's major urban, economic, financial, cultural, educational and p ...

Sierra Leone Sierra Leone,)]. officially the Republic of Sierra Leone, is a country on the southwest coast of West Africa. It is bordered by Liberia to the southeast and Guinea surrounds the northern half of the nation. Covering a total area of , Sierra ...

on 20 July 1944 and arrived 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 popul ...

on 10 August. ''Empire Bardolph'' was carrying meat and general cargo. ;OS 87 Convoy OS 87 departed Liverpool on 25 August 1944 and arrived at Freetown on 13 September. ''Empire Bardolph'' was bound for the River Plate.

Postwar

In 1946, ''Empire Bardolph'' was sold to Lamport and Holt Line Ltd and renamed ''Memling''. She was one of the first two ships acquired by Lamport & Holt after the war. She was sold in 1953 to

Blue Star Line The Blue Star Line was a Merchant Navy (United Kingdom), British passenger and cargo shipping company formed in 1911, being in operation until 1998. Formation Blue Star Line was formed as an initiative by the Vestey Brothers, a Liverpool-ba ...

and renamed ''Vancouver Star'', being renamed ''Memling'' in 1957. On 23 October 1959, ''Memling'' arrived at

Vlissingen Vlissingen (; zea, label=Zeelandic, Vlissienge), historically known in English as Flushing, is a Municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality and a city in the southwestern Netherlands on the former island of Walcheren. With its strategic l ...

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

for scrapping.

Propulsion

She was propelled by a triple expansion

steam engine A steam engine is a heat engine that performs mechanical work using steam as its working fluid. The steam engine uses the force produced by steam pressure to push a piston back and forth inside a cylinder. This pushing force can be trans ...

which was built by North East Marine Engineering Company (1938) 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 ...

Official number and call sign

Official number Official numbers are ship identifier numbers assigned to merchant ships by their flag state, country of registration. Each country developed its own official numbering system, some on a national and some on a port-by-port basis, and the formats hav ...

s 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 ...

. ''Empire Bardolph'' had the UK official number 169109 and the

Call sign In broadcasting and radio communications, a call sign (also known as a call name or call letters—and historically as a call signal—or abbreviated as a call) is a unique identifier for a transmitter station. A call sign can be formally assigne ...

BPKF.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Empire Bardolph 1942 ships Empire ships Merchant ships of the United Kingdom Ministry of War Transport ships Ships of the Blue Star Line Steamships of the United Kingdom Ships built on the River Wear World War II merchant ships of the United Kingdom Ships of the Lamport and Holt Line