SS ''Empire Admiral'' was a 7,842 ton steamship which was built in 1945 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), she was sold in 1947 becoming ''Peter Dal'', and sold again in 1951 and renamed ''Benledi''. In 1953 she was sold to

Bahamas The Bahamas (), officially the Commonwealth of The Bahamas, is an island country within the Lucayan Archipelago of the West Indies in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic. It takes up 97% of the Lucayan Archipelago's land area and is home to ...

and renamed ''Andros Tommeno'', being resold later that year to

Liberia Liberia (), officially the Republic of Liberia, is a country on the West African coast. It is bordered by Sierra Leone to Liberia–Sierra Leone border, its northwest, Guinea to its north, Ivory Coast to its east, and the Atlantic Ocean ...

. In 1966 she was resold and renamed ''Unique Carrier'', serving until 1969 when she was scrapped in

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the nort ...

History

''Empire Admiral'' was built by Vickers-Armstrongs Ltd,

Barrow in Furness Barrow-in-Furness is a port town in Cumbria, England. Historically in Lancashire, it was incorporated as a municipal borough in 1867 and merged with Dalton-in-Furness Urban District in 1974 to form the Borough of Barrow-in-Furness. In 2023 the ...

for the

and launched on 26 March 1945, being completed the following August. She was managed by H Hogarth & Sons initially, with management passing to A Weir & Co,

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

in 1946. In 1947, ''Empire Admiral'' was sold to A Weir & Co and renamed ''Peter Dal''. On 21 October 1949, an onboard explosion killed one crew member and injured two others. ''Peter Dal'' was only slightly damaged. In 1950, ''Peter Dal'' was sold to W Thompson & Co,

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...

who traded as

Ben Line The Ben Line or Ben Line Steamers, Limited was a Scottish shipping company based in Leith, Scotland founded in 1825 which was primarily involved in the Far East to Europe trade. A private company, it was largely owned by members of the Thomso ...

, and was renamed ''Benledi''. On 24 February 1950, ''Benledi'' caught fire in the

Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on the e ...

east of

Malta Malta ( , , ), officially the Republic of Malta ( mt, Repubblika ta' Malta ), is an island country in the Mediterranean Sea. It consists of an archipelago, between Italy and Libya, and is often considered a part of Southern Europe. It lies ...

. The 44 crew took to the

lifeboats Lifeboat may refer to: Rescue vessels * Lifeboat (shipboard), a small craft aboard a ship to allow for emergency escape * Lifeboat (rescue), a boat designed for sea rescues * Airborne lifeboat, an air-dropped boat used to save downed airmen A ...

and were rescued by the tanker . ''Benledi'' was assisted into

with the help of , the salvage ship and the

tug A tugboat or tug is a marine vessel that manoeuvres other vessels by pushing or pulling them, with direct contact or a tow line. These boats typically tug ships in circumstances where they cannot or should not move under their own power, suc ...

. In 1953, ''Benledi'' was sold to E G Thomson Ltd, remaining within the Ben Line fleet. In 1963, ''Benledi'' was sold to Andros Navigation Co.,

Nassau Nassau may refer to: Places Bahamas *Nassau, Bahamas, capital city of the Bahamas, on the island of New Providence Canada *Nassau District, renamed Home District, regional division in Upper Canada from 1788 to 1792 *Nassau Street (Winnipeg), ...

and renamed ''Andros Tommeno'', being resold later that year to Frank Shipping Co Ltd,

. In 1966, ''Andros Tommeno'' was sold to Unique Maritime Corporation, Liberia and renamed ''Unique Carrier'', serving until 1969 when she arrived for scrapping on 27 February 1969 in

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 ...

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 ...

. ''Empire Admiral'' had the UK

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 ...

169038 and used 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 ...

GFJQ.

References

External links

Photo
of SS ''Empire Admiral''
Photo
of SS ''Benledi'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Empire Admiral 1945 ships Ships built in Barrow-in-Furness Steamships of the United Kingdom Empire ships Ministry of War Transport ships Maritime incidents in 1950 Steamships of the Bahamas Merchant ships of the Bahamas Steamships of Liberia Merchant ships of Liberia