''Hoxie'' was a 4,714 ton cargo ship which was built in 1918. She was renamed ''Empire Albatross'' in 1940. In 1942, she was renamed ''Belgian Fisherman''. In 1946 she was renamed ''Belgique'' and then ''Martha Hendrik Fisser'' in 1950. She was scrapped in 1958.

History

Pre Second World War

''Hoxie'' was built by

Bethlehem Steel Corporation The Bethlehem Steel Corporation was an American steelmaking company headquartered in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. For most of the 20th century, it was one of the world's largest steel producing and shipbuilding companies. At the height of its succ ...

, at Sparrows Point, Baltimore, as Emergency Fleet Corporation (EFC) hull number 4182. She was launched on 7 December 1918 and completed in March 1919. She was owned by the

United States Shipping Board The United States Shipping Board (USSB) was established as an emergency agency by the 1916 Shipping Act (39 Stat. 729), on September 7, 1916. The United States Shipping Board's task was to increase the number of US ships supporting the World War ...

. ''Hoxie'' was chartered by the Baltimore Steam Ship Co in the 1920s. She passed to the

United States Maritime Commission The United States Maritime Commission (MARCOM) was an independent executive agency of the U.S. federal government that was created by the Merchant Marine Act of 1936, which was passed by Congress on June 29, 1936, and was abolished on May 24, 195 ...

in 1937.

War service

''Hoxie'' passed to 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 ...

in 1940 and was renamed ''Empire Albatross'', under the management of Sir W Reardon Smith & Sons,

Cardiff Cardiff (; cy, Caerdydd ) is the capital and largest city of Wales. It forms a principal area, officially known as the City and County of Cardiff ( cy, Dinas a Sir Caerdydd, links=no), and the city is the eleventh-largest in the United Kingd ...

. Management later passed to Dene Management Co. She was a member of a number of convoys. ;HX 145 Convoy HX 145 sailed from Halifax,

Nova Scotia Nova Scotia ( ; ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the four Atlantic provinces. Nova Scotia is Latin for "New Scotland". Most of the population are native Eng ...

on 16 August 1941 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 populat ...

on 31 August. ;SC 74 Convoy SC 74 sailed from Halifax on 12 March 1942 and arrived at Liverpool on 28 March. ''Empire Albatross'' was carrying a cargo of steel and trucks. Her final destination was Hull. In 1942, ''Empire Albatross'' was sold to the

Belgian Government The Federal Government of Belgium ( nl, Federale regering, french: Gouvernement fédéral, german: Föderalregierung) exercises executive power in the Kingdom of Belgium. It consists of ministers and secretary of state ("junior", or deputy-mini ...

and renamed ''Belgian Fisherman'', under the management of L Dens et Compagnie, Antwerp. On 28 February 1944, ''Belgian Fisherman'' was damaged in a collision with the SS ''Grodno'' near Safi en route to Gibraltar.

Post war

In 1946 ''Belgian Fisherman'' was sold to the Compagnie Royale Belgo-Argentine SA, Antwerp and renamed ''Belgique''. In 1950, ''Belgique'' was sold for scrapping to Van Heyghen Frères,

Gent Gent is a shortened form of the word gentleman. It may also refer to: * Ghent (Dutch language, Dutch: Gent), a Belgian city ** K.A.A. Gent, a football club from Ghent ** K.R.C. Gent, a football club from Ghent ** Gent RFC, a rugby club in Ghen ...

, who resold her to Hendrik Fisser AG, Emden who renamed her ''Martha Hendrik Fisser''. She served with them for eight years. ''Martha Hendrik Fisser'' was sold for scrapping to Walter Ritscher who resold her to Eckhardt & Co She was scrapped at

Hamburg (male), (female) en, Hamburger(s), Hamburgian(s) , timezone1 = Central (CET) , utc_offset1 = +1 , timezone1_DST = Central (CEST) , utc_offset1_DST = +2 , postal ...

in the first quarter of 1958.

Official Number and code letters

Official numbers were a forerunner to IMO Numbers. ''Hoxie'' had the American Official Number 217613 and used the code letters LQBF. ''Empire Albatross'' had the Official Number 168090 on Lloyds Register and used the code letters GNLF.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hoxie 1918 ships Ships built in San Francisco Merchant ships of the United States Steamships of the United States Ministry of War Transport ships Steamships of the United Kingdom World War II merchant ships of Belgium Steamships of Belgium Merchant ships of West Germany Steamships of West Germany Ships built in Sparrows Point, Maryland