''Belgian Airman'' was a 6,959-ton

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 by

Harland & Wolff Ltd Harland & Wolff is a British shipbuilding company based in Belfast, Northern Ireland. It specialises in ship repair, shipbuilding and offshore construction. Harland & Wolff is famous for having built the majority of the ocean liners for the Wh ...

, Glasgow in 1941 for the Ministry of War Transport (MoWT). She was launched as ''Empire Ballantyne'' and transferred to the Belgian Government in 1942. She was sunk by a

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

U-boat on 14 April 1945.

History

''Empire Ballantyne'' was built by Harland & Wolff Ltd, Glasgow as yard number 1093. She was launched on 21 October 1941 and completed in February 1942. She was built for the MoWT and was to have been operated under the management of W A Souter & Co Ltd, Newcastle upon Tyne. On 15 February 1942 she was transferred to the Régie de la Marine of the Belgian Government and renamed ''Belgian Airman''. She was managed by Compagnie Maritime Belge,

Antwerp Antwerp (; nl, Antwerpen ; french: Anvers ; es, Amberes) is the largest city in Belgium by area at and the capital of Antwerp Province in the Flemish Region. With a population of 520,504,

. On 25 April 1942, ''Belgian Airman'' rescued 23 survivors from the SS ''Modesta'', which had been torpedoed and sunk by at . The survivors were landed in Bermuda. ''Belgian Airman'' was a member of a number of convoys during the Second World War. ;ON 162 Convoy ON 162 sailed from Liverpool on 12 January 1943 and arrived at

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 * '' ...

on 11 February. ''Belgian Airman'' was carrying the Commodore, Captain

H.C. Birnie Captain Harry Charles Birnie, (1 October 1882 – 9 March 1943) was a Scottish sea captain and naval officer. His peacetime seafaring career was spent with the Cunard Line. He also served in the Royal Navy in both World Wars, being killed in a ...

, RNR. ;HX 228

Convoy HX 228 HX 228 was a North Atlantic convoy of the HX series which ran during the Battle of the Atlantic in World War II. It was one of a series of four convoy battles that occurred during the crisis month of March 1943 and is notable for the loss of ...

sailed from New York on 28 February 1943 and arrived at Liverpool on 15 March. ''Belgian Airman'' was one of the ships that detached from the convoy and proceeded to Halifax, Nova Scotia in order to reduce the size of the convoy to 60 ships. ;HX 229A Convoy HX 229A which from New York on 9 March 1943 and arrived at Liverpool on 26 March. ''Belgian Airman'' joined at Halifax on 12 March. During the voyage, ''Belgian Airman'' was damaged by ice and diverted to Reykjavík, Iceland. She was carrying a cargo of

steel Steel is an alloy made up of iron with added carbon to improve its strength and fracture resistance compared to other forms of iron. Many other elements may be present or added. Stainless steels that are corrosion- and oxidation-resistant ty ...

and timber. ;SL 136 Convoy SL 136 sailed from Freetown, Sierra Leone on 3 September 1943 and arrived at Liverpool on 23 September. ''Belgian Airman'' was destined for Loch Ewe.

Sinking

On 8 April 1945, ''Belgian Airman'' departed Houston, bound for New York and Antwerp. She was carrying a cargo of

sorghum ''Sorghum'' () is a genus of about 25 species of flowering plants in the grass family (Poaceae). Some of these species are grown as cereals for human consumption and some in pastures for animals. One species is grown for grain, while many othe ...

and dairy feed. At 15:50 CET, on 14 April 1945, ''Belgian Airman'' was torpedoed and sunk off Chesapeake Bay, Maryland (). Her attacker was .Some sources state that she was sunk by One crew member was killed. The 46 survivors were rescued by the Liberty ship . The survivors were landed at New York. The fate of the ''U-857'' is unknown. It disappeared in the Atlantic in April, 1945. One theory is that it was sunk by a US Navy Airship with a Mk 24 ''FIDO'' Air-Dropped ASW Homing Torpedo.

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 Ballantyne'' had the UK Official Number 168706 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 ...

BCHQ were allocated to her.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Belgian Airman Ships built on the River Clyde 1941 ships Ministry of War Transport ships World War II merchant ships of Belgium World War II shipwrecks in the Atlantic Ocean Ships sunk by German submarines in World War II Maritime incidents in April 1945 Shipwrecks of the Carolina coast Ships built by Harland and Wolff