''Manticos'' was a

heavy lift ship A heavy-lift ship is a vessel designed to move very large loads that cannot be handled by normal ships. They are of two types: *''Semi-submersible'' ships that take on water ballast to allow the load—usually another vessel—to be floated o ...

which was built by William Gray & Co. Ltd.,

West Hartlepool West Hartlepool was a predecessor of Hartlepool, County Durham, England. It developed in the Victorian era and took the name from its western position in the parish of what is now known as the Headland. The former town was originally formed in ...

in 1944 as ''Empire Barbados'' for the Ministry of War Transport (MoWT). In 1948 she was sold and renamed ''Tennyson''. She was sold again in 1950 and renamed ''Berylstone'' and in 1960 was again sold and renamed ''Manticos''. On 8 October 1963 she developed a leak, and despite efforts to save her she sank on 22 October 1963.

History

''Empire Barbados'' was built by William Gray & Co Ltd, West Hartlepool as yard number 1178. She was launched on 28 December 1944 and completed in March 1945. She was built for the MoWT and was initially operated under the management of Joseph Constantine Steamship Line Ltd. In 1946, management passed to the Rodney Steamship Co Ltd,

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 1948 she was sold to the Rodney Steamship Co Ltd and renamed ''Tennyson'', serving with them for two years under the management of Anglo-Danubian Transport Co Ltd,

. In 1950, ''Tennyson'' was sold to T Stone (Shipping) Ltd and renamed ''Berylstone''. She was operated under the management of Stone & Rolfe Ltd,

Swansea Swansea (; cy, Abertawe ) is a coastal city and the second-largest city of Wales. It forms a principal area, officially known as the City and County of Swansea ( cy, links=no, Dinas a Sir Abertawe). The city is the twenty-fifth largest in ...

. Her port of registry was

Llanelly Llanelly ( cy, Llanelli) is the name of a parish and coterminous community in the principal area of Monmouthshire, within the historic boundaries of Brecknockshire, south-east Wales. It roughly covers the area of the Clydach Gorge. The popula ...

. On 14 September 1951, ''Berylstone'' was bombed by three

Soviet The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

aircraft off

Archangelsk Arkhangelsk (, ; rus, Арха́нгельск, p=ɐrˈxanɡʲɪlʲsk), also known in English as Archangel and Archangelsk, is a city and the administrative center of Arkhangelsk Oblast, Russia. It lies on both banks of the Northern Dvina near i ...

. ''Berylstone'' served for ten years and was sold in 1960 to Compagnia Navigazione Zannis.

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders with ...

and renamed ''Manticos''. She was operated under the management of A Halcoussis & Co, Greece.

Sinking

On 8 October 1963, ''Manticos'' was on a voyage from

Libreville Libreville is the capital and largest city of Gabon. Occupying in the northwestern province of Estuaire, Libreville is a port on the Komo River, near the Gulf of Guinea. As of the 2013 census, its population was 703,904. The area has been inh ...

Gabon Gabon (; ; snq, Ngabu), officially the Gabonese Republic (french: République gabonaise), is a country on the west coast of Central Africa. Located on the equator, it is bordered by Equatorial Guinea to the northwest, Cameroon to the north ...

bound for 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 ...

with a cargo of logs when she developed a leak. She was beached some south of

Dakar Dakar ( ; ; wo, Ndakaaru) (from daqaar ''tamarind''), is the capital and largest city of Senegal. The city of Dakar proper has a population of 1,030,594, whereas the population of the Dakar metropolitan area is estimated at 3.94 million in 2 ...

Senegal Senegal,; Wolof: ''Senegaal''; Pulaar: 𞤅𞤫𞤲𞤫𞤺𞤢𞥄𞤤𞤭 (Senegaali); Arabic: السنغال ''As-Sinighal'') officially the Republic of Senegal,; Wolof: ''Réewum Senegaal''; Pulaar : 𞤈𞤫𞤲𞤣𞤢𞥄𞤲𞤣𞤭 � ...

(). On 16 October, a

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 ...

was alongside, assisting with pumping operations but on 22 October the leak increased and the stern section of ''Manticos'' submerged. The ship was declared a total loss.

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 Barbados'' had the UK Official Number 180081 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 ...

GFDX.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Manticos 1944 ships Ships built on the River Tees Ministry of War Transport ships Steamships of the United Kingdom Merchant ships of Greece Steamships of Greece Shipwrecks in the Atlantic Ocean Maritime incidents in 1963