''Empire Byng'' 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 in 1944 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). Completed in May 1945, she was sold in 1951 and renamed ''Peter Dal II''. Further sales saw her renamed ''Benwyvis'', ''Southern Comet'' and ''Marites''. In November 1970, she ran aground at

Manila Bay Manila Bay ( fil, Look ng Maynila) is a natural harbor that serves the Port of Manila (on Luzon), in the Philippines. Strategically located around the capital city of the Philippines, Manila Bay facilitated commerce and trade between the Phi ...

in Typhoon Patsy. ''Marites'' was scrapped in 1972.

Description

''Empire Byng'' was built by Greenock Dockyard Co, Greenock for the MoWT. She was yard number 458. ''Empire Byng'' was launched on 16 November 1944 and completed in May 1945. The ship was long, with a beam of and a depth of . She was propelled by a steam turbine which drove an electric motor and a single screw. The turbine was built by General Electric Co Ltd, Erith. She had a GRT of of 4,418, and a DWT of 9,175.

Career

''Empire Byng'' was initially operated under the management of P & O Steam Navigation Co Ltd. Her port of registry was Greenock. Shortly after the end of 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 opposi ...

, ''Empire Byng'' was used to deliver a number of MoWT tugs. ''TID 125'', ''TID 126'', ''TID 131'', ''TID 132'' and ''TID 133'' were all delivered from

Bromborough Dock Bromborough Dock was situated on the River Mersey at Bromborough, on the Wirral Peninsula, England. Owned by the manufacturer Lever Brothers (and its successor Unilever), it served the company's factory at Port Sunlight. The facility was once t ...

Bombay Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the second-m ...

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

. ''Empire Byng'' departed on 22 May 1945 and arrived on 19 June. In 1946, management of ''Empire Byng'' was transferred to Dalhousie Steam & Motorshipping Co Ltd,

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, 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 dow ...

. In 1946, ''Empire Byng'' was sold to Dalhousie Steam & Motorshipping and was renamed ''Peter Dal II''. She was operated under the management of Nomikos (London) Ltd. In 1954, ''Peter Dal II'' was sold to Novocastria Shipping Co Ltd, remaining under the management of Nomikos. In 1955, ''Peter Dal II'' was sold to Ben Line Steamers Ltd and renamed ''Benwyvis''. She served with the Ben Line until 1963 when she was sold to Bacong Shipping SA,

Panama Panama ( , ; es, link=no, Panamá ), officially the Republic of Panama ( es, República de Panamá), is a transcontinental country spanning the southern part of North America and the northern part of South America. It is bordered by Co ...

and was renamed ''Southern Comet''. She was operated under the management of Southern Industrial Projects Inc,

Manila Manila ( , ; fil, Maynila, ), officially the City of Manila ( fil, Lungsod ng Maynila, ), is the capital of the Philippines, and its second-most populous city. It is highly urbanized and, as of 2019, was the world's most densely populate ...

. In 1968, ''Southern Comet'' was sold to the People's Bank and Trust Company,

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

and renamed ''Marites''. On 19 November 1970, ''Marites'' was driven aground in

during Typhoon Patsy. She was refloated on 29 November, and laid up at South Harbour, Manila. In 1972, ''Marites'' was sold for scrap, arriving at

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delta i ...

on 8 February 1972. In 1984, ''Southern Comet'' was mentioned in an appeal case relating to repairs done by the Pioneer Iron Works, Manila, who had not been paid for such work. The appeal was denied.

Official Numbers and Code Letters

Official Numbers were a forerunner to IMO Numbers. ''Empire Byng'', ''Peter Dal II'' and ''Benwyvis'' had the United Kingdom Official Number 1695921. ''Empire Byng'' used the Code Letters GFNY.

References

External links

Photo of ''Empire Byng''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Empire Byng 1944 ships Ships built on the River Clyde Empire ships Ministry of War Transport ships Steamships of the United Kingdom Merchant ships of the United Kingdom Steamships of Panama Merchant ships of Panama Steamships of the Philippines Merchant ships of the Philippines Maritime incidents in 1970 Dalhousie Steam and Motor Ship Company