''Beaverburn'' was a fast

cargo liner A cargo liner, also known as a passenger-cargo ship or passenger-cargoman, is a type of merchant ship which carries general cargo and often passengers. They became common just after the middle of the 19th century, and eventually gave way to conta ...

which was built in 1944 for Britain's Ministry of War Transport (MoWT) as ''Empire Captain''. In 1946 she was sold to Canada and renamed ''Beaverburn''. In 1960, she was sold back to Britain and renamed ''Bennachie''. In 1964, she was sold to Liberia and renamed ''Silvana''. She served until 1971 when she was scrapped.

Description

The ship was built under the Empire ships programme by Caledon Shipbuilding & Engineering Co Ltd,

Dundee Dundee (; sco, Dundee; gd, Dùn Dè or ) is Scotland's fourth-largest city and the 51st-most-populous built-up area in the United Kingdom. The mid-year population estimate for 2016 was , giving Dundee a population density of 2,478/km2 or ...

, as yard number 404. She was launched on 25 February 1944 and completed in July. The ship was long, with a beam of and a depth of . Her GRT was 9,875, with a NRT of 7,110. Her DWT was 11,975. She was propelled two

steam turbine A steam turbine is a machine that extracts thermal energy from pressurized steam and uses it to do mechanical work on a rotating output shaft. Its modern manifestation was invented by Charles Parsons in 1884. Fabrication of a modern steam turbin ...

s, driving a single screw propeller via double reduction gearing. The turbines were built by Richardsons Westgarth & Co Ltd,

Hartlepool Hartlepool () is a seaside and port town in County Durham, England. It is the largest settlement and administrative centre of the Borough of Hartlepool. With an estimated population of 90,123, it is the second-largest settlement in County ...

and could propel her at .Postcard of ship
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History

''Empire Captain'' was built for the MoWT. She was placed under the management of T & J Harrison Ltd. The

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 ...

166217 and

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 ...

BFKF were allocated; her port of registry was Dundee. She was a member of a number of convoys during the Second World War. ;UC 50A Convoy UC 50A departed Liverpool on 24 December 1944 bound for

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 * '' ...

. ''Empire Captain'' was bound for Cape Town, South Africa. ;UC 65A Convoy UC 65 departed St Helens Roads on 23 April 1945 bound for New York. ''Empire Captain'' was bound for

Cristóbal Cristóbal or Cristobal, the Spanish version of Christopher, is a masculine given name and a surname which may refer to: Given name *Cristóbal Balenciaga (1895–1972), Spanish fashion designer *Cristóbal Cobo (born 1976), Chilean academic *Cri ...

, Panama. In 1946, ''Empire Captain'' was sold to the

Canadian Pacific Railway The Canadian Pacific Railway (french: Chemin de fer Canadien Pacifique) , also known simply as CPR or Canadian Pacific and formerly as CP Rail (1968–1996), is a Canadian Class I railway incorporated in 1881. The railway is owned by Canadi ...

and renamed ''Beaverburn'', the second Canadian Pacific ship to bear this name. Her port of registry was changed to London. She was placed under the management of Canadian Pacific Steamship Co. In April 1947, ''Beaverburn'' was the first ship to reach Montreal once the port had opened after having been closed for the winter by ice. Her captain, John Bisset Smith, received the traditional gold-headed cane for this achievement. In 1960, ''Beaverburn'' was sold to

Ben Line Steamers Ltd 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 Thoms ...

of Scotland, and renamed '' SS Bennachie''. Her port of registry was changed to Leith. In 1964, ''Bennachie'' was sold to Atlantic Navigation Corporation, Liberia. She was placed under the management of W H Eddie Hsu,

Formosa Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is an island country located in East Asia. The main island of Taiwan, formerly known in the Western political circles, press and literature as Formosa, makes up 99% of the land area of the territorie ...

. ''Silvana'' served until 1971 when she was sold for scrap. She arrived for scrapping on 6 April 1971 at

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 ...

, Taiwan.

References

External links

Photo of ''Beaverburn''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Beaverburn 1944 ships Ships built in Dundee Cargo liners Ministry of War Transport ships Empire ships Steamships of the United Kingdom Merchant ships of the United Kingdom Steamships of Liberia Merchant ships of Liberia