''Empire Charmian'' 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 1943 by

Vickers-Armstrongs Vickers-Armstrongs Limited was a British engineering conglomerate formed by the merger of the assets of Vickers Limited and Sir W G Armstrong Whitworth & Company in 1927. The majority of the company was nationalised in the 1960s and 1970s, w ...

Barrow in Furness Barrow-in-Furness is a port town in Cumbria, England. Historically in Lancashire, it was incorporated as a municipal borough in 1867 and merged with Dalton-in-Furness Urban District in 1974 to form the Borough of Barrow-in-Furness. In 2023 the ...

. She was built for the Ministry of War Transport (MoWT). In 1951 she was sold into merchant service and renamed ''Vercharmian''. After running aground in 1961, she was scrapped in 1962.

Description

The ship was built by Vickers Armstrongs, Barrow-in-Furness. She was launched on 25 November 1942 and completed in March 1943. The ship was long, with a beam of and a depth of . She had a GRT of 7,513 and a NRT of 5,133. The ship was propelled by a 2-stroke Single Cycle Single Action

diesel engine The diesel engine, named after Rudolf Diesel, is an internal combustion engine in which ignition of the fuel is caused by the elevated temperature of the air in the cylinder due to mechanical compression; thus, the diesel engine is a so-call ...

, which had three cylinders of bore by diameter. The engine was built by William Doxford & Sons Ltd.

Sunderland Sunderland () is a port city in Tyne and Wear, England. It is the City of Sunderland's administrative centre and in the Historic counties of England, historic county of County of Durham, Durham. The city is from Newcastle-upon-Tyne and is on t ...

History

''Empire Charmian'' was built for the MoWT. She was placed under the management of the British-India Steam Navigation Co Ltd. Her port of registry was Barrow in Furness. 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 ...

BFDL and United Kingdom

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 ...

167745 were allocated. ''Empire Charmian'' was a member of a number of convoys during 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 opposin ...

. ;MKS 19 Convoy MKS 19 departed

Tripoli, Libya Tripoli (; ar, طرابلس الغرب, translit= Ṭarābulus al-Gharb , translation=Western Tripoli) is the capital and largest city of Libya, with a population of about 1.1 million people in 2019. It is located in the northwest of Libya o ...

on 21 July 1943 and arrived at Gibraltar on 28 July. ''Empire Charmian'' joined the convoy at

Algiers Algiers ( ; ar, الجزائر, al-Jazāʾir; ber, Dzayer, script=Latn; french: Alger, ) is the capital and largest city of Algeria. The city's population at the 2008 Census was 2,988,145Census 14 April 2008: Office National des Statistiques ...

Algeria ) , image_map = Algeria (centered orthographic projection).svg , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Algiers , coordinates = , largest_city = capital , relig ...

on 24 July. Records are unclear as to the eventual destination of the convoy. One source states that it arrived at the Clyde on 9 August. ''Empire Charmian'' was not listed in that part of the convoy. ;MKS 23 Convoy MKS 23 departed

Alexandria Alexandria ( or ; ar, ٱلْإِسْكَنْدَرِيَّةُ ; grc-gre, Αλεξάνδρεια, Alexándria) is the second largest city in Egypt, and the largest city on the Mediterranean coast. Founded in by Alexander the Great, Alexandria ...

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediter ...

on 25 August 1943 and arrived at the Clyde on 14 September. ''Empire Charmian'' joined the convoy at

Malta Malta ( , , ), officially the Republic of Malta ( mt, Repubblika ta' Malta ), is an island country in the Mediterranean Sea. It consists of an archipelago, between Italy and Libya, and is often considered a part of Southern Europe. It lies ...

and left it at

Bizerta Bizerte or Bizerta ( ar, بنزرت, translit=Binzart , it, Biserta, french: link=no, Bizérte) the classical antiquity, classical Hippo, is a city of Bizerte Governorate in Tunisia. It is the List of northernmost items, northernmost city in Afri ...

Tunisia ) , image_map = Tunisia location (orthographic projection).svg , map_caption = Location of Tunisia in northern Africa , image_map2 = , capital = Tunis , largest_city = capital , ...

. In 1945, ''Empire Charmian'' transported a number of TIDs to

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 Delt ...

. In February 1945, she transported TID 124 from the United Kingdom to Hong Kong. In October 1945, she transported TID 122 from

Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, borde ...

to Hong Kong, and TIDs 123, 129 and 130 from

Manus Island Manus Island is part of Manus Province in northern Papua New Guinea and is the largest of the Admiralty Islands. It is the fifth-largest island in Papua New Guinea, with an area of , measuring around . Manus Island is covered in rugged jungles w ...

, Admiralty Islands to Hong Kong. In 1946, management of ''Empire Charmian'' was transferred to the Hain Steamship Co Ltd. In 1951, ''Empire Charmian'' was sold to Vergottis 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 ...

and renamed ''Vercharmian''. On 26 July 1960, crewmember Fernando Davila was injured when he fell through an open hatch on the forecastle of ''Vercharmian''. He sued in the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit claiming damages for injuries suffered when he fell through the hatch. The claim was denied and an appeal was unsuccessful. On 31 May 1961, ''Vercharmian'' ran aground off

Mormugao Mormugao is a seaport city situated in the eponymous Mormugao taluka (municipality) of the South Goa district, South district, in the Goa state, India. It has a deep natural harbour and remains Goa's chief port. Towards the end of the Indo-Po ...

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 ...

. She was refloated, and sailed on 7 July but was discovered to be leaking and was beached in Mormugao Bay. She was refloated on 7 October and towed to

Karachi Karachi (; ur, ; ; ) is the most populous city in Pakistan and 12th most populous city in the world, with a population of over 20 million. It is situated at the southern tip of the country along the Arabian Sea coast. It is the former cap ...

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...

. She arrived on 7 March 1962 at

Chittagong Chittagong ( /ˈtʃɪt əˌɡɒŋ/ ''chit-uh-gong''; ctg, চিটাং; bn, চিটাগং), officially Chattogram ( bn, চট্টগ্রাম), is the second-largest city in Bangladesh after Dhaka and third largest city in B ...

, India for scrapping.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Empire Charmian 1943 ships Ships built in Barrow-in-Furness Empire ships Ministry of War Transport ships Merchant ships of the United Kingdom Maritime incidents in 1961