''Empire Clive'' was a cargo ship which was built in 1941 by Cammell Laird & Co Ltd,

Birkenhead Birkenhead (; cy, Penbedw) is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral, Merseyside, England; historically, it was part of Cheshire until 1974. The town is on the Wirral Peninsula, along the south bank of the River Mersey, opposite Liver ...

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). 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 opposi ...

, she served as a CAM ship, armed with a

Hawker Hurricane The Hawker Hurricane is a British single-seat fighter aircraft of the 1930s–40s which was designed and predominantly built by Hawker Aircraft Ltd. for service with the Royal Air Force (RAF). It was overshadowed in the public consciousness b ...

aircraft. In 1946 she was sold and renamed ''Charlebury''. In 1958, she was sold 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 Delta i ...

and renamed ''Isabel Erica''. She served until 1969 when she was scrapped.

Description

The ship was built by Cammell Laird & Co Ltd, Birkenhead as yard number 1061. She was launched on 28 July 1941 and completed in August. The ship was long, with a beam of and a depth of . She had a GRT of 7,069 and a NRT of 5,194. The ship was propelled by a

triple expansion steam engine A compound steam engine unit is a type of steam engine where steam is expanded in two or more stages. A typical arrangement for a compound engine is that the steam is first expanded in a high-pressure ''(HP)'' cylinder, then having given up he ...

, which had cylinders of , and diameter by stroke. The engine was built by Cammell Laird.

History

''Empire Clive'' was built for the MoWT. She was placed under the management of Capper, Alexander & Co Ltd. Her port of registry was

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a populat ...

. The Code Letters BCNM and United Kingdom Official Number 168801 were allocated. ''Empire Clive'' was a member of a number of convoys during the Second World War. ;SC 58 Convoy SC 58 departed from Sydney,

Cape Breton Cape Breton Island (french: link=no, île du Cap-Breton, formerly '; gd, Ceap Breatainn or '; mic, Unamaꞌki) is an island on the Atlantic coast of North America and part of the province of Nova Scotia, Canada. The island accounts for 18. ...

on 4 December 1941 and arrived at Liverpool on 21 December. ''Empire Clive'' was due to sail with this convoy. ;HX 164 Convoy HX 164 departed from Halifax,

Nova Scotia Nova Scotia ( ; ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the four Atlantic provinces. Nova Scotia is Latin for "New Scotland". Most of the population are native Eng ...

on 8 December 1941 and arrived at Liverpool on 23 December. ''Empire Clive'' was listed in this convoy, but sailed with Convoy SC 59. ;SC 59 Convoy SC 59 departed from Sydney, Cape Breton on 10 December 1941 and arrived at Liverpool on 27 December. ''Empire Clive'', at the time a CAM ship, sailed with this convoy. She was carrying general cargo bound for

Avonmouth Avonmouth is a port and outer suburb of Bristol, England, facing two rivers: the reinforced north bank of the final stage of the Avon which rises at sources in Wiltshire, Gloucestershire and Somerset; and the eastern shore of the Severn Es ...

Somerset ( en, All The People of Somerset) , locator_map = , coordinates = , region = South West England , established_date = Ancient , established_by = , preceded_by = , origin = , lord_lieutenant_office =Lord Lieutenant of Somerset , lord_ ...

. On 19 July 1942, ''Empire Clive'' loaded ten Supermarine Spitfire aircraft. They were delivered to

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 ...

on 3 August.The aircraft were Mk.V serial numbers EP152, EP186, EP188 and EP199, also delivered were Mk.VbT serial numbers EP551, EP573, EP606, EP612, EP619 and EP621 ;MKS 16 Convoy MKS 16 departed from

Gibraltar ) , anthem = " God Save the King" , song = " Gibraltar Anthem" , image_map = Gibraltar location in Europe.svg , map_alt = Location of Gibraltar in Europe , map_caption = United Kingdom shown in pale green , mapsize = , image_map2 = Gib ...

on 9 July 1943. It joined Convoy SL 132 at sea on 10 July and arrived at Liverpool on 22 July. ''Empire Clive'' was carrying a cargo of

phosphate In chemistry, a phosphate is an anion, salt, functional group or ester derived from a phosphoric acid. It most commonly means orthophosphate, a derivative of orthophosphoric acid . The phosphate or orthophosphate ion is derived from phosph ...

s bound for

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...

. In 1946, ''Empire Clive'' was sold to Alexander Shipping Co Ltd and was renamed ''Charlebury''. She was placed under the management of Houlder Bros Ltd, London. In 1958, she was sold to the Red Anchor Line,

and renamed ''Isabel Erica'' In 1963, she was sold to the St Merryn Shipping Co, and placed under the management of C Moller & Co, Hong Kong. ''Isabel Erica'' was scrapped in August 1969 in Hong Kong.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Empire Clive 1941 ships Ships built on the River Mersey CAM ships Empire ships Ministry of War Transport ships Steamships of the United Kingdom Merchant ships of the United Kingdom Merchant ships of Hong Kong Steamships of Hong Kong