''Dimitry Laptev'' was a

cargo ship A cargo ship or freighter is a merchant ship that carries cargo, goods, and materials from one port to another. Thousands of cargo carriers ply the world's seas and oceans each year, handling the bulk of international trade. Cargo ships are usu ...

that was built in 1936 as ''Heinrich Schmidt'' by

Flensburger Schiffbau-Gesellschaft Flensburger Schiffbau-Gesellschaft is a German shipbuilding company located in Flensburg. The company trades as ''Flensburger'' and is commonly abbreviated ''FSG''. History ''Flensburger Schiffbau-Gesellschaft'' was founded in 1872 by a group of ...

Flensburg Flensburg (; Danish, Low Saxon: ''Flensborg''; North Frisian: ''Flansborj''; South Jutlandic: ''Flensborre'') is an independent town (''kreisfreie Stadt'') in the north of the German state of Schleswig-Holstein. Flensburg is the centre of the ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

for German owners. She was seized by the Allies in May 1945, passed to 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) and was renamed ''Empire Constable''. In 1946, she was transferred to the

Soviet Government The Government of the Soviet Union ( rus, Прави́тельство СССР, p=prɐˈvʲitʲɪlʲstvə ɛs ɛs ɛs ˈɛr, r=Pravítelstvo SSSR, lang=no), formally the All-Union Government of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, commonly ab ...

and renamed ''Dimitry Laptev''. She served until she was scrapped in 1971.

Description

The ship was built in 1936 by

. The ship was long, with a beam of and a depth of . The ship had a GRT of 1,560 and a NRT of 889. 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 Flensburger Schiffbau-Gesellschaft.

History

''Heinrich Schmidt'' was built for Flensburger Schiffsparten-Vereinigung AG. She was operated under the management of H Schmidt GmbH. Her port of registry was Flensburg and 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 ...

DHKV were allocated. Little is known of her war service; She was escorted from

Kristiansund Kristiansund (, ; historically spelled Christianssund and earlier named Fosna) is a municipality on the western coast of Norway in the Nordmøre district of Møre og Romsdal county. The administrative center of the municipality is the town of ...

Ålesund Ålesund () sometimes spelled Aalesund in English, is a municipality in Møre og Romsdal County, Norway. It is part of the traditional district of Sunnmøre and the centre of the Ålesund Region. The town of Ålesund is the administrative ...

, Norway on 19 January 1943 by the ''

vorpostenboot ''Vorpostenboot'' (plural ''Vorpostenboote''), also referred to as VP-Boats, flakships or outpost boats, were German patrol boats which served during both World Wars. They were used around coastal areas and in coastal operations, and were tasked w ...

'' , along with , , , and . ''Heinrich Schmidt'' was seized by the Allies in May 1945 at

. Ownership passed to the MoWT and she was renamed ''Empire Constable''. Her port of registry was changed to

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 ...

. The Code Letters GFWK 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 ...

180697 were allocated. She was operated under the management of the Shamrock Shipping Co Ltd. In February 1946, ''Empire Constable'' was transferred to the Soviet Union under the

Potsdam Agreement The Potsdam Agreement (german: Potsdamer Abkommen) was the agreement between three of the Allies of World War II: the United Kingdom, the United States, and the Soviet Union on 1 August 1945. A product of the Potsdam Conference, it concerned th ...

. She was renamed ''Dimitry Laptev''. She served until 1971, when she was scrapped.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dimitry Laptev 1936 ships Ships built in Flensburg Steamships of Germany Merchant ships of Germany World War II merchant ships of Germany Ministry of War Transport ships Empire ships Steamships of the United Kingdom Merchant ships of the United Kingdom Steamships of the Soviet Union Merchant ships of the Soviet Union Soviet Union–United Kingdom military relations Germany–Soviet Union military relations