''Empire Almond'' was a cargo ship that was built in 1941. She was renamed ''Marquita'' in 1946, ''Marsland'' in 1951, ''Huta Zgoda'' in 1960 and ''MP-Zozie-12'' in 1969. She was scrapped in 1978.

History

''Empire Almond'' was built by

Taikoo Dockyard Taikoo Dockyard and Engineering Company () was a dockyard in what is now Taikoo Shing, MTR Tai Koo station and part of Taikoo Place of Quarry Bay on the Hong Kong Island in Hong Kong. History The idea that John Swire and Sons should have their ...

and Engineering Co Ltd, Hong Kong as yard number 297. She was launched on 23 July 1941 and completed in September 1941. ''Empire Almond'' was built 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 ...

and initially operated under the management of the W Runciman & Co Ltd, London and later the Coolham Steamship Co Ltd. ''Empire Almond'' was initially homeported in Hong Kong but her homeport was changed to London in 1942.

War service

''Empire Almond'' 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 opposi ...

. ;OS 33 Convoy OS 33 sailed from

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 ...

for

Freetown Freetown is the capital and largest city of Sierra Leone. It is a major port city on the Atlantic Ocean and is located in the Western Area of the country. Freetown is Sierra Leone's major urban, economic, financial, cultural, educational and po ...

Sierra Leone Sierra Leone,)]. officially the Republic of Sierra Leone, is a country on the southwest coast of West Africa. It is bordered by Liberia to the southeast and Guinea surrounds the northern half of the nation. Covering a total area of , Sierr ...

on 1 July 1942, arriving on 20 July. ''Empire Almond'' sailed from the River Clyde, Clyde with a destination of

Takoradi Sekondi-Takoradi is a city in Ghana comprising the twin cities of Sekondi and Takoradi. It is the capital of Sekondi – Takoradi Metropolitan Assembly and the Western Region of Ghana. Sekondi-Takoradi is the region's largest city and an indu ...

Ghana Ghana (; tw, Gaana, ee, Gana), officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It abuts the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, sharing borders with Ivory Coast in the west, Burkina Faso in the north, and To ...

with a cargo of Government stores. ;MKS 52 Convoy MKS 52 departed from Augusta on 13 June 1944. ''Empire Almond'' was bound for

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 ...

for attention to defects. ;KMS67 Convoy KMS 67 left

on 24 October 1944 and arrived at

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 2 November. ''Empire Almond'' was carrying a cargo of stores and general cargo, bound for

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, Alexandri ...

. At 1300 hrs on 26 October, ''Empire Almond'' was stopped with an engine fault. It took about 4 hours before she was able to resume her journey. She was escorted by the S and , rejoining the convoy at 2200 hrs. ;MKS 72 Convoy MKS 72 left Lisbon on 23 December 1944. ''Empire Almond'' was carrying a cargo of steel. ;KMS 85 Convoy KMS 85 left Liverpool on 17 February 1945 and reached

on 24 February. ''Empire Almond'' sailed from

Southend Southend-on-Sea (), commonly referred to as Southend (), is a coastal city and unitary authority area with borough status in southeastern Essex, England. It lies on the north side of the Thames Estuary, east of central London. It is bordered ...

bound for Lisbon.

Post-war

In 1946 ''Empire Almond'' was sold to Kaye, Son & Co, London and renamed ''Marquita''. ''Marquita'' visited

Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The most populous urban area in the country and the fifth largest city in Oceania, Auckland has an urban population of about ...

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

on 3 May 1949. She was renamed ''Marsland'' in 1951. In 1960, ''Marsland'' was sold to the

Polska Żegluga Morska Polska Żegluga Morska known as Polsteam or PŻM, is a cargo ship operator based in Szczecin, Poland. Polsteam is a state-owned enterprise with around 3,000 employees. Company history Polsteam was founded in 1951, nationalizing the assets of two ...

, Szczecin and renamed ''Huta Zgoda''. In about 1967 ''Huta Zgoda'' was sold to Rejonowe Zaklady Zbozowe PZZ and converted into a grain storage hulk at Gdańsk. In 1969, ''Huta Zgoda'' was sold to Zaklady Obrutu Zbozami Importawanymi i Eksportowymi PZZ and renamed ''MP-Zozie-12''. she served in this capacity until 1978. ''MP-Zozie-12'' was sold for scrap in 1978, arriving at Faslane under tow on 10 July.

Official number and call sign

Official numbers were a forerunner to IMO Numbers. ''Empire Almond'' had the UK Official Number 172790 and

Call sign In broadcasting and radio communications, a call sign (also known as a call name or call letters—and historically as a call signal—or abbreviated as a call) is a unique identifier for a transmitter station. A call sign can be formally assign ...

VRFR.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Empire Almond 1941 ships Empire ships Merchant ships of Poland Ministry of War Transport ships Ships built in Hong Kong Steamships of Hong Kong Steamships of Poland Steamships of the United Kingdom World War II merchant ships of Hong Kong Ships built by the Taikoo Dockyard and Engineering Company