''Avondale Park'' 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 ...

which was built by Pictou Shipyard at

Pictou, Nova Scotia Pictou ( ; Canadian Gaelic: ''Baile Phiogto'') is a town in Pictou County, in the Canadian province of Nova Scotia. Located on the north shore of Pictou Harbour, the town is approximately 10 km (6 miles) north of the larger town of New Glasg ...

in 1944. She was the last merchant ship to be sunk by

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 ...

in 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 ...

, on 7 May 1945, the day of

German surrender The German Instrument of Surrender (german: Bedingungslose Kapitulation der Wehrmacht, lit=Unconditional Capitulation of the "Wehrmacht"; russian: Акт о капитуляции Германии, Akt o kapitulyatsii Germanii, lit=Act of capit ...

. She was built as merchant

steamship A steamship, often referred to as a steamer, is a type of steam-powered vessel, typically ocean-faring and seaworthy, that is propelled by one or more steam engines that typically move (turn) propellers or paddlewheels. The first steamships ...

constructed for

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

’s Merchant Navy in 1944 as part of Canada's Park ship program.

Description

The ship was built by Foundation Maritime Limited's Pictou Shipyard in

. She was launched in February 1944, and completed in May 1944. The ship was long, with a beam of and a depth of . She had a GRT of 2,878 and a NRT of 1,653. She 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 , and diameter by stroke. The engine was built by Canada Iron Foundries, Three Rivers,

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...

History

''Avondale Park'' was built for the Canadian Government and operated by the Park Steamship Co Ltd. The 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 ...

175378 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 ...

VDDN were allocated. Her port of registry was

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...

, under the British flag. She was later chartered by 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 ...

, who placed her under the management of Witherington & Etheridge,

Newcastle upon Tyne Newcastle upon Tyne ( RP: , ), or simply Newcastle, is a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. The city is located on the River Tyne's northern bank and forms the largest part of the Tyneside built-up area. Newcastle is ...

. ''Avondale Park'' was a member of Convoy EN 491, which departed Hull on 6 May 1945 bound for

Belfast Belfast ( , ; from ga, Béal Feirste , meaning 'mouth of the sand-bank ford') is the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan on the east coast. It is the 12th-largest city in the United Kingdo ...

via

Methil Methil (Scottish Gaelic: Meadhchill) is an eastern coastal town in Scotland. It was first recorded as "Methkil" in 1207, and belonged to the Bishop of St Andrews. Two Bronze Age cemeteries have been discovered which date the settlement as ov ...

. On 7 May 1945, the convoy was attacked by and two ships were sunk, and ''Avondale Park'', which became the last British merchant ship to be sunk during the Second World War. The sinking, at just after 23:00 on 7 May 1945, was in the last hours of the Second World War in Europe, with the official surrender taking place at 23:01 on 8 May 1945. ''Avondale Park'' sank at . Two of the 38 crew were lost. A signal had been sent to the U-boats on 4 May 1945 ordering them to surrender but ''U-2336'' did not receive the signal.

Citations

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Avondale Park 1944 ships Ships built in Nova Scotia World War II merchant ships of Canada Steamships of Canada Ministry of War Transport ships World War II merchant ships of the United Kingdom Steamships of the United Kingdom Ships sunk by German submarines in World War II World War II shipwrecks in the North Sea Maritime incidents in May 1945 Fleet of the Canadian Merchant Navy

Description

History

See also

Citations

References