SS ''Empire Advocate'' was a 5,787 ton steamship which was built in 1913 as the ''Solfels''. She was taken as war reparations in 1919 and renamed ''Bowes Castle'' in 1920. In 1932 she was sold to Italy, being renamed ''Angelina Lauro'', being seized in 1940 and renamed ''Empire Advocate''. She was scrapped at Bo'ness in 1945.

Description

The ship was long, with a beam of and a depth of . She was propelled by a NHP

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 was made by

Joh. C. Tecklenborg Joh. C. Tecklenborg was a German shipbuilding company, located at the river Geeste in Bremerhaven. About 440 ships of different types, including many famous tall sailing ships were built at the yard. Founded in 1841 it was finally closed in 1928. ...

AG,

Geestemünde Bremerhaven (, , Low German: ''Bremerhoben'') is a city at the seaport of the Free Hanseatic City of Bremen, a state of the Federal Republic of Germany. It forms a semi-enclave in the state of Lower Saxony and is located at the mouth of the Riv ...

, and which could propel her at . As built, she was 5,821 GRT, 3,641 GRT, and 8,800 DWT.

History

''Solfels'' was built by

AG,

Wesermünde Bremerhaven (, , Low German: ''Bremerhoben'') is a city at the seaport of the Free Hanseatic City of Bremen, a state of the Federal Republic of Germany. It forms a semi-enclave in the state of Lower Saxony and is located at the mouth of the Rive ...

as yard number 255 and launched on 8 April 1913, being completed the following month. She entered service with the

Hansa Line DDG Hansa, short for Deutsche Dampfschiffahrts-Gesellschaft Hansa (German Steamship Company Hansa; in modern orthography, Deutsche Dampfschifffahrts-Gesellschaft Hansa) was a major German shipping company specialising in heavy freight and schedul ...

Bremen Bremen (Low German also: ''Breem'' or ''Bräm''), officially the City Municipality of Bremen (german: Stadtgemeinde Bremen, ), is the capital of the German state Free Hanseatic City of Bremen (''Freie Hansestadt Bremen''), a two-city-state consis ...

on 22 May 1913 and served with them for six years until taken as a war prize on 25 May 1919, passing to the

British Shipping Controller Shipping Controller was a post created by the Lloyd George Coalition Government in 1916 under the New Ministries and Secretaries Act 1916, New Ministries and Secretaries Act (6 & 7 George 5 c.68) to regulate and organize merchant shipping in order ...

under the management of H Hogarth & Sons. In 1920, ''Solfels'' was sold to the Lancashire Shipping Company, who renamed her ''Bowes Castle'', under the management of Chambers & Co. In August 1921, forty

Mongolia Mongolia; Mongolian script: , , ; lit. "Mongol Nation" or "State of Mongolia" () is a landlocked country in East Asia, bordered by Russia to the north and China to the south. It covers an area of , with a population of just 3.3 million, ...

n stowaways were discovered aboard ''Bowes Castle'' at

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

. John Thomas, an engineer on ''Bowes Castle'' was charged with conspiracy to violate the United States immigration laws. On 20 October 1929, ''Bowes Castle'' struck a reef in the Macassar Strait,

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...

. She was refloated several days later and proceeded to Sourabaya for inspection before continuing her voyage to New York. ''Bowes Castle'' was sold to

Achille Lauro Achille Lauro (; 16 June 1887 – 15 November 1982) was an Italian businessman and politician. He is widely considered one of the main precursors of modern populism in Italian politics. He was nicknamed by his supporters ''Il Comandante'' ("The ...

Naples Naples (; it, Napoli ; nap, Napule ), from grc, Νεάπολις, Neápolis, lit=new city. is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 909,048 within the city's adminis ...

in October 1932, being renamed ''Angelina Lauro''. On 23 September 1936, collided with ''Angelina Lauro'' in the

English Channel The English Channel, "The Sleeve"; nrf, la Maunche, "The Sleeve" (Cotentinais) or ( Jèrriais), (Guernésiais), "The Channel"; br, Mor Breizh, "Sea of Brittany"; cy, Môr Udd, "Lord's Sea"; kw, Mor Bretannek, "British Sea"; nl, Het Kana ...

off Ouessant,

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

. ''E M Dalglas'' was severely damaged. ''Angelina Lauro'' was on a voyage from Gdynia,

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...

La Spezia La Spezia (, or , ; in the local Spezzino dialect) is the capital city of the province of La Spezia and is located at the head of the Gulf of La Spezia in the southern part of the Liguria region of Italy. La Spezia is the second largest city ...

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

. On 7 April 1937, ''Angelina Lauro'' collided with at

Port Said Port Said ( ar, بورسعيد, Būrsaʿīd, ; grc, Πηλούσιον, Pēlousion) is a city that lies in northeast Egypt extending about along the coast of the Mediterranean Sea, north of the Suez Canal. With an approximate population of 6 ...

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 10 June 1940, ''Angelina Lauro'' was interned at

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 popul ...

and taken into Ministry of War Transport ownership on 23 July 1940 under the management of Galbraith, Pembroke & Company,

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 ''Empire Advocate''. Part of the cargo she was carrying was 14 casks of red wine, which were sold at

auction An auction is usually a process of buying and selling goods or services by offering them up for bids, taking bids, and then selling the item to the highest bidder or buying the item from the lowest bidder. Some exceptions to this definition ex ...

in London on 27 March 1941 by order of the Prize Court. She served for five years and was sold for scrapping on 16 February 1945 to P & W Maclellan Ltd, Bo'ness.

Convoys

''Empire Advocate'' was a member of a number of convoys. ;SL 69 ''Empire Advocate'' was in Convoy SL 69 when it departed from

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 p ...

bound for Liverpool on 23 March 1941, but was unable to maintain speed and proceeded to her destination independent of the main convoy. ;ON 8 Convoy ON 8 which Liverpool on 16 August and arrived at Reykjavík on 21 August, dispersing on 15 August. ''Empire Advocate'' was bound for

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

. ;ON 41 Convoy ON 41 departed Liverpool on 9 December. She was carrying a cargo of ferrous metals and

manganese Manganese is a chemical element with the symbol Mn and atomic number 25. It is a hard, brittle, silvery metal, often found in minerals in combination with iron. Manganese is a transition metal with a multifaceted array of industrial alloy use ...

and was bound for

Baltimore Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...

. ;SC 121

Convoy SC 121 Convoy SC 121 was the 121st of the numbered series of World War II Slow Convoys of merchant ships from Sydney, Cape Breton Island to Liverpool. The ships departed New York City 23 February 1943; and were met by the Mid-Ocean Escort Force Grou ...

departed New York on 23 February 1943 and arrived at Liverpool on 14 March. ''Empire Advocate'' was carrying a general cargo. ;ONS 5

Convoy ONS 5 ONS 5 was the 5th of the numbered ONS series of Slow trade convoys Outbound from the British Isles to North America. The North Atlantic battle surrounding it in May 1943 is regarded as the turning point of the Battle of the Atlantic in World ...

departed Liverpool on 21 April and arrived at Halifax on 12 May. ;SC 135 Convoy SC 135 departed Halifax on 27 June and arrived at Liverpool on 11 July. ''Empire Advocate'' was carrying a general cargo. ;SC 147, SC 148 ''Empire Advocate'' was supposed to be a member of Convoy SC 147 which departed Halifax on 19 November but did not sail with that convoy, sailing with Convoy SC 148 on 2 December bound for Liverpool. She was carrying a cargo of

steel Steel is an alloy made up of iron with added carbon to improve its strength and fracture resistance compared to other forms of iron. Many other elements may be present or added. Stainless steels that are corrosion- and oxidation-resistant ty ...

and pit props, and arrived at Liverpool on 16 December. ;HX 291 Convoy HX 291 departed New York on 19 May 1944, arriving at Liverpool on 27 May. ''Empire Advocate'' was carrying a general cargo.

Official number and code letters

Official Numbers were a forerunner to

IMO Numbers IMO or Imo may refer to: Biology and medicine * Irish Medical Organisation, the main organization for doctors in the Republic of Ireland * Intelligent Medical Objects, a privately held company specializing in medical vocabularies * Isomaltooligosa ...

. ''Angelina Lauro'' had the Official Number 382 on the Italian Register, and 143102 on

Lloyd's Register Lloyd's Register Group Limited (LR) is a technical and professional services organisation and a maritime classification society, wholly owned by the Lloyd’s Register Foundation, a UK charity dedicated to research and education in science and ...

. ''Solfels'' used 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 ...

QKHB. ''Solfels'' and ''Bowes Castle'' used the Code Letters JWQS. ''Angelina Lauro'' used the Code Letters IBIB, NDHU and GLYJ. ''Empire Advocate'' used the Code Letters GLYJ.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Empire Advocate 1913 ships Steamships of the German Empire Merchant ships of the German Empire Steamships of the United Kingdom Merchant ships of the United Kingdom Steamships of Italy World War II merchant ships of Italy Maritime incidents in 1929 Maritime incidents in 1936 Maritime incidents in 1937 Empire ships Ministry of War Transport ships Ships built in Bremen (state)