''Olsztyn'' was a Hansa A Type cargo ship which was built as ''Imkenturm'' in 1944 by Werf de Noord, Alblasserdam, Netherlands for DDG Hansa,

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 ...

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 ...

. She was seized as a prize of war in 1945, passing to the Ministry of War Transport and renamed ''Empire Gantry''. She was allocated to the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...

in 1946 and was renamed ''Feodosia'' (russian: Феодосия). Sold to Poland in 1947, she was renamed ''Olsztyn''. She served until 1972, when she was scrapped.

Description

The ship was long, with a beam of . She had a depth of , and a draught of . She was assessed as , , . The ship was propelled by a compound steam engine, which had two cylinders of and two cylinders of diameter by inches stroke. The engine was built by Rheinmetall-Börsig AG,

Tegel Tegel () is a locality (''Ortsteil'') in the Berlin borough of Reinickendorf on the shore of Lake Tegel. The Tegel locality, the second largest in area (after Köpenick) of the 96 Berlin districts, also includes the neighbourhood of ''Saatwinkel'' ...

, Germany. Rated at 1,200 IHP, it drove a single screw propeller and could propel the ship at . The ship had a complement of 25, plus 8-10 gunners during wartime. She was equipped with 1×30-tonne, 1×10-tonne and 10×5-tonne cranes.

History

''Imkenturm'' was a Hansa A Type cargo ship built in 1944 as

yard number __NOTOC__ M ...

604 by Werf de Noord, Alblasserdam, Netherlands for Deutsche Dampfschifffarts-Gesellschaft Hansa,

. Her keel was laid on 29 March 1943. She was launched on 2 March 1944 and completed by Flensburger Schiffbau-Gesellschaft,

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 on 27 February 1945. Her port of registry was Bremen, 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 ...

DOIJ were allocated. She participated in the

Evacuation of East Prussia The evacuation of East Prussia was the movement of German civilian population and military personnel from East Prussia between 20 January and March 1945, that was initially organized and carried out by state authorities but quickly turned into ...

and was damaged in an Allied air raid on Flensburg on 1 May 1945. On 8 May 1945, ''Imkenturm'' was seized as a prize of war at Flensburg. She was passed to the Ministry of War Transport and was renamed ''Empire Gantry''. Her UK

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 ...

was 180638 and her

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 assigne ...

was GJLQ. She was registered in

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 Moss Hutchinson Line Ltd managed her. In 1946 ''Empire Gantry'' was allocated to the Soviet Union and renamed ''Feodosia''. In 1947, ''Feodosia'' was sold to Gdynia America Lines, Poland and was renamed ''Olsztyn''. The Code Letters SPAH were allocated. In 1951, she was sold to Polska Żegluga Morska,

Szczecin Szczecin (, , german: Stettin ; sv, Stettin ; Latin: ''Sedinum'' or ''Stetinum'') is the capital and largest city of the West Pomeranian Voivodeship in northwestern Poland. Located near the Baltic Sea and the German border, it is a major s ...

. With their introduction in the 1960s, ''Olsztyn'' was allocated the

IMO Number The IMO number of the International Maritime Organization is a generic term covering two distinct meanings. The IMO ship identification number, is a type of hull number used as a unique ship identifier, and the IMO company and registered owner ...

5662782. She served until 1972, arriving at

Bruges Bruges ( , nl, Brugge ) is the capital and largest City status in Belgium, city of the Provinces of Belgium, province of West Flanders in the Flemish Region of Belgium, in the northwest of the country, and the sixth-largest city of the countr ...

, Belgium on 31 January for scrapping by Gebroeders Van Heygen.

References

External links

Colour photograph of ''Olsztyn''.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Olsztyn 1944 ships Ships built in the Netherlands World War II merchant ships of Germany Steamships of Germany Empire ships Ministry of War Transport ships Merchant ships of the United Kingdom Steamships of the United Kingdom Merchant ships of the Soviet Union Steamships of the Soviet Union Merchant ships of Poland Steamships of Poland