SS Clan Alpine (1942)

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For other ships with the same name, see SS Clan Alpine.

Clan Alpine stranded in 1961
History
Name
  • Empire Barrie (1942-45)
  • Clan Alpine (1945-57)
  • Umvoti (1957-59)
  • Clan Alpine (1959-61)
Owner
  • Ministry of War Transport (1942-45)
  • Clan Line Steamers Ltd (1945-57)
  • Bullard, King & Co (1957-59)
  • Clan Line Steamers Ltd (1959-61)
Operator
  • Allen, Black & Co Ltd (1942-44)
  • Cayzer, Irvine & Co Ltd (1944-45)
  • Clan Line Steamers Ltd (1945-57)
  • Bullard, King & Co (1957-59)
  • Clan Line Steamers Ltd (1959-61)
Port of registry
  • United Kingdom Sunderland (1942-45)
  • United Kingdom Glasgow (1945-57)
  • United Kingdom London (1957-61)
BuilderJ L Thompson & Sons Ltd, Sunderland
Yard number615
Launched17 January 1942
CompletedApril 1942
Out of service31 October 1960
Identification
  • UK
    Official Number
    169016
  • Code Letters BDRD (1942-45)
FateScrapped February 1961
General characteristics
Tonnage
Length423 ft 8 in (129.13 m)
Beam57 ft 2 in (17.42 m)
Depth34 ft 9 in (10.59 m)
Propulsion1 x triple expansion steam engine (George Clark (1938) Ltd, Sunderland) 2,510 hp (1,870 kW), supplied by 3 x Scotch boilers. 2 x Belliss and Morcom steam powered generators.
Speed10.5 knots (19.4 km/h)
Armament1 x 4" gun, 1 x 3" gun, 8 x machine guns (Empire Barrie)
SS Clan Alpine (1942) is located in Bangladesh
SS Clan Alpine (1942)
class=notpageimage|
Location of the stranding of Clan Alpine.

Clan Alpine was a 7,168 GRT cargo ship which was built in 1942 for the Ministry of War Transport (MoWT) as Empire Barrie. She was sold to Clan Line Steamers Ltd in 1947 and served with them until 1957 when she was sold to Bullard, King & Co Ltd and renamed Umvoti. In 1959 she was sold back to Clan Line and renamed Clan Alpine. She was sold for scrap in 1960 and wrecked in a cyclone in October 1960 at Chittagong, East Pakistan, finally being scrapped in February 1961. She can be seen early on in the 1959 film "Waterfront" (an early film starring Richard Burton).

History

Empire Barrie was built by

Sunderland as yard number 615. She was launched on 17 January 1942 and completed in April 1942. Empire Barrie was built for the MoWT[1] and was initially placed under the management of Allan, Black & Co.[2] In 1944, management passed to Cayzer, Irvine & Co Ltd.[3]

War service

In May 1943, Empire Barrie delivered 24 Spitfire aircraft to Casablanca, Morocco.[4] JL166, JL175, JL 179, JL185, JL188 and JL219.[5]

Empire Barrie was a member of a number of convoys during the

Second World War
.

SL 134

Convoy SL 134 sailed from Freetown, Sierra Leone on 28 July 1943 and arrived at Liverpool on 19 August. Empire Barrie was in carrying a cargo of manganese ore from Takoradi, Gold Coast.[6]

SC 144

Convoy SC 144 which sailed from

Halifax, Nova Scotia on 11 October 1943 and arrived at Liverpool on 27 October. Empire Barrie was carrying general cargo and bound for London.[7]

KMS 37

Convoy KMS 37 sailed from Liverpool on 25 December 1943 and arrived at Gibraltar on 7 January 1944. Empire Barrie was carrying general cargo and ammunition and was bound for Port Sudan, Aden and Dar es Salaam.[8]

MKS 47

Convoy MKS 47 sailed from Port Said on 19 April 1944[9]

Postwar

In 1945, Empire Barrie was sold to Clan Line Steamers Ltd and renamed Clan Alpine

Ceylon - Australia).[3]

Final voyage

On 16 September 1960, Clan Alpine sailed from the

Onomichi for scrapping.[3]

It was reported that a cyclone was heading for Chittagong, and by 18:35 hrs there were reports that the wind was exceeding

Force 12. Although Clan Alpine's engine was at "Full Ahead" she was being dragged astern up the Sandwip Channel at 35 knots (65 km/h) dragging both anchors with her. A 35 feet (11 m) storm surge had struck the area. The Chittagong Meteorological Office recorded windspeeds in excess of 120 knots (220 km/h) at the height of the cyclone.[3] It was later revealed that the wind had peaked at 135 knots (250 km/h).[13] At 18:50 hrs, the eye of the storm passed over the ship and at 19:25 hrs a bump was felt and it was reported that the ship had run aground. The engines were stopped, but a request was made for them to be restarted as the ship was apparently near rocks. The rocks were quickly revealed to be the tops of palm trees.[3]

The engines and two of the three boilers were shut down, leaving one boiler supplying steam to run the generators and other auxiliary equipment. Clan Alpine had come to rest upright, some 11 miles (18 km) upstream of the

Mohammed Ayub Khan paid a visit to the ship by helicopter. The crew were made honorary members of the Chittagong Club, which enabled them to use bungalows owned by the club as a break from staying aboard the ship.[13]

Salvage engineers assessed that it was practical to salvage the ship, but not economical to do so. To keep the boilers supplied with water, sea water was pumped on board during each high tide, using a diesel powered fire pump. The generators were only used at night to help preserve stocks of fresh water on board ship. Clan Alpine was carrying 2,400 tons of general cargo. A road was constructed linking the ship with the main Chittagong highway, and the cargo was discharged into lorries by using the ship's steam winches. The last of the cargo was unloaded on 4 January 1961.

£50,000.[14]

Propulsion

She was powered by a

triple expansion steam engine of 2,510 horsepower (1,870 kW)[3] which was built by George Clark (1938) Ltd, Sunderland.[2] Steam was supplied by three Scotch boilers. Electricity was supplied by two Belliss and Morcom steam powered generators.[3]

Official Number and code letters

Official Numbers were a forerunner to

Code Letters BDRD.[15]

References

  1. ^
    ISBN 1-85044-275-4.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link
    )
  2. ^ a b c "LLOYD'S REGISTER, NAVIRES A VAPEUR ET A MOTEURS" (PDF). Plimsoll Ship Data. Retrieved 18 April 2009.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i "Last Voyage of the S. S. "CLAN ALPINE"" (PDF). SOUTHAMPTON MASTER MARINERS' CLUB. Retrieved 19 April 2009.
  4. ^ "Spitfire aircraft production page 52". Spitfires. Retrieved 17 April 2009.
  5. ^ "Spitfire aircraft production page 53". Spitfires. Retrieved 17 April 2009.
  6. ^ "Convoy SL.134". Convoyweb. Retrieved 18 April 2009.
  7. ^ "Convoy SC 144". Warsailors. Retrieved 18 April 2009.
  8. ^ "Convoy OS.63/KMS.37". Convoyweb. Retrieved 18 April 2009.
  9. ^ "MKS Convoys – Nov. 1942-1945, MKS 46 through MKS 60". Warsailors. Retrieved 17 April 2009.
  10. ^ "C.W. Cayzer & Company / Cayzer, Irvine & Company / Clan Line of Steamers Limited / Clan Line". The Ships List. Archived from the original on 7 July 2009. Retrieved 18 April 2009.
  11. ^ "Six Seamen Dead". The Times. No. 53446. London. 4 February 1956. col C, p. 4.
  12. ^ "Brazier Caused Death of Six Seamen". The Times. No. 53454. London. 14 February 1956. col C, p. 5.
  13. ^ a b c "Last Voyage of the S. S. "CLAN ALPINE"" (PDF). SOUTHAMPTON MASTER MARINERS' CLUB. Retrieved 19 April 2009.
  14. ^ "£50,000 for a British Ship 14 Miles from a Port". The Times. No. 55032. London. 17 March 1961. col D, p. 13.
  15. ^ "LLOYD'S REGISTER, STEAMERS AND MOTORSHIPS" (PDF). Plimsoll Ship Data. Retrieved 18 April 2009.

External links


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