Ocean ship

Ocean ship
Class overview
Builders: various
Operators: Ministry of War Transport
Built: October 1941 - November 42
In service: 1941 - 1985[1]
Completed: 57
Lost: 18 (to enemy action)
8 (accidents)
Scrapped: 33 (including two ships lost to enemy action and subsequently salvaged)
General characteristics
Type: Cargo ship
Tonnage: 7,174 GRT
Length: 416 ft (127 m)
Beam: 57 ft (17 m)
Installed power: Triple expansion steam engine
Speed: 11 knots (20 km/h)

The Ocean ships were a class of 57 cargo ships built in the Second World War for the Ministry of War Transport. 16 were lost to enemy action, and the survivors were sold into merchant service postwar.

Description

The Oceans were of steel construction with a welded hull. They were all nominally 7,174 GRT with a length of 416 feet (127 m) and a beam of 57 feet (17 m). They were built by a variety of shipbuilders in the United States.[2]

History

The Oceans were originally built for the Ministry of War Transport. Five of them were transferred to foreign governments during the war.[2]

Country Ship
 Belgium  Netherlands  Poland Torpedoed on 15 January 1943 and sunk by Luftwaffe and sunk at Murmansk. Refloated on 1 June 1943 and beached in the Kola Inlet where she was scrapped.[3]
Algiers, Algeria but declared a total loss.[3]
mine on 11 October 1943 at 40°19′N 16°59′E / 40.317°N 16.983°E / 40.317; 16.983 (Ocean Viking) and badly damaged. Scuttled as a breakwater at Bari, Italy in January 1944. Salvaged in 1947, repaired and returned to service.[4]
Luftwaffe off Augusta, Sicily, 21 July 1943, caught fire and sank. Salvaged later that year and later rebuilt as a cargo liner.[4]
Tripoli, Libya. Caught fire, exploded and sank.[4]

Eight ships were lost in accidents postwar.

Country Ship
Puerto Padre, Cuba. The wreck was abandoned to the Cuban Government.[3]
Cap Bon, Tunisia.[4]
Amsterdam, Netherlands. The ship was subsequently scrapped.[4]
drydock at Gijón, Spain. She was subsequently beached and scrapped.[4]
Tarifa, Spain.[4]
Troon, Scotland in a storm and was subsequently scrapped.[4]

The Oceans served until the mid 1980s, with Chinese shipping registers as Zhan Dou 26 until 1992.[3]

References

  1. ^ Last confirmed scrapping, two ships may have been in service until the 1990s
  2. ^ a b "THE 'OCEANS'". Mariners. http://www.mariners-l.co.uk/OCEAN.html. Retrieved 16 June 2010. 
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m "OCEAN A - T". Mariners. http://www.mariners-l.co.uk/Ocean1.html. Retrieved 16 June 2010. 
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n "OCEAN V - W". Mariners. http://www.mariners-l.co.uk/Ocean2.html. Retrieved 16 June 2010.