HMS Worcestershire

Not to be confused with HMS Worcester.

HMS Worcestershire at Greenock in 1943
History
United Kingdom
Name	Worcestershire
Namesake	Worcestershire
Owner	Bibby Line
Operator	1931: Bibby Bros & Co 1939: Royal Navy
Port of registry	Liverpool
Route	Liverpool – Suez Canal – Rangoon
Builder	Fairfield, Govan
Yard number	640
Launched	8 October 1930
Completed	5 February 1931
Acquired	for Royal Navy, 17 September 1939
Commissioned	into Royal Navy, 22 November 1939
Decommissioned	from Royal Navy, October 1947
Maiden voyage	6 March 1931
Refit	1939, 1948
Identification	UK official number 162334 until 1933: code letters LGTM call sign GFZM 1939: pennant number F 29
Fate	scrapped in Osaka, 1962
General characteristics
Type	1931: passenger ship 1939: armed merchant cruiser 1943: troopship 1944: landing ship, infantry
Tonnage	1934: 11,376  GRT, 7,108  NRT 1955: 10,329 GRT, 6,108 NRT
Length	501 ft 6 in (152.86 m) overall 483.0 ft (147.2 m) registered
Beam	64.2 ft (19.6 m)
Draught	29 ft 9+1⁄4 in (9.07 m)
Depth	32.0 ft (9.8 m)
Decks	3
Installed power	2 × two-stroke diesel engines; 2,196 NHP; 3,800 bhp
Propulsion	2 × screws
Speed	16 knots (30 km/h) maximum
Capacity	passengers: 1931: 250 × 1st class 1949: 100 × 1st class cargo: included 1,340 cu ft (38 m3) refrigerated
Troops	1943: 2,000
Crew	1931: 200
Sensors & processing systems	as built: wireless direction finding by 1940: as above, plus echo sounding device by 1946: as above, plus radar
Armament	as AMC: 8 × 5.9-inch (150 mm) calibre naval guns
Notes	sister ships: Shropshire , Cheshire, Staffordshire, Derbyshire

HMS Worcestershire was a passenger motor ship. She was built in Scotland in 1931 as MV Worcestershire for Bibby Line. Her regular route was between Liverpool and Rangoon (now Yangon) via the Suez Canal. In 1939 she was converted into an armed merchant cruiser, and commissioned as HMS Worcestershire (F 29). In 1941 she survived being torpedoed in the Battle of the Atlantic. In 1943 she was converted into a troopship, and by 1944 she was a landing ship, infantry. She took part in the Normandy landings, and after the Second World War she repatriated Allied prisoners of war from the Far East. In 1947 she was refitted and returned to civilian service. She was scrapped in Japan in 1962.

She was the second of four Bibby Line ships to be named after Worcestershire. The first was a steamship that was built in 1904 and sunk in 1917. ^[1] The third was a cargo motor ship that was built in 1965, sold and renamed in 1976, and scrapped in 1981. ^[2] The fourth was an ore-bulk-oil carrier that was built in 1973 as English Bridge, renamed Worcestershire in 1977, sold and renamed in 1979, and was wrecked as Kowloon Bridge in 1986. ^[3]

A class of five ships

Between 1926 and 1935, the Fairfield Shipbuilding and Engineering Company in Govan, Glasgow, built a class of five twin-screw passenger motor ships for Bibby Line. Shropshire was completed in 1926; Cheshire in 1927; Staffordshire in 1929; Worcestershire in 1931; and Derbyshire in 1935. They were similar in length; depth; engines; and passenger capacity. Each had four masts, which had remained a Bibby tradition decades after the Age of Sail. Derbyshire was the last Bibby Line ship to be built with four masts. ^[4]

One difference between members of the class was beam. In Shropshire and Cheshire it was 60.2 ft (18.3 m). It was increased to 62.2 ft (19.0 m) in Staffordshire; 64.2 ft (19.6 m) in Worcestershire; and 66.2 ft (20.2 m) in Derbyshire. This resulted in corresponding increases in tonnage. ^[5]

MV Worcestershire

Fairfield built Worcestershire as yard number 640. She was launched on 8 October 1930, and completed on 5 February 1931. ^[6] Her lengths were 501 ft 6 in (152.86 m) overall ^[7] and 483.0 ft (147.2 m) registered. Her beam was 64.2 ft (19.6 m); her depth was 32.0 ft (9.8 m); and her draught was 29 ft 9+1⁄4 in (9.07 m). ^[8] She had berths for 250 passengers, all in first class, and her crew numbered about 200. ^[9] A small part of her cargo capacity, 1,340 cu ft (38 m³), was refrigerated. ^[10] Her tonnages were 11,376  GRT and 7,108  NRT. ^[8]

Each of her twin screws was driven by a Sulzer eight-cylinder, single-acting, two-stroke diesel engine. The combined power of her twin engines was rated at 2,196 NHP ^[8] or 3,800 bhp. ^[11] Her top speed was 16 knots (30 km/h), and her cruising speed was 14+1⁄2 knots (27 km/h). ^{[12] [13]}

Bibby Line registered Worcestershire at Liverpool. Her UK official number was 162334. Her code letters LGTM; her wireless telegraph call sign was GFZM; ^[14] and by 1934, her call sign had superseded her code letters. ^[8] Worcestershire was the first ship to have a Marconi Type 386 1500W radio transmitter. ^[15] As built, she was equipped with wireless direction finding. ^[8] By 1940, she was equipped also with an echo sounding device. ^[16]

On 6 March 1931, Worcestershire left Liverpool on her maiden voyage, which was to Rangoon. ^[11] This Bibby's main route, carrying passengers, mail, and cargo via Gibraltar, Marseille, the Suez Canal, Port Sudan, and Colombo. ^[17] Return voyages were to London via Plymouth, instead of Liverpool. For most of the year, alternate voyages called at Cochin. ^[18]

Armed merchant cruiser

HMS Worcestershire

When the UK declared war on Germany on 3 September 1939, Worcestershire was in the eastern Mediterranean, on a return voyage from Burma. She completed her scheduled voyage via Gibraltar to London; discharged her cargo; ^[19] and on 17 September was requisitioned for conversion into an armed merchant cruiser (AMC). She was armed with eight 5.9-inch (150 mm) calibre naval guns; ^{[20] [21]} and on 22 November was commissioned into the Royal Navy as HMS Worcestershire, ^{[22] [23]} with the pennant number F 29. ^[24]

At first, HMS Worcestershire served with the Northern Patrol. ^[22] Then, from late December 1940 until early March 1943, she escorted convoys, starting with HX 97 from Halifax, Nova Scotia to Liverpool. On 8 February 1941 she left the UK carrying 31 boxes of gold to Canada. ^[25] In March 1941 she escorted convoy BHX 114 from Bermuda, to join convoy HX 114 bound for home waters. ^[26]

On 20 March 1941, Worcestershire, commanded by Acting Captain John Cresswell, RN, left Halifax as part of the escort of Convoy SC 26, which comprised 22 merchant ships bound for the British Isles. At dusk on 2 April, the Admiralty warned Cresswell that intelligence indicated a U-boat was shadowing the convoy. This was U-74, commanded by Eitel-Friedrich Kentrat. Kentrat asked permission to attack at sunset, but the Befehlshaber der U-Boote ordered him to wait for other U-boats, of which eight were in the area, to arrive to make a joint attack. This was launched at 00:30 hrs on 3 April, and sank six merchant ships. U-74 fired her last two torpedoes at Worcestershire. The first missed, but the second hit Worcestershire below her bridge. ^{[24] [27]}

The destroyer HMS Hurricane

One seaman aboard Worcestershire was killed. ^[28] Water rose in her two forward holds; fire broke out in her paint store; and her steering gear was jammed hard a-port. Cresswell ordered her to heave to for emergency repairs; an emergency steering system was rigged by 06:00 hrs; and at 13:00 hrs the destroyer HMS Hurricane arrived. ^[27] At 14:22 hrs (Berlin time), U-69 tried to attack Worcestershire, but two destroyers chased her away. ^[24] Worcestershire could move under her own power, but only slowly. For the next four days, Hurricane escorted the AMC as she slowly returned to Liverpool. In the meantime, the attack on SC 26 continued, and sank another four merchant ships. ^[27]

Worcestershire was repaired and returned to service. In August 1941, she escorted Convoy HX 146 for its first few days out of Halifax. ^[26] In February 1942 she escorted the troopship convoy WS 15A in the Indian Ocean from Durban to Aden. ^[29] Her final convoys were OW 002/1 and OW 003/1, in March and April 1943. ^[26]

Troopship, and landing ship, infantry

In 1943, Worcestershire was converted into a troopship, with capacity for 2,000 men. By June 1944, she was a landing ship, infantry. She and three other Bibby liners, Cheshire, Devonshire, and Lancashire, formed Convoy EWP 1, which left London on 6 June (D-Day) carrying 10,000 troops. The next day, EWR 1 reached Normandy, where Worcestershire landed her troops on Juno Beach. ^{[30] [11]}

In September 1945, Worcestershire landed troops in the liberation of Malaya. ^[11] After the surrender of Japan, she repatriated some of the first Far East prisoners of war liberated from Japan. ^[31] By 1946, she was equipped with radar. ^[32] She continued as a troopship, and was decommissioned from the Navy in October 1947, ^[23] by which time she had carried 80,000 troops without loss. ^[11]

CWGC headstone of a steward of HMS Worcestershire in West Kirby, Wirral

In her eight years of Royal Navy service, four members of Worcestershire's crew died. A Merchant Navy steward died on 15 December 1939, and is buried in West Kirby on the Wirral. ^[33] The body of the seaman killed in the torpedo attack on 3 April 1941, mentioned above, was never found, so he is listed on the on the Chatham Naval Memorial. ^[28] Another seaman died on 10 April 1942, and is buried in Kirkee War Cemetery in Pune, India. ^[34] A Merchant Navy leading steward died on 8 August 1946, and is buried in Everton Cemetery in Liverpool. ^[35]

Refit and post-war service

Fairfield refitted Worcestershire to return to civilian service. Three of her masts were removed; leaving only her foremast. The after part of her superstructure was removed, which reduced her passenger accommodation to 100 first class passengers. Her tall, slim funnel was replaced with a broader, more raked one, which modernised her appearance. ^[11] The refit reduced her tonnages to 10,329 GRT and 6,108 NRT. ^[7] She returned to civilian service in 1949, ^[11] on the same route that she served in the 1930s. ^[36] She was still on the same route in 1954. ^[37]

In 1961, Bibby Line sold Worcestershire for scrap. ^{[38] [39]} She was broken up in Osaka, with work starting in January 1962. ^[6]

References

1. "Worcestershire". Harland & Wolff The Yard. Retrieved 24 July 2025.
2. "Worcestershire". Wear Built Ships. Shipping and Shipbuilding Research Trust. Retrieved 24 July 2025.
3. Haws 1995, p. 138.
4. Talbot-Booth 1936, p.  368.
5. Haws 1995, pp. 118–121.
6. "Worcestershire". Scottish Built Ships. Caledonian Maritime Research Trust.
7. Lloyd's Register 1955 , Woonsocket
8. Lloyd's Register 1934 , WOO–WUG
9. Talbot-Booth 1937, p.  16.
10. Lloyd's Register 1931, List of Vessels Fitted With Refrigerating Appliances.
11. Haws 1995, p. 120.
12. Edwards 2002, p.  16.
13. Miller 1986, p.  214.
14. Mercantile Navy List 1932, p.  933.
15. "New Bibby Liner". The Electrician. James Gray: 918. 1931 – via Google Books.
16. Lloyd's Register 1940, WOO–WYA.
17. Talbot-Booth 1936, p.  420.
18. Larsson, Bjørn. "Bibby Line". marine timetable images. Retrieved 25 July 2025.
19. Poolman 1985, p.  130.
20. Edwards 2002, p.  23.
21. Nicholson 1969, p.  460.
22. Poolman 1985 , p.  120
23. Jordan 1999 , p.  523
24. Helgason, Guðmundur. "HMS Worcestershire (F 29)". uboat.net.
25. Pickford 1999, p.  185.
26. Kindell, Don. "Armed Merchant Cruisers, Part 3 of 3". Naval-History.net. Retrieved 24 July 2025.
27. White 2007 , pp.  103–118
28. "Seaman Angus McLeod". CWGC . Retrieved 24 July 2025.
29. Rubin 1992, p.  76.
30. Collard 2008, pp.  47, 1959.
31. Collard 2013, p.  9.
32. Lloyd's Register 1946, WON–WOR.
33. "Steward John Moulton". CWGC. Retrieved 24 July 2025.
34. "Ordinary Seaman Thomas Brown". CWGC. Retrieved 24 July 2025.
35. "Leading Steward Frederick Horace Alderson". CWGC. Retrieved 24 July 2025.
36. Harnack 1949, p. 412.
37. "London: MV Worcestershire (Bibby Line Ltd) travelling from Rangoon to London". The National Archives. 21 July 1954. Retrieved 16 July 2025.
38. Dunn 1965, p.  454.
39. "Troopship to be scrapped in Japan". Shipbuilding & Shipping Record. 98. London: 86. July 1961 – via Google Books.

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