MV Port Fairy

Last updated

Rcv Port Fairy FL17599.jpg
History
Civil Ensign of the United Kingdom.svg United Kingdom
NameMV Port Fairy
Namesake Port Fairy, Victoria
Owner Commonwealth and Dominion Line
Builder Swan Hunter, Tyne and Wear
Yard number1339
Launched18 July 1928 [1]
CompletedOctober 1928 [1]
FateSold to Embajada Cia. Naviera SA of Piraeus
Flag of Greece.svg Greece
NameMV Taishikan
OwnerEmbajada Compania Naviera SA of Piraeus
Acquired1965
Identification Official number: 5528236 [1]
FateBroken up at Hong Kong on 4 June 1965 [1]
General characteristics
Tonnage8072 GRT
Length477.4 ft (145.5 m)
Beam63.4 ft (19.3 m)
Propulsion
  • Diesel engines
  • Twin screws
Speed15 knots (28 km/h)

MV Port Fairy was a UK merchant vessel built in 1928 by Swan Hunter for the Commonwealth & Dominion Line Ltd (or "Port Line") shipping company and sold in 1965 to Embajada Compania Naviera SA of Piraeus. Named after the coastal town of Port Fairy in Australia, she was renamed Taishikan for her final commercial voyage to Hong Kong where she was scrapped.

Contents

Career

Construction

Port Fairy, 8072 GRT, was built by Swan, Hunter & Wigham Richardson at Wallsend in 1928. She had a length of 147 m (482 ft 3 in), a beam of 19.3 m (63 ft 4 in) and a service speed of 15 knots. [2]

Pre-War

In 1930 her refrigeration equipment was modified and she carried the first cargo of chilled meat (instead of frozen meat) from Australia; she later worked the same cargo from New Zealand.

World War II

Port Fairy had an eventful war employed as an ammunition ship. [3]

Sailing in fast convoy OL8 from Liverpool to Canada on 22 October 1940, Port Fairy collided with the Canadian destroyer Margaree in rough seas about 300 miles (483 km) west of Ireland (position 53°24′N22°50′W / 53.400°N 22.833°W / 53.400; -22.833 . [4] [5] ). Margaree sank quickly; her captain, four officers and 136 crew were lost. Port Fairy rescued 34 of the survivors.

Focke Wulf Fw 200 Focke Wulf Fw200.jpg
Focke Wulf Fw 200

On 9 July 1943 the small Convoy Faith, comprising Port Fairy, the troopships Duchess of York and California, with escorts Iroquois, Douglas and Moyola, sailed Greenock for Freetown, Sierra Leone. [6] Two days later, when the convoy was about 300 miles west of Vigo, it was attacked by 3 Focke-Wulf Fw 200 aircraft of Kampfgeschwader 40 [7] based at Merignac, near Bordeaux. The precision high-altitude bombing left both Duchess of York and California blazing. [3] Port Fairy picked up 64 RAF survivors from Duchess of York. Both Duchess of York and California were abandoned, and in the early hours of 12 July [3] they were sunk by torpedoes from their escorts as it was feared the flames from the ships would attract U-boats.

HMS Swale HMS Swale K217.jpg
HMS Swale

Towards the end of the attack, the remnants of the convoy were joined by the British frigate Swale which had sailed Gibraltar two days earlier for a scheduled rendezvous. Port Fairy was detached to Casablanca with Swale as escort shortly after midnight, for fear of further attacks. Nevertheless, the two ships were attacked the following evening by two Fw 200s returning from a reconnaissance mission. Despite the interception of the two bombers by two US Navy PBY Catalinas which strafed and badly damaged one of them [8] Port Fairy was hit on the port quarter by a 50 kg bomb which breached the hull, started a fire, and disabled her steering. Ammunition in adjacent cargo spaces was jettisoned and compartments flooded to minimize the risk of explosion. A bucket chain was set up to douse the fire, meanwhile Swale came alongside and played her own hoses on the blaze, which was extinguished by 2300 hrs. After two more air attacks, during which no further hits were sustained, both ships completed the remaining 500 nm to Casablanca without incident, Port Fairy steering by her engines.

Post-War

On 25 December 1953, while operating on the Montreal - Australian New Zealand service, both engines failed owing to contaminated lubrication oil and the ship drifted for three days towards the rocks of Fatu Hira atoll. Plans were put in place to rig a temporary sail, but as this was being done one of the engines was repaired and the ship made port at 5 knots.

Disposal

By 1965 Port Fairy was the oldest ship in the fleet, and was sold for £126,000 for scrap to Embajada Compania Naviera SA of Piraeus. Renamed Taishikan, she made her final commercial voyage to Hong Kong, where she was broken up.

Related Research Articles

USS <i>Sturgeon</i> (SS-187) Submarine of the United States

USS Sturgeon (SS-187), a Salmon-class submarine, was the second ship of the United States Navy to be named for the sturgeon. Its 1944 sinking of the Japanese troopship Toyama Maru, killing more than 5,000 Japanese, was one of the highest death tolls from the sinking of a single ship in history, and its 1942 sinking of the prisoner ship Montevideo Maru was the worst maritime disaster in Australian history.

MV <i>Brisbane Star</i> British cargo liner

MV Brisbane Star was a British refrigerated cargo liner. She was built by Cammell Laird and Co in 1936–37 as one of Blue Star Line's Imperial Star-class ships, designed to ship frozen meat from Australia and New Zealand to the United Kingdom. The ship served in the Second World War and is distinguished for her rôle in Operation Pedestal to relieve the siege of Malta in August 1942. She was owned by a succession of Blue Star-controlled companies until 1963, when she was sold to a Liberian-registered company who renamed her Enea. Later that same year she was scrapped in Japan.

SS <i>America</i> (1939) Ocean liner

SS America was an ocean liner and cruise ship built in the United States in 1940, for the United States Lines and designed by the noted American naval architect William Francis Gibbs. It carried many names in the 54 years between its construction and its 1994 wreck: SS America ; troop transport USS West Point; and SS Australis, Italis, Noga, Alferdoss, and American Star. It served most notably in passenger service as America and the Greek-flagged Australis.

USS <i>Daniel T. Griffin</i> (DE-54) Buckley-class destroyer escort

USS Daniel T. Griffin (DE-54/APD-38), a Buckley-class destroyer escort of the United States Navy, was named in honor of Ordnanceman Daniel T. Griffin (1911–1941), who was killed in action during the Japanese attack on the Hawaiian Islands.

USS <i>Betelgeuse</i> (AKA-11) Cargo ship of the United States Navy

USS Betelgeuse (AK-28/AKA-11) was an Arcturus-class attack cargo ship, the first United States Navy ship named for Betelgeuse, a star in the constellation Orion. She served as a commissioned ship for 4 years and 9 months.

HMS <i>Swale</i> (K217) Frigate of the Royal Navy

HMS Swale (K217) was a River-class frigate of the Royal Navy (RN) from 1942 to 1955, loaned to the South African Navy for six months at the end of the Second World War.

SS <i>Duchess of York</i> (1928)

SS Duchess of York was one of a class of four steam turbine ocean liners built in Glasgow in 1927–29 for Canadian Pacific Steamships Ltd's transatlantic service between Britain and Canada.

SS <i>Samuel Huntington</i> American liberty ship in WWII

SS Samuel Huntington was an American liberty ship during World War II. She was the 248th liberty ship authorized by the United States Maritime Commission and was named in honor of Samuel Huntington, a signer of the American Declaration of Independence. SS Samuel Huntington was launched in 1942 and sailed to ports in the Pacific, South America, Africa, and the United Kingdom. She was one of a select group of liberty ships that were outfitted to carry a limited number of either troops or prisoners of war. As part of a convoy to resupply the Allied troops at Anzio, she sank after a successful German bomb attack in January 1944.

USS <i>Blair</i> Edsall-class destroyer escort

USS Blair (DE-147) was an Edsall-class destroyer escort in service with the United States Navy from 1943 to 1946 and from 1951 to 1960. She was scrapped in 1974. Blair was named in honor of Chief Machinist's Mate Eugene Blair, who was awarded the Silver Star posthumously for his brave actions when his ship was attacked and bombed by Japanese planes near Port Darwin, Australia, in mid-February 1942.

Canadian River-class destroyer

The River class was a class of fourteen destroyers of the Royal Canadian Navy (RCN) that served before and during the Second World War. They were named after Canadian rivers.

SS <i>Monterey</i>

SS Monterey was a luxury ocean liner launched on 10 October 1931. The ship was completed April 1932 and is shown in registers as a 1932 ship. Monterey was the third of the four ships of the Matson Lines "White Fleet", which were designed by William Francis Gibbs and also included SS Malolo, SS Mariposa and SS Lurline. Monterey was identical to Mariposa and very similar to Lurline. During World War II Monterey was used as a troopship operated by Matson as agents of the War Shipping Administration (WSA). Monterey was a large, fast transport capable of sailing independently and was allocated to serving Army troop transport requirements. The ship was involved in an attack on a convoy near Cape Bougaroun.

SS <i>Clan Fraser</i> (1938) British cargo ship

SS Clan Fraser was a British cargo steamship. She served in the Second World War and was bombed and sunk in Greece in 1941.

SS <i>President Roosevelt</i> (1921)

SS President Roosevelt was an ocean liner in service in the 1920s and 1930s. Originally built as a Harris-class attack transport towards the end of World War I, she entered commercial service after her completion. Having been built as Peninsula State, she was soon renamed President Pierce and then President Roosevelt. Requisitioned for service as a troopship with the US Navy during World War II, she was renamed USS Joseph T. Dickman (APA-13) and served in the Atlantic and Pacific theaters, being scrapped postwar in 1948.

SS <i>California</i> (1923)

SS California was a British 16,792 GRT steam turbine ocean liner built in Glasgow in 1923 for the Anchor Line, becoming a sister to the RMS Transylvania (1925). In 1939 the Royal Navy requisitioned her. She was bombed and abandoned along with the Duchess of York west of Spain by a Luftwaffe attack in July 1943.

Naval Battle of Casablanca Naval engagements during the Second World War

The Naval Battle of Casablanca was a series of naval engagements fought between American ships covering the invasion of North Africa and Vichy French ships defending the neutrality of French Morocco in accordance with the Second Armistice at Compiègne during World War II. The last stages of the battle consisted of operations by German U-boats which had reached the area the same day the French troops surrendered.

Convoy Faith Small, fast Allied convoy of World War II

Convoy Faith was a small, fast Allied convoy of World War II. It suffered heavy casualties when attacked by German long-range bombers while en route from Britain to West Africa in July 1943. The convoy comprised two large troopships and a freighter, later joined by two destroyers and two frigates as escorts at various dates after it sailed on 7 July 1943. The two troopships, SS California and SS Duchess of York, both former liners, were carrying military personnel to West Africa, where locally recruited troops were to be embarked as reinforcements for the Allied forces in Burma and the Middle East. The freighter MV Port Fairy, carrying ammunition, was ultimately bound for Australia and New Zealand via the Panama canal.

MV <i>Llangibby Castle</i> British passenger liner and troopship

MV Llangibby Castle was a passenger liner of the Union-Castle Line, operating between 1929 and 1954. The ship was named after the castle at Llangybi, Monmouthshire. The ship was constructed by Harland and Wolff, at their shipyard in Govan, Glasgow. She was the first ship to utilise pressure charging in combination with exhaust gas boilers. The ship was principally employed by the company on the Round Africa service.

Habib Marikar was a 7,067 GRT cargo ship that was built in 1943 by Short Brothers Ltd, Sunderland, Co Durham as Empire Duchess for the Ministry of War Transport (MoWT). She was sold into merchant service in 1949 and renamed Braemar Castle. A further sale in 1950 saw her renamed King James.

MV <i>Melbourne Star</i> (1936)

MV Melbourne Star was a British refrigerated cargo liner. She was built by Cammell Laird and Co in 1936 as one of Blue Star Line's Imperial Star-class ships, designed to ship frozen meat from Australia and New Zealand to the United Kingdom. She served in the Second World War and is distinguished for her role in Operation Pedestal to relieve the siege of Malta in August 1942. She was sunk by torpedo in 1943 with the loss of 115 lives.

SS <i>Pennland</i>

SS Pennland was a transatlantic ocean liner that was launched as Pittsburgh in Ireland in 1920 and renamed Pennland in 1926. She had a succession of UK, German and Dutch owners and operators. In 1940 she was converted into a troopship.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 "5528236" . Miramar Ship Index . Retrieved 22 June 2009.
  2. "Port Line".
  3. 1 2 3 "Maritime Disasters of World War II" . Retrieved 20 June 2008.
  4. "U-boat.net (HMCS Margaree)" . Retrieved 14 May 2008.
  5. "Naval History.net" . Retrieved 14 May 2008.
  6. Munro, A. (2006). The Winston Specials - Troopships via the Cape 1940-1943. Maritime Books, ISBN   1-904459-20-X
  7. "Mercantile Marine.com". Archived from the original on 27 July 2011. Retrieved 20 June 2008.
  8. Ragnarsson, R. (2006). US Navy PBY Catalina Units of the Atlantic War, page 65. Osprey Publishing, ISBN   1-84176-910-X