SS Darien (1924)

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History
Flag of Panama.svg Panama
Name
  • MV La Marea [1] (1924–29)
  • SS Darien (1930– ) [1]
OwnerBalboa Shipping Co, Inc. [2]
OperatorUnited Fruit Company flag.svg United Fruit Company [2]
Port of registry Flag of Panama.svg [2]
Builder Cammell Laird, Birkenhead [2]
CompletedApril 1924 [2]
Identification
General characteristics
Tonnage
  • as built:
  • 3,689  GRT [1]
  • tonnage under deck 3,183 [1]
  • 2,148  NRT [1]
  • after lengthening:
  • 4,281  GRT [2]
  • tonnage under deck 3,533 [2]
  • 2,276 NRT [2]
Lengthas built: 325.2 ft (99.1 m) [1] after lengthening: 352.7 ft (107.5 m) [2]
Beam48.1 ft (14.7 m) [2]
Draughtas built: 22 ft 5.5 in (6.85 m) [1] after lengthening: 22 ft 6.5 in (6.87 m) [2]
Depth28.3 ft (8.6 m) [2]
Installed power
  • as built: 981 NHP [1]
  • as re-engined: 839 NHP [2]
Propulsion

SS Darien was a refrigerated cargo ship operated by the United Fruit Company. She was built by Cammell Laird of Birkenhead, England, and completed in 1924 as MV La Marea. [1] She had been renamed Darien by 1930 [1] and by 1931, her original diesel-electric propulsion system had been replaced with steam power [2]

Contents

The ship was owned by Balboa Shipping Co, Inc, a subsidiary of the United Fruit Company, and registered under the Panamanian flag of convenience. [1] She was still in service in 1945. [4]

Building

La Marea was built as a diesel-electric motor vessel, with four four-cylinder single-acting two-stroke diesel engines. [1] They powered electric generators that supplied current to a single electric propulsion motor rated at 981 NHP that turned a single propeller shaft. [1] She was equipped with both submarine signalling and wireless. [1]

Rebuilding

By 1930 Darien had been lengthened by 27.5 feet (8.4 m), which increased her gross register tonnage by 592 tons. [1] By 1931 she had been converted from diesel-electric to steam turbo-electric propulsion. [2] Her four diesel engines and four electric generators were replaced with two water-tube boilers and a single British Thomson-Houston turbo generator. [2] Her boilers had a combined heating surface of 8,660 square feet (805 m2) [2] and a working pressure of 400 lbf/in2. [2] The conversion reduced Darien's power output to 839 NHP. [2]

Darien was not United Fruit's first turbo-electric ship. As early as 1921 Workman, Clark and Company of Belfast had completed SS San Benito for Balboa Shipping, again using a BT-H turbo generator and propulsion motor. [5]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 Lloyd's Register, Steam Ships & Motorships (PDF). London: Lloyd's Register. 1930. Retrieved 5 May 2013.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 Lloyd's Register, Steamers & Motorships (PDF). London: Lloyd's Register. 1931. Retrieved 5 May 2013.
  3. ↑ Lloyd's Register, Steamers & Motorships (PDF). London: Lloyd's Register. 1934. Retrieved 5 May 2013.
  4. ↑ Lloyd's Register, Steamers & Motorships (PDF). London: Lloyd's Register. 1945. Retrieved 23 May 2013.
  5. ↑ Lloyd's Register, Steamers & Motorships (PDF). London: Lloyd's Register. 1933. Retrieved 5 May 2013.
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