Dmitry Donskoy was a 5,061-ton German cargo ship which was built in 1943 as Eberhart Essberger. Taken as a British war prize in 1945, she was renamed Empire Ayr. She was allocated to the Soviet Union in 1946 and served until scrapped in 1974.
| History | |
|---|---|
| Name |
|
| Owner |
|
| Operator |
|
| Port of registry |
|
| Builder | Öresundsvarvet, Landskrona |
| Yard number | 73 |
| Launched | 11 May 1943 |
| Completed | 20 January 1944 |
| Identification |
|
| Fate | Scrapped 1974 |
| General characteristics | |
| Tonnage | 5,061 GRT |
| Length | 438 ft 8 in (133.71 m) |
| Beam | 57 ft 2 in (17.42 m) |
| Depth | 29 ft 2 in (8.89 m) |
| Propulsion | 2 x SCSA diesel engines (A/B Götavarken, Gothenburg) 990 hp (740 kW) |
| Speed | 10 knots (19 km/h) |
History
editEberhart Essberger was built by Öresundsvarvet, Landskrona, and launched on 11 May 1943. She was completed on 20 January 1944.[1] She was built for J T Essberger, Hamburg.[2] Eberhart Essberger participated in Operation Hannibal in January 1945.[3] She was taken as a war prize in Kiel in May 1945 and ownership passed to the British Ministry of War Transport.[2] She operated under the management of F C Strick & Co Ltd.[4] In 1946, 'Empire Ayr' brought the first consignment of 4,000 long tons (4,100 t) of dates to reach Liverpool that year.[5] Later that year, she was allocated to the Soviet Union and renamed Dimtry Donskoy (Дмитрий Донской).[2] She was operated by the Baltic Shipping Co, Leningrad, and served until she was scrapped in the fourth quarter of 1974.[6]
Official Number and code letters
editOfficial Numbers were a forerunner to IMO Numbers.
Empire Ayr had the UK Official Number 180681 and used the Code Letters GNPS[4]
References
edit- ^ "1180681". Miramar Ship Index. Retrieved 22 January 2009.
- ^ a b c Mitchell, W H; Sawyer, L A (1995). The Empire Ships. London, New York, Hamburg, Hong Kong: Lloyd's of London Press Ltd. pp. 443–44. ISBN 1-85044-275-4.
- ^ "1945 Januar" (in German). WLB Stuttgart. Retrieved 23 January 2008.
- ^ a b "LLOYDS REGISTER, STEAMERS & MOTORSHIPS" (PDF). Plimsoll Ship Data. Retrieved 23 January 2008.
- ^ "Sir B. Smith on Fat Supplies". The Times. No. 50408. London. 23 March 1946. col F, p. 4.
- ^ "Re: Eduard Esbjerg". Warsailors. Retrieved 23 January 2008.