|
History
|
Russian Empire
(1915?17)
United Kingdom
(1917?21)
Denmark
(1921?30)
Poland
(1930?45)
United Kingdom
(1945?50)
|
Name
|
- Czaritza
(1915?21)
- Lituania
(1921?30)
- Ko?ciuszko
(1930?39, 1939?46)
- ORP
Gdynia
(1939)
- Empire Helford
(1946?50)
|
Namesake
| |
Owner
| |
Operator
| |
Port of registry
| |
Ordered
| 1914
|
Builder
| Barclay, Curle & Co Ltd
|
Yard number
| 512
|
Launched
| 14 February 1915
|
Commissioned
| 10 November 1939
|
Decommissioned
| 30 June 1941
|
Identification
| |
Fate
| Scrapped 1950
|
General characteristics
|
Type
| Ocean liner
|
Tonnage
|
- Until 1934: 6,522
GRT
, tonnage under deck 4,846, 3,940
NRT
- From 1935: 6,852
GRT
, tonnage under deck: 4,843, 4,207
NRT
|
Length
| 440.0 ft (134 m)
|
Beam
| 53.4 ft (16 m)
|
Draught
| 32 ft (10 m)
|
Depth
| 29.3 ft (9 m)
|
Decks
| 2
|
Installed power
| 889
NHP
|
Propulsion
| 2 × 4-cylinder
quadruple-expansion engines
, twin
screw
propellers
|
Speed
| 14 knots (26 km/h)
|
Capacity
| 712 passengers
|
Sensors and
processing systems
| Wireless
direction finding
(by 1938)
|
Armament
| |
Ko?ciuszko
was a
passenger
steamship
that was built in
Scotland
in 1915, sailed as a
troopship
in both World Wars, was an
ocean liner
between the wars, carried
displaced persons
after
World War II
and was scrapped in England in 1950.
In her 35-year history the ship was registered in the merchant navies of the
United Kingdom
,
Latvia
and
Poland
. She was built as
Czaritza
and later bore the names
Lituania
,
Ko?ciuszko
,
Gdynia
and
Empire Helford
. The name
Ko?ciuszko
refers to
Tadeusz Ko?ciuszko
(1746 ? 1817), a military leader, statesman and Polish national hero.
Construction
[
edit
]
The
Russian American Line
ordered the ship before
World War I
to be an ocean liner to carry up to 1,000 passengers between
New York
and
Arkhangelsk
.
Barclay, Curle & Co Ltd
of
Glasgow
laid her keel in 1914,
launched
her as
Czaritza
on 14 February 1915
[1]
and completed her that May.
[2]
Her yard number was 512.
[1]
As built,
Czaritza
'
s tonnages were 6,522
GRT
and 3,940
NRT
. She had twin four-cylinder
quadruple-expansion engines
driving twin
screws
. Each engine had a 48-inch (120 cm)
stroke
and cylinders of
21
+
1
⁄
2
-inch (55 cm),
30
+
3
⁄
4
-inch (78 cm), 44-inch (110 cm) and 63-inch (160 cm)
bore
. Between them the engines developed 889
NHP
and gave her a speed of 14 knots (26 km/h). The engines were fed by six 215
lb
f
/in
2
single-ended boilers with a total heating surface of 13,302 square feet (1,236 m
2
). Her boilers were heated by 18 corrugated furnaces with a grate surface of 332 square feet (31 m
2
).
[2]
First World War and Russian Civil War
[
edit
]
She spent the remainder of the war as a
troopship
. She was evacuated from Russia during the
Russian Civil War
.
Cunard Line
bought her in 1917 and used her to carry troops between the USA and Europe and between the UK and
Malta
. In 1920 she returned to Arkhangelsk, this time with the
Allied
expeditionary forces
intervening in the Russian Civil War.
Between the wars
[
edit
]
The Russian American Line was a subsidiary of the Danish
East Asiatic Company
.
In January 1921 the ship was transferred to another East Asiatic Company subsidiary,
Baltic American Line
, who renamed her
Lituania
. She worked various trans-oceanic routes, including a circular route
Halifax
?
New York
?
Copenhagen
?
Gda?sk
?
Liep?ja
.
In 1930 the East Asiatic Company sold Baltic American Line to Polish owners who renamed the company
Polskie Transatlantyckie Towarzystwo Okr?towe
("Polish Transatlantic Shipping Company Limited" or PTTO)
and renamed the ship
Ko?ciuszko
. On 8 June she reached
Gdynia
, which became her port of registry on 20 June. She was operated by
Gdynia America Line
, at first with a mixed Polish and Danish crew, but from 1931 her crew was entirely Polish. She served on the
Gdynia
? Copenhagen ? Halifax route, and also made short
tourist cruises
.
In 1935
Ko?ciuszko
'
s tonnages were re-assessed as 6,852
GRT
and 4,207
NRT
and her old
code letters
were replaced with the radio
call sign
SPEA.
[4]
By 1938 she was equipped with wireless
direction finding
navigation equipment.
[5]
The delivery of the modern
motor ships
Piłsudski
in 1935 and
Batory
in 1936 displaced
Ko?ciuszko
from transatlantic service. She started to work the
Constan?a
?
Haifa
route in 1935 and a route to
South America
in October 1936. The delivery of the smaller motor ships
Sobieski
and
Chrobry
in 1939 made
Ko?ciuszko
surplus to requirements so early in 1939 Gdynia America Line withdrew her from service.
World War II
[
edit
]
At the outbreak of
World War II
the
Polish Navy
requisitioned
Ko?ciuszko
and evacuated her to
Dartmouth
in the UK before the
Invasion of Poland
. On 10 November 1939 she was
commissioned
as ORP
Gdynia
. Initially she was a troopship, but she was considered unsuitable for service at sea and served instead as a base ship in the UK. She housed a canteen, a hospital, a Naval
NCO
school and several other offices. In her naval service the ship was visited by, among others,
Winston Churchill
and King
George VI
. During a German air raid on
Denver, Norfolk
, on 25 September,
[
clarification needed
]
she was hit by two aerial bombs, but swift action by the crew prevented the ship from catching fire.
On 30 June 1941 she was decommissioned, restored to Gdynia America Line and reverted to her name
Ko?ciuszko
. She was placed under the management of the British
Lamport and Holt
Line, but was crewed entirely by Poles except for a Lamport and Holt liaison officer.
She served as a troopship in the
Indian Ocean
and
Malaya
. Japanese aircraft attacked her several times. In 1943 a torpedo hit her but did not explode.
She was transferred to the
Mediterranean Sea
and took part in the
Allied
Invasion of Sicily
. Then she returned to the Indian Ocean, this time as a part of United Maritime Authority.
After World War II
[
edit
]
In 1945 the UK repatriated
Batory
to Poland but the crews of
Ko?ciuszko
and another Gdynia America Line ship,
Pułaski
, refused to be repatriated. All crew members of both ships signed UK articles
and the ships were transferred from Gdynia America Line to the UK
Ministry of War Transport
, who kept her under Lamport and Holt management.
Ko?ciuszko
'
s port of registration was changed from Gdynia to London. Her call sign was changed to GLSW and she was given the UK
official number
142335.
[7]
In April 1946 the MoWT renamed
Ko?ciuszko
as
Empire Helford
and sold her to Lamport and Holt. She continued to serve as a troop transport and for transportation of displaced persons. In 1949 she was withdrawn from service, and on 2 May 1950 she reached
Blyth, Northumberland
to be scrapped.
[1]
References
[
edit
]
Bibliography
[
edit
]
- Gibbs, CR Vernon (1970).
Western Ocean Passenger Liners 1934?1969
. Glasgow: Brown, Son & Ferguson.
- Heaton, Paul M (2004).
Lamport & Holt Line
. Abergavenny: PM Heaton Publishing. pp. 102?103.
ISBN
1-872006-16-7
.
External links
[
edit
]
|
---|
Type
Polonia
| |
---|
Type
Piłsudski
| |
---|
Type
Sobieski
| |
---|
Type
Jagiełło
| |
---|
Others
| |
---|