Part of the Acorn Archive

Hearts of Oak

 

 

 

Athel Line Ships

 

Athelbeach

3 ships of this name

 

1 SS ATHELBEACH ( 1925 – 1930 )

1918 Built as Tanker  WAR RAJPUT 

8340 grt   400ft x 53ft

Shipping Controller, British Tanker Co manager 

1920 Anglo-Saxon Petroleum Co, London

1922 CONIA same owner

1925 ATHELBEACH, British Molasses Co  -  ON 145613

1926 United Molasses Co, London

1930 REALF Odd Berg, Oslo 

1931 Ronneberg & Geltung, Oslo 

1936 ATHELMERE (2), United Molasses Co, London

1951 ALEXANDROS, Mageolia Naviera, Panama 

1959 Myrrinella Naviera, Panama

1964 Scrapped at Split.

 

ATHELBEACH(1) as Athelmere (2)

 

Athelbeach(1) as Alexandros, laid up on the River Fal ( 1954 )

Courtesy George Robinson

 

2 MV ATHELBEACH (1931-1941)

ON : 162330

Owner: United Molasses Co.

Date of Build 1930

Completed : 1931

Builder Cammell, Laird & Co. Shipbuilders

Order of build : 976

Vessel Number : V0973

6,568 tons

426ft1ins x 55ft9ins x 32ft2ins

11 knots; 489n.h.p. Oil engines.

Registered : Liverpool

Fate : 7th March 1941, about 200 miles S.W. of the Faroe Islands.

Captain Malcolm Mclntyre and six men were killed. U-70 attacked Convoy OB-293 SE of Iceland, but was lost after a second attack at 0725. The survivors of the U-boat claimed that they had hit three ships in the first attack at 0445 hours & another in the second. But, in fact, three ships were damaged - ATHELBEACH, DELILIAN and MIJDRECHT. At 0640, U-99 torpedoed the already damaged ATHELBEACH and the crew abandoned ship, at position 60 30N / 13 30W. At 0715, the U-boat began to shell the tanker and sank her with a coup de grâce 15 minutes later. The master and six crew-members were lost. 37 crew-members were picked up by corvette HMS CAMELLIA and landed at Greenock.

 

Men who died 7th March 1941

 

BURDGE, Apprentice, LESLIE, Age 19.

Son of Francis Richard and May Burdge,

of Compton Bishop, Somerset.

 

HARRISON, Chief Officer, DAVID, Age 30.

Son of William and Emma Harrison; husband of

Annie Harrison, of Hull.

 

HEGGEN, Boatswain, JAMES HOUSTEN, Age 33.

Son of Thomas and Mary E. Heggen, of Island-Magee,

Co. Antrim, Northern Ireland.

 

MOLLOY, Ordinary Seaman, MARTIN, Age 18.

Son of William and Sarah Molloy, of Greenock, Renfrewshire.

 

McINTYRE, Master, MALCOLM, Age 43.

Son of George and Elizabeth McIntyre; husband of

Joyce Irene McIntyre, of Falmouth, Cornwall.

 

ROBERTS, First Radio Officer, GEORGE SELBY, Age 27.

Son of Ruth Wilty Roberts.

 

WHITE, Able Seaman, JAMES M., Age 24. (served as WHYTE).

Son of John and Sarah White, of Greenock, Renfrewshire.

His brother Laurence also fell.

 

Athelbeach (2)

 

Athelbeach(2) at Falmouth Dry Dock

Courtesy George Robinson

Athelbeach 1931

 

3 MV ATHELBEACH ( 1950 - 1966 )

Reg No 183789

Call sign GJYY

Tanker

10350 dwt  7533 grt  4155 nt

Length 459 ft. Beam 61 ft.

1950 Built by Hawthorne Leslie, Hebburn

With a 4 cyl Doxford engine.

Arrived in Santander Spain to be broken up on the 22nd of June 1967

 

Athelbeach(3)

 

Photograph by Joe McMillan

 

 

 

Raymond Forward