MV Atheltemplar
| History | |
|---|---|
 United Kingdom
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| Name: | MV Atheltemplar |
| Operator: |
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| Port of registry: | Liverpool |
| Builder: | Lithgows, Port Glasgow, Scotland |
| Yard number: | 843 |
| Launched: | 15 April 1930 |
| Completed: | 1930 |
| Out of service: | 14 September 1942 |
| Identification: |
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| Fate: | sunk on 14 September 1942 |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type: | Molasses tanker |
| Tonnage: | 8,939 GRT |
| Length: | 475 ft (144.78 m) |
| Beam: | 63 ft 5 in (19.33 m) |
| Depth: | 35 ft (10.67 m) |
| Installed power: | 709 NHP |
| Propulsion: | Twin screws powered by 2 x 6-cylinder 4-stroke single-acting diesel engines (John G. Kincaid & Company, Greenock) |
| Speed: | 11 knots (20 km/h) |
| Capacity: | 9,400 tons of Admiralty fuel oil |
| Crew: |
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| Armament: |
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MV Atheltemplar was a motor tanker built by Lithgows, Port Glasgow. She was launched on 15 April 1930, registered in Liverpool and operated by the United Molasses Co Ltd of London. She was transferred to Athel Lines on 1 January 1940.
Atheltemplar’s first recorded voyage during the Second World War was to Abadan on the Persian Shatt al-Arab. She departed home waters with Convoy OB 10 and returned to Gibraltar with her cargo before sailing east again to Port Said.
Atheltemplar returned to Great Britain with Convoy HG 9 which left Port Said on 19 November 1939, but on the afternoon of 14 December 1939, she struck a mine laid by German destroyers off the Tyne Estuary. The destroyers HMS Kelly and HMS Mohawk were sent as escorts for the rescue tugs Great Emperor, Joffre and Langton. During the operation Kelly also struck a mine and sustained damage to her hull. While Mowhawk put a party aboard Atheltemplar, and Joffre and Langton took the tanker under tow, Kelly herself was taken in tow by Great Emperor and returned to the Tyne.
After repairs, Atheltemplar returned to service on 9 April 1940 and sailed to Bermuda before returning to home waters with Convoy HX 42. During late May and early June 1940 she was involved in Operation Dynamo, during which she bunkered Royal Navy destroyers and was attacked by the Luftwaffe several times in and around Dover Harbour. More transatlantic crossings followed, including a homeward-bound voyage in Convoy HX 84 which was attacked by the German German cruiser Admiral Scheer. Atheltemplar and her sister-ship Athelempress managed to escape unscathed.
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Wikipedia