SS Empire Brigade

As the Hannington Court, prior to 1936
History
United Kingdom, Italy
Name:	Hannington Court (1912–36) Elios (1936–40) Empire Brigade (1940)
Owner:	United British SS Co (1912–36) Achille Lauro (1936–40) Ministry of War Transport (1940)
Operator:	Haldin & Philipps (1912–36) Achille Lauro (1936–40) Cairns, Noble & Co Ltd (1940)
Port of registry:	London (1912–22) London (1922–36) Naples (1936–40) Newcastle-upon-Tyne (1940)
Builder:	Sir John Priestman & Co Ltd, Sunderland
Yard number:	239
Completed:	November 1912
Out of service:	19 October 1940
Identification:	UK official number 135157 (1912–36, 1940) Italian official number 462 (1936–40) code letters JBDQ (1912–33) call sign GRSZ (1934–36) call sign IBFO (1936–40) call sign GLZS (1940)
Fate:	Sunk by torpedo from U-99
General characteristics
Class and type:	cargo steamship
Tonnage:	5,184 GRT tonnage under deck 4,873 3,189 NRT
Length:	400.0 feet (121.9 m)
Beam:	53.5 feet (16.3 m)
Draught:	23 feet 9 inches (7.24 m)
Depth:	26.6 feet (8.1 m)
Installed power:	440 NHP
Propulsion:	triple-expansion steam engine; single screw
Speed:	10 knots (19 km/h)
Crew:	41

SS Empire Brigade was a 5,184 GRT cargo ship that was built in 1912 as SS Hannington Court. She served through the First World War and was sold in 1936 to Achille Lauro, who renamed her Elios. In 1940 when Italy declared war on France and the United Kingdom she was interned by the UK as a war prize and taken over by the Ministry of War Transport (MoWT), which renamed her Empire Brigade. Four months later she was torpedoed and sunk by U-99.

The shipyards of Sir John Priestman & Co Ltd, Southwick, Sunderland built the ship in 1912. She was launched as Hannington Court on 10 October 1902 and completed in November 1912. She was 400.0 feet (121.9 m) long, with a beam of 53.5 feet (16.3 m) and a depth of 26.6 feet (8.1 m). She had nine corrugated furnaces with a combined grate area of 192 square feet (18 m²) that heated three 180 lb_f/in² single-ended boilers with a combined heating surface of 7,158 square feet (665 m²). These fed a single three-cylinder triple-expansion steam engine built by Blair and Co Ltd of . The engine had cylinders of 27 inches (69 cm), 44.5 inches (113 cm) and 74 inches (190 cm) bore by 48 inches (120 cm) stroke, was rated at 440 NHP and gave the ship a speed of 10 knots (19 km/h)

Hannington Court's original owner was United British Steamship Co, which registered her in London and appointed Haldin and Philipps to manage her. The business was dubbed "Court Line" for its custom of giving all its ships names that ended in "Court". In 1936 Court Line sold her to Achille Lauro's Flota Lauro, which renamed her Elios and registered her in Naples.