Name Empire Shelter Launched 3 October 1944 Draft 3 m | Operator Ellerman City Line Length 77 m | |
Owner Ministry of War Transport Builder George Brown & Co. Ltd., Greenock Laid down 1943, as HMS Barnard Castle (K594) Completed 1945, as Empire Shelter | ||
Empire Shelter was a ship originally laid down as the Castle-class corvette HMS Barnard Castle of the Royal Navy (pennant number K594), but converted to a convoy rescue ship before completion.
Convoy rescue ships accompanied some Atlantic convoys to rescue survivors from ships which had been attacked. Conversion to rescue service involved enlarging galley and food storage areas and providing berthing and sanitary facilities for approximately 150 men. Scrambling nets were rigged along the sides, and boats suitable for open sea work were substituted for normal lifeboats. Rescue ships normally included a small operating room for an embarked naval doctor and sick bay staff.
Empire Shelter was launched by George Brown & Co., Greenock on 3 October 1944, and brought into service on 16 April 1945. She was owned by the Ministry of War Transport and operated by Ellerman City Line, and sailed with six convoys.
In August 1954 Empire Shelter sailed from Port Said, Egypt carrying soldiers and equipment of the Second Battalion The Green Howards that had been stationed in the Suez Garrison, Egypt, and took them to Famagusta, Cyprus where they disembarked and moved into 12 Mile Camp, Dhekelia, Cyprus under canvas.
Laid up in 1954 at Falmouth, the ship was scrapped in July 1955 at Burght in Belgium.
Barnard Castle is a small town in County Durham, England.