Yard number 633 Length 145 m | Launched 18 October 1944 | |
Name Empire Allenby (1944-46)
Drakensburg Castle (1946-59) Owner Ministry of War Transport (1944-46)
Union Castle Mail Steamship Co Ltd (1946-59) Operator Owner operated except-
Prince Line Ltd (1944-46) Port of registry Sunderland (1945-47)
South Africa (1947-57)
South Africa (1957-59) Builder J L Thompson & Sons Ltd, Sunderland | ||
The Empire Allenby was a 9,904 ton cargo liner which was built in 1944. She was renamed Drakenburg Castle in 1946, and scrapped in 1959.
Contents
History
Empire Allenby was built by J L Thompson & Sons Ltd, Sunderland as yard number 633. She was launched on 18 October 1944 and completed in June 1945. Empire Allenby was built for the Ministry of War Transport and operated under the management of Furness, Withy & Co Ltd, who traded as Prince Line Ltd.
In 1946, Empire Allenby was sold to the Union Castle Mail Steamship Co Ltd, who traded as the Union-Castle Line. She was renamed Drakensburg Castle. On 22 July 1947, she was transferred to the South African registry. Although Drakensburg Castle was a fast ship compared to others in the Union-Castle Line fleet, she was expensive to operate and not suitable for use as a tramp. She was sold for scrap to the Hong Kong Salvage & Towage Co and arrived for scrapping in Hong Kong on 5 August 1959. Drakensburg Castle was scrapped in September 1959.
Official number and code letters
Official Numbers were a forerunner to IMO Numbers.
Empire Allenby had the UK Official Number 180157 and used the Code Letters GJTM.