SS Lambridge

SS Lambridge was a 5,119 GRT UK cargo ship that was built in 1917, gave 28 years of service and was scuttled in 1945.[3][2] She was launched as Glennevis but changed owners and names a number of times, successively becoming African Prince, Pentridge Hill, Botlea, HMS Lambridge and Lambridge. She was scuttled as part of a programme to dispose of UK stocks of chemical weapons.

History
United Kingdom
Name: Glennevis[1]
Namesake: Glen Nevis, Scotland
Owner: Western Steam Ship Co, Glasgow[2]
Operator: James Gardiner & Co[2]
Port of registry: Glasgow
Builder: Ayrshire Dockyard Company Ltd, Irvine[1]
Yard number: 445[3][2]
Launched: 1917[3][2]
Completed: May 1917[1]
Out of service: 1922[2]
Fate: Sold
 
Name: African Prince[1]
Owner: Rio Cape Line, Ltd.[1]
Operator: Furness Withy[1]
Port of registry: Newcastle upon Tyne
Acquired: 1922[2]
Out of service: 1936[2]
Identification:
Fate: Sold[2]
 
Name: Pentridge Hill[4]
Namesake: Pentridge Hill, Dorset
Owner: Dorset Steam Ship Company[4]
Operator: Counties Ship Management[4]
Port of registry: London
Acquired: 1936[4]
Out of service: 1939[5]
Identification:
Fate: Sold
 
Name: Botlea[5]
Owner: Ministry of War Transport (1939)[5]
Operator:
Port of registry: London
Acquired: 1939[5]
Out of service: 1939[2]
Identification:
  • call sign GQTZ (from 1934)
  • [6]
  • UK Official Number 137842[6]
 
Name: HMS Lambridge (X15)[3][2]
Owner: Admiralty[3]
Operator:  Royal Navy[3]
Acquired: 1939[2]
In service: 1939
Out of service: 1941[2]
 
Name: Lambridge[3][2]
Owner: Admiralty[3]
Port of registry:
In service: 1941
Out of service: 1945[2]
Fate: Scuttled[3][2]
General characteristics
Type: cargo ship[1]
Tonnage:
Length: 400.7 feet (122.1 m)[1] p/p
Beam: 53.4 feet (16.3 m)[1]
Draught: 24 feet 1 inch (7.34 m)[1]
Depth: 27.4 feet (8.4 m)[1]
Installed power: 510 NHP[1]
Propulsion: 3-cylinder triple expansion steam engine; single screw[1]
Speed: 10.5 knots (19.4 km/h)[2]

Building

The Ayrshire Dockyard Company Ltd. built the ship to the UK Shipping Controller's standard "B" type cargo ship design. She had nine corrugated furnaces with a combined grate area of 119 square feet (11 m2) heating three 180 lbf/in2 single-ended boilers with a combined heating surface of 7,647 square feet (710 m2).[1] The boilers fed a Dunsmuir and Jackson three-cylinder 510 NHP triple expansion steam engine that drove a single screw propeller.[1]

Names and owners

The ship was launched in 1917 as Glennevis for the Western Steam Ship Company of Glasgow.[2] In 1922 she was sold to Furness Withy who renamed her African Prince.[2] In 1936 she was sold to the Dorset Steamship Company, which renamed her Pentridge Hill.[4] Dorset SS Co was a London-based company controlled by Counties Ship Management.[4]

In 1939 she was sold to Sir Wm. Reardon Smith & Sons, Ltd, who renamed her Botlea.[5] In September and October 1939 she became one of nine merchant ships that the Admiralty acquired to convert into Q-ships.[2] Botlea was commissioned into the Royal Navy as HMS Lambridge with the pennant number X15. The Q-ships were not successful and from February 1941 she served as the armed merchant cruiser Lambridge.[3]

Scuttling

After the Second World War the Admiralty used her to dispose of redundant chemical ammunition.[2] On 30 December 1945 she was scuttled in the North Atlantic beyond the continental shelf, 120 miles (190 km) northwest of Ireland.[7] Her wreck is at 55°30′N 11°00′W in 8,200 feet (2,500 m) of water.[7]

Lambridge was one of four redundant cargo ships that the Admiralty used to dispose of chemical ammunition at the same site in the North Atlantic.[2] The others were Empire Simba on 11 September, Empire Cormorant on 1 October and Wairuna on 30 October.[2]

Approximate position of Lambridge's wreck

References
  1. Lloyd's Register of Shipping (PDF). London: Lloyd's Register. 1930. Retrieved 30 March 2013.
  2. Lettens, Jan; Allen, Tony (27 December 2010). "Pentridge Hill SS (1936~1939) Lambridge SS [+1945]". The Wreck Site. Retrieved 17 June 2011.
  3. Cameron, Stuart; Strathdee, Paul; Robinson, George. "Glennevis (1917)". Clydebuilt Database. Archived from the original on 28 July 2012. Retrieved 17 June 2011.CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  4. Lloyd's Register of Shipping (PDF). London: Lloyd's Register. 1937. Retrieved 30 March 2013.
  5. Lloyd's Register of Shipping (PDF). London: Lloyd's Register. 1940. Retrieved 30 March 2013.
  6. Lloyd's Register of Shipping (PDF). London: Lloyd's Register. 1945. Retrieved 30 March 2013.
  7. Bowles, R. British Isles Explosive Dumping Grounds. London: Ministry of Defence. p. 2.

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