SS Gracechurch
British cargo ship built by William Doxford & Sons in 1930
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
SS Gracechurch was a United Kingdom 4,318 GRT cargo ship built by William Doxford & Sons at Pallion on Wearside in 1930.[2] She twice changed owners and names, becoming SS Peebles in 1933 and SS Mill Hill in 1936. She was sunk by a German submarine in August 1940.
| History | |
|---|---|
 United Kingdom | |
| Name | Gracechurch[1] |
| Owner | Gracechurch Shipping Co.[1] |
| Operator | James, Muers & Co.[1] |
| Port of registry |  London[2] |
| Builder | William Doxford & Sons, Sunderland[2][3] |
| Launched | 25 February 1930[3] |
| Completed | April 1930[2][3] |
| Out of service | 1933[1] |
| Identification |
|
| Fate | Sold[1] |
| Name | Peebles[4] |
| Owner | B.J. Sutherland & Co[1] |
| Operator | B.J. Sutherland & Co |
| Port of registry | Newcastle-upon-Tyne[1] |
| Acquired | 1933[1] |
| Out of service | 1936[1] |
| Fate | Sold |
| Name | Mill Hill[4] |
| Namesake | Mill Hill, north London |
| Owner | Mill Hill Steam Ship Co, Ltd.[4] |
| Operator | Counties Ship Management Co Ltd, London[1][3] |
| Port of registry | Newcastle-upon-Tyne[4] |
| Acquired | 1936[1] |
| Identification | |
| Fate | Sunk by torpedo 30 August 1940[1][3] |
| General characteristics | |
| Type | Cargo ship |
| Tonnage | |
| Length | 320.4 ft (97.7 m)[2] |
| Beam | 52.9 ft (16.1 m)[2] |
| Height | 24.9 ft (7.6 m)[2] |
| Installed power | 368 NHP[2] |
| Propulsion | 3-cylinder triple expansion steam engine;[2] single screw |
| Crew | 34[3] |
Engines
Names and owners
Gracechurch was first owned by Gracechurch Shipping Co of Newcastle and managed by James, Muers & Co of Cardiff.[1] In 1933 she was sold to B.J. Sutherland & Co who renamed her Peebles.
In 1936 she was sold to the Mill Hill Steam Ship Co Ltd,[4] which was controlled by Counties Ship Management (an offshoot of the Rethymnis & Kulukundis shipbroking company of London[5]) who renamed her Mill Hill.[1]
Loss
On 16 August 1940 Mill Hill left Halifax, Nova Scotia as a member of convoy HX 66A laden with pig iron and scrap steel[6] for Middlesbrough, England.[3] Between 0220 and 0248 hrs on 30 August 58 miles off Cape Wrath in the north of Scotland U-32 torpedoed the convoy, sinking three ships.[3] One was Mill Hill, which sank within a few minutes with the loss of all hands.[3]
Replacement ships
Gracechurch was the third of four ships that B.J. Sutherland & Co named Peebles.[1] When Sutherland sold her in 1936, William Doxford & Sons completed a new 4,982-ton cargo ship MV Peebles for Sutherland.[1] She survived the Second World War and in 1951 Sutherland sold her to Westralian Farmers Transport who renamed her Swanstream.[1] In 1957 Westralian sold to J. Manners & Co. of Hong Kong who renamed her San Fernando.[1] In 1965 Manners sold to her to Yong & Lee Timber who renamed her Phoenician Star.[1] She was scrapped at Hong Kong in 1967.[1]
Gracechurch was the first of two ships that Counties Ship Management named Mill Hill. In 1947 CSM bought the 7,219-ton Liberty ship SS Samdon and renamed her SS Mill Hill. Samdon had been built by New England Shipbuilding Corporation of Portland, Maine in 1943.[7] In 1949 she was transferred from CSM to a new Rethymnis and Kulukundis company, London and Overseas Freighters, retaining the name Mill Hill. In 1951 LOF sold her to new owners who renamed her Educator.[5] She was scrapped in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1961.[8]