Empire Ballantyne was built by Harland & Wolff Ltd, Glasgow as yard number 1093. She was launched on 21 October 1941 and completed in February 1942.[2] She was built for the MoWT and was to have been operated under the management of W A Souter & Co Ltd, Newcastle upon Tyne.[3] On 15 February 1942 she was transferred to the Régie de la Marine[4] of the Belgian Government and renamed Belgian Airman. She was managed by Compagnie Maritime Belge, Antwerp.[5]
Convoy HX 228 sailed from New York on 28 February 1943 and arrived at Liverpool on 15 March. Belgian Airman was one of the ships that detached from the convoy and proceeded to Halifax, Nova Scotia in order to reduce the size of the convoy to 60 ships.[8]
HX 229A
Convoy HX 229A which from New York on 9 March 1943 and arrived at Liverpool on 26 March. Belgian Airman joined at Halifax on 12 March. During the voyage, Belgian Airman was damaged by ice and diverted to Reykjavík, Iceland. She was carrying a cargo of steel and timber.[9]
SL 136
Convoy SL 136 sailed from Freetown, Sierra Leone on 3 September 1943 and arrived at Liverpool on 23 September. Belgian Airman was destined for Loch Ewe.[10]
The fate of the U-857 is unknown. It disappeared in the Atlantic in April, 1945. One theory is that it was sunk by a US Navy Airship with a Mk 24 FIDO Air-Dropped ASW Homing Torpedo.[14]
Official number and code lettersedit
Official Numbers were a forerunner to IMO Numbers.
Empire Ballantyne had the UK Official Number 168706 and the Code Letters BCHQ were allocated to her.[3]
Referencesedit
^ (in French). Marine Belge. Archived from the original on 6 October 2011. Retrieved 4 March 2009.
^Mitchell, W H, and Sawyer, L A (1995). The Empire Ships. London, New York, Hamburg, Hong Kong: Lloyd's of London Press Ltd. p. 24. ISBN1-85044-275-4.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
^ ab"LLOYDS REGISTER, NAVIRES A VAPEUR ET A MOTEURS" (PDF). Plimsoll Ship Data. Retrieved 3 March 2009.
^ abc (in English and French). Belgian Ships. Archived from the original on 6 June 2009. Retrieved 4 March 2009.
^. Clydesite. Archived from the original on 26 May 2011. Retrieved 4 March 2009.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
^Helgason, Guðmundur. "Modesta". German U-boats of WWII - uboat.net. Retrieved 4 March 2009.
^"CONVOY ON 162". Warsailors. Retrieved 4 March 2009.
^"CONVOY HX 228". Warsailors. Retrieved 4 March 2009.
^"CONVOY HX 229 A". Warsailors. Retrieved 4 March 2009.
^"Convoy SL.136 / MKS.24". Convoyweb. Retrieved 4 March 2009.
^Helgason, Guðmundur. "Belgian Airman". German U-boats of WWII - uboat.net. Retrieved 4 March 2009.
^. Ubootwaffe.net. Archived from the original on 15 February 2012. Retrieved 4 March 2009.
belgian, airman, belgian, airman, cargo, ship, which, built, harland, wolff, glasgow, 1941, ministry, transport, mowt, launched, empire, ballantyne, transferred, belgian, government, 1942, sunk, german, boat, april, 1945, history, nameempire, ballantyne, 1941,. Belgian Airman was a 6 959 ton cargo ship which was built by Harland amp Wolff Ltd Glasgow in 1941 for the Ministry of War Transport MoWT She was launched as Empire Ballantyne and transferred to the Belgian Government in 1942 She was sunk by a German U boat on 14 April 1945 History NameEmpire Ballantyne 1941 42 Belgian Airman 1942 45 OwnerMinistry of War Transport 1941 42 Belgian Government 1942 45 OperatorCompagnie Maritime Belge Antwerp 1942 45 Port of registryGlasgow 1941 42 Antwerp 1942 45 BuilderHarland amp Wolff Ltd Glasgow Yard number1093 Launched21 October 1941 CompletedFebruary 1942 IdentificationUK Official number 168706 1941 42 Code Letters BCQH allocated 1941 42 FateSunk 14 April 1945 General characteristics Tonnage6 959 GRT Length432 ft 2 in 131 72 m Beam56 ft 2 in 17 12 m Depth34 ft 3 in 10 44 m Propulsion2 x 6 cylinder SCSA diesel engines Harland amp Wolff Ltd Glasgow 490 hp 370 kW Complement41 plus 6 DEMS gunners 1 class notpageimage Location of the sinking of Belgian Airman Contents 1 History 2 Sinking 3 Official number and code letters 4 ReferencesHistory editEmpire Ballantyne was built by Harland amp Wolff Ltd Glasgow as yard number 1093 She was launched on 21 October 1941 and completed in February 1942 2 She was built for the MoWT and was to have been operated under the management of W A Souter amp Co Ltd Newcastle upon Tyne 3 On 15 February 1942 she was transferred to the Regie de la Marine 4 of the Belgian Government and renamed Belgian Airman She was managed by Compagnie Maritime Belge Antwerp 5 On 25 April 1942 Belgian Airman rescued 23 survivors from the 3 841 GRT SS Modesta which had been torpedoed and sunk by U 108 at 33 40 N 63 10 W 33 667 N 63 167 W 33 667 63 167 SS Modesta The survivors were landed in Bermuda 6 Belgian Airman was a member of a number of convoys during the Second World War ON 162 Convoy ON 162 sailed from Liverpool on 12 January 1943 and arrived at New York on 11 February Belgian Airman was carrying the Commodore Captain H C Birnie RNR 7 HX 228 Convoy HX 228 sailed from New York on 28 February 1943 and arrived at Liverpool on 15 March Belgian Airman was one of the ships that detached from the convoy and proceeded to Halifax Nova Scotia in order to reduce the size of the convoy to 60 ships 8 HX 229A Convoy HX 229A which from New York on 9 March 1943 and arrived at Liverpool on 26 March Belgian Airman joined at Halifax on 12 March During the voyage Belgian Airman was damaged by ice and diverted to Reykjavik Iceland She was carrying a cargo of steel and timber 9 SL 136 Convoy SL 136 sailed from Freetown Sierra Leone on 3 September 1943 and arrived at Liverpool on 23 September Belgian Airman was destined for Loch Ewe 10 Sinking editOn 8 April 1945 Belgian Airman departed Houston bound for New York and Antwerp 4 She was carrying a cargo of sorghum and dairy feed 11 At 15 50 CET 12 on 14 April 1945 Belgian Airman was torpedoed and sunk off Chesapeake Bay Maryland 36 09 N 75 05 W 36 150 N 75 083 W 36 150 75 083 Her attacker was U 857 13 One crew member was killed The 46 survivors were rescued by the Liberty ship SS Harold A Jordan The survivors were landed at New York 4 The fate of the U 857 is unknown It disappeared in the Atlantic in April 1945 One theory is that it was sunk by a US Navy Airship with a Mk 24 FIDO Air Dropped ASW Homing Torpedo 14 Official number and code letters editOfficial Numbers were a forerunner to IMO Numbers Empire Ballantyne had the UK Official Number 168706 and the Code Letters BCHQ were allocated to her 3 References edit M S Belgian Airman in French Marine Belge Archived from the original on 6 October 2011 Retrieved 4 March 2009 Mitchell W H and Sawyer L A 1995 The Empire Ships London New York Hamburg Hong Kong Lloyd s of London Press Ltd p 24 ISBN 1 85044 275 4 a href Template Cite book html title Template Cite book cite book a CS1 maint multiple names authors list link a b LLOYDS REGISTER NAVIRES A VAPEUR ET A MOTEURS PDF Plimsoll Ship Data Retrieved 3 March 2009 a b c ss BELGIAN AIRMAN in English and French Belgian Ships Archived from the original on 6 June 2009 Retrieved 4 March 2009 Launched 1941 mv EMPIRE BALLANTYNE Clydesite Archived from the original on 26 May 2011 Retrieved 4 March 2009 a href Template Cite web html title Template Cite web cite web a CS1 maint unfit URL link Helgason Gudmundur Modesta German U boats of WWII uboat net Retrieved 4 March 2009 CONVOY ON 162 Warsailors Retrieved 4 March 2009 CONVOY HX 228 Warsailors Retrieved 4 March 2009 CONVOY HX 229 A Warsailors Retrieved 4 March 2009 Convoy SL 136 MKS 24 Convoyweb Retrieved 4 March 2009 Helgason Gudmundur Belgian Airman German U boats of WWII uboat net Retrieved 4 March 2009 Ship Details Belgian Airman Ubootwaffe net Archived from the original on 15 February 2012 Retrieved 4 March 2009 Some sources state that she was sunk by U 879 Helgason Gudmundur U 857 German U boats of WWII uboat net Retrieved 12 March 2009 36 9 N 74 5 W 36 150 N 74 083 W 36 150 74 083 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title MV Belgian Airman amp oldid 1214333960, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
