SS Empire Beatrice

Empire Beatrice was a 7,046 GRT cargo ship which was built by Lithgows Ltd, Port Glasgow in 1942. She was owned by the Ministry of War Transport (MoWT) and managed by David Alexander & Sons. Although badly damaged during the war, she was repaired and sold into merchant service after the war ended. She served with various shipping companies as Beatrice N, Mary K, Winchester Prowess and Grazia Bottigliere, eventually being scrapped in 1966.

Description

Empire Beatrice was built for the MoWT by Lithgows Ltd, Port Glasgow. She was yard number 978. The ship was launched on 23 February 1942 and completed in April that year. She had a GRT of 7,046, NRT of 4,286 and a DWT of 10,750.

Empire Beatrice was propelled by a triple expansion steam engine which had cylinders of 24½ inches (62 cm), 39 inches (99 cm) and 70 inches (180 cm) diameter and 48 inches (120 cm) stroke. It was built by J G Kincaird Ltd, Greenock and developed 510 horsepower (380 kW). The ship was capable of 10 knots (19 km/h).