Dmitry Donskoy was a 5,061-ton German cargo ship which was built in 1943 as Eberhart Essberger. Taken as a British war prize in 1945, she was renamed Empire Ayr. She was allocated to the Soviet Union in 1946 and served until scrapped in 1974.

History
Name
  • Eberhart Essberger (1943-45)
  • Empire Ayr (1945-46)
  • Dmitry Donskoy (1946-74)
Owner
  • J T Essberger, Hamburg (1943-45)
  • Ministry of War Transport (1945-46)
  • Baltic Shipping Co, Leningrad (1946-74)
Operator
  • Owner operated except:-
  • F C Strick & Co Ltd (1945-46)
Port of registry
  • Nazi Germany Hamburg (1943-45)
  • United Kingdom London (1945-46)
  • Soviet Union Leningrad (1946-74)
BuilderÖresundsvarvet, Landskrona
Yard number73
Launched11 May 1943
Completed20 January 1944
Identification
FateScrapped 1974
General characteristics
Tonnage5,061 GRT
Length438 ft 8 in (133.71 m)
Beam57 ft 2 in (17.42 m)
Depth29 ft 2 in (8.89 m)
Propulsion2 x SCSA diesel engines (A/B Götavarken, Gothenburg) 990 hp (740 kW)
Speed10 knots (19 km/h)

History

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Eberhart Essberger was built by Öresundsvarvet, Landskrona, and launched on 11 May 1943. She was completed on 20 January 1944.[1] She was built for J T Essberger, Hamburg.[2] Eberhart Essberger participated in Operation Hannibal in January 1945.[3] She was taken as a war prize in Kiel in May 1945 and ownership passed to the British Ministry of War Transport.[2] She operated under the management of F C Strick & Co Ltd.[4] In 1946, 'Empire Ayr' brought the first consignment of 4,000 long tons (4,100 t) of dates to reach Liverpool that year.[5] Later that year, she was allocated to the Soviet Union and renamed Dimtry Donskoy (Дмитрий Донской).[2] She was operated by the Baltic Shipping Co, Leningrad, and served until she was scrapped in the fourth quarter of 1974.[6]

Official Number and code letters

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Official Numbers were a forerunner to IMO Numbers.

Empire Ayr had the UK Official Number 180681 and used the Code Letters GNPS[4]

References

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  1. ^ "1180681". Miramar Ship Index. Retrieved 22 January 2009.
  2. ^ a b c Mitchell, W H; Sawyer, L A (1995). The Empire Ships. London, New York, Hamburg, Hong Kong: Lloyd's of London Press Ltd. pp. 443–44. ISBN 1-85044-275-4.
  3. ^ "1945 Januar" (in German). WLB Stuttgart. Retrieved 23 January 2008.
  4. ^ a b "LLOYDS REGISTER, STEAMERS & MOTORSHIPS" (PDF). Plimsoll Ship Data. Retrieved 23 January 2008.
  5. ^ "Sir B. Smith on Fat Supplies". The Times. No. 50408. London. 23 March 1946. col F, p. 4.
  6. ^ "Re: Eduard Esbjerg". Warsailors. Retrieved 23 January 2008.