Cedrington Court

From SN Guides

Introduction

Court Line used the name Cedrington Court for just one ship.

She had a service life of 22 years which was brought to a close by her striking a mine in 1940 and sinking.

Basic Data

• Type: Cargo ship
• Registered owners,managers and operators: The Shipping Controller London (as War Viper)
• Builders: Harland and Wolff Ltd.
• Yard: Belfast
• Country: UK
• Yard number: 531
• Registry: N/K
• Official number: 142323
• Signal letters: N/K
• Call sign: N/K
• Classification society: N/K
• Gross tonnage: 5,160
• Net tonnage: 3,122
• Deadweight: N/K
• Length: 400.4 ft
• Breadth: 52.3 ft
• Depth: 27.4 Ft
• Draught: N/K
• Engines: Triple expansion steam engine
• Engine builders: Harland and Wolff Ltd.
• Works: Belfast
• Country: UK
• Power: N/k
• Propulsion: Single screw
• Speed: 11
• Boilers: N/K
• Cargo capacity:N/K
• Crew: N/K

• Employment: General purpose cargo vessel

Career Highlights

• 14 Feb 1918: Launched as War Viper
• 14 Mar 1918: Completed
• 1919: Sold to Donaldson Line - Managers Donaldson Bros. and renamed Cabotia
• 1925: Acquired by The United British Steamship Co. Ltd. - Managers Haldin and Philips Ltd. and renamed Cedrington Court
• 1936: Owners restyled Court Line Ltd. - same managers
• 7 Jan 1940: Struck a mine and sunk

Pre-War History

No information currently available apart from that Cedrington Court was laid up for some years at Milford Haven during the Depression of the 1930s.

Participation in WW2 Convoys

The data in the following table has been extracted from External Resource #4 which indicates that Cedrington Court participated in 4 convoys.

A key to the routes for these convoys can be found on this page: World War 2 Convoy Names

Sinking

Cedrington Court struck a mine 2 miles North-East of the North Goodwin lightship at position 51.23N/1.35E on 7 Jan 1940 and sank. One source states that she was en route from Buenos Aries to Hull with a cargo of wheat and that the crew were saved. Jevington Court (1) was another Court Line ship in the same convoy; she was unharmed on this occasion but had a similar fate on a later convoy.

According to External resource #5:

The entire crew of 34 of the Queen’s Island-built ship Cedrington Court (5,160 tons) were saved when the vessel sank ten minutes after an explosion off the South-East Coast of England. The only lives lost were those of four monkeys, five canaries, and a cat, all pets of the crew, who had no time to save them. The Cedrington Court was owned by Court Line Ltd., and its port was Hull.

External resources

1. Information extracted from Lloyds Registers by John Powell
2. Norman Middlemiss: Travel of the Tramps - Twenty Tramp Fleets
3. Miramar Ships Index: http://www.miramarshipindex.org.nz
4. Arnold Hague Convoy Database: http://www.convoyweb.org.uk/
5. Belfast Timeline Project

Images

Awaiting an image of this vessel

Contributors

1. Basic research and construction of entry by Benjidog
2. History and basic details by John Powell