Dorington Court (2)

From SN Guides

Introduction

Court Line has used the name Dorington Court for five ships:

1. Dorington Court (1) - a cargo ship completed in 1908
2. Dorington Court (2) - a cargo ship completed in 1915 - the topic of this article
3. Dorington Court (3) - a cargo ship completed in 1939
4. Dorington Court (4) - a cargo ship completed in 1940 and originally named Empire Meteor
5. Dorington Court (5) - a cargo ship completed in 1957

Basic Data

• Type: Cargo ship
• Registered owners,managers and operators: Cressington Steamship Co. Ltd. - Managers Haldinstein & Co. Ltd.
• Builders: Richardson Duck & Co. Ltd.
• Yard: Stockton-on-Tees
• Country: UK
• Yard number: 644
• Registry: N/K
• Official number: 136786
• Signal letters: N/K
• Call sign: N/K
• Classification society: N/K
• Gross tonnage: 4,777
• Net tonnage: 3,019
• Deadweight: N/K
• Length: 389.6 ft
• Breadth: 53.4 ft
• Depth: 26.4 Ft
• Draught: N/K
• Engines: Triple expansion steam engine
• Engine builders: Blair & Co.Ltd.
• Works: Stockton-on-Tees
• Country: UK
• Power: N/K
• Propulsion: Single screw
• Speed: 10 knots
• Boilers: N/K
• Cargo capacity:N/K
• Crew: N/K

• Employment: General purpose cargo vessel

Career Highlights

• 29 Dec 1914: Launched
• Feb 1915: Completed
• 1915: Managers restyled Haldin & Co. Ltd.
• 1920: Owners restyled The United British Steam Ship Co. Ltd. - same managers
• 1936: Owners restyled Court Line Ltd. - same managers
• 1937: Sold to Alpha Steamship Co. Ltd. London and renamed Laleham
• 1937: Sold to Hohs. Fritzen & Sohn vorm W Kuntsmann, Stettin, Germany and renamed Harm Fritzen
• 1 Mar 1948: Scuttled

Service in WW1

No information currently available

Service between WW1 and WW2

No information is available apart from ownership changes and that Dorington Court (2) was laid up in the Tyne for a number of years during the depression in the 1930s (External resource #3).

Service as Harm Fritzen During WW2

In an interesting twist to the fate of many of the Court Line ships described in the Directory, a ship that was British was serving the Germans as Harm Fritzen.

External resource #4 Reports a hit by the British T1 class submarine Taku:

12 Feb 44, torpedoed and heavily damaged the German merchant Harm Fritzen (4818 GRT) off Stavanger, Norway. The ship was beached to prevent it sinking, later salvaged. This needs corroboration as the GRT does not match with that recorded - though it could have changed since launch time.

Sinking

According to External resource #1 she was scuttled on 1 March 1948 at position 47.55N/8.58W - this is about 190 miles West of Cape Finisterre in France.

External resource #5 is a risk assessment of ships that were scuttled in the Skaggarak at the end of WW2. In the appendices are listed the "gas ships" that were sunk and their position. It includes the Harm Fritzen and gives its location as - 47°55N 08°58W which corresponds exactly with the information in External resource #1.

It is concluded that the ship was loaded with dangerous chemical ammunition and sunk to dispose of it. The fact that regular checks are still made suggest that this is going to be an ongoing problem.

External resources

1. Miramar Ship Index: Miramar
2. Information extracted from Lloyds Registers by John Powell
3. Norman Middlemiss: Travel of the Tramps - Twenty Tramp Fleets
4. Briish Submarines of World War 2 website: British Submarines of WW2
5. 2002 report on ships loaded with chemical weapons scuttled in the Skaggarak: [http://home.cogeco.ca/~gchalcraft/sm/index.htm}

Images

Awaiting an image of this vessel

Contributors

1. Initial information provided by Clive Ketley
2. Additional research, including final fate, and construction of entry by Benjidog
3. Additional information from John Powell