Dorington Court (4)

From SN Guides

Introduction

Court Line used the name Dorington Court for five ships:

• Dorington Court (1) - a cargo ship completed in 1908
• Dorington Court (2) - a cargo ship completed in 1915
• Dorington Court (3) - a cargo ship completed in 1939
• Dorington Court (4) - a cargo ship completed in 1940 and originally named Empire Meteor
• Dorington Court (5) - a cargo ship completed in 1957

Dorington Court (4) had a service life of 21 years during which she served in a large number of WW2 convoys. After the war she changed hands on a number of occasions and was sent for scrap after running aground and being declared a total loss in 1961.

Basic Data

• Type: Cargo ship
• Registered owners,managers and operators: Ministry of War Transport (MOWT) - Managers Mungo Campbell & Co. Ltd.
• Builders: Joseph .L.Thompson & Sons Ltd.
• Yard: Dundee
• Country: UK
• Yard number: 602
• Registry: N/K
• Official number: 168661
• Signal letters: N/K
• Call sign: N/K
• Classification society: N/K
• Gross tonnage: 7,483
• Net tonnage: 4,517
• Deadweight: N/K
• Length: 426 ft
• Breadth: 59.9 ft
• Depth: 35 ft
• Draught: N/K
• Engines: 3 cylinder triple expansion steam engine
• Engine builders: George Clark (1938) Ltd.
• Works: Sunderland
• Country: UK
• Power: N/K
• Propulsion: Single screw
• Speed: 10 knots
• Cargo capacity: N/K
• Crew: N/K

Career Highlights

• 3 Sep 1940: Launched as Empire Meteor
• Dec 1940: Completed
• 1946: Acquired by the United British Steam Ship Co. Ltd. - Managers Haldin & Phillipps Ltd.) and renamed Dorington Court
• 1947: Owners restyled Court Line Ltd. - Managers Haldin & Co. Ltd.
• 1956: Sold to INSA Soc de Nav. Genoa, Italy and renamed Giada
• 1960: Sold to Phoebus D Kyprianou, Beirut, Lebanon and renamed Sheikh
• 2 Oct 1961: Ran ashore and became a total loss and sold for scrap

Service during WW2 convoys as Empire Meteor

The data in the following table has been extracted from External Resource #4. Dorington Court (4) Court took part in 77 convoys.

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

Service post WW2

No information is available apart from the changes in name and ownership shown in the Career Highlights section.

Dorington Court (4) ran ashore at Kita Daito Jima (25.50N/131.15E) and broke in two on 2.10.61. She was a total lost and sent for scrap.

External resources

1. Information extracted from Lloyds Registers
2. Norman Middlemiss: Travel of the Tramps - Twenty Tramp Fleets ISBN: 1871128021
3. Miramar Ship Index: [1]
4. Convoyweb (Arnold Hague Convoy Database): [2]

Images

To date no photo of this ship has been identified. If any reader has one, please contact SN member Benjidog so it can be added to this entry.

Main Contributors

1. Basic information from John Powell and Clive Ketley
2. Additional research and construction of page by Benjidog