Framlington Court (1)

From SN Guides

Image 1:

Introduction

Court Line used the name Framlington Court for three ships:

1. Framlington Court (1) - a cargo ship completed in 1911 - the topic of this article
2. Framlington Court (2) - a cargo ship completed in 1924
3. Framlington Court (3) - a cargo ship completed in 1952

She was finally sunk by a submarine during WW2 after a service life of 33 years during which she served in both World Wars.

Basic Data

• Type: Cargo ship
• Registered owners,managers and operators: The Framlington Syndicate Ltd. Managers Haldinstien and Co
• Builders: R.& W.Hawthorn Leslie & Co.Ltd.
• Yard: Hebburn, Newcastle
• Country: UK
• Yard number:438
• Registry: N/K
• Official number: 129188
• Signal letters: N/K
• Call sign: N/K
• Classification society: N/K
• Gross tonnage: 4,158
• Net tonnage: 2,592
• Deadweight: N/K
• Length: 375.7 ft
• Breadth: 51.3 ft
• Depth: 24.3 Ft
• Draught: N/K
• Engines: Triple expansion steam engine
• Engine builders: Blair & Co.Ltd.
• Works: Stockton
• Country: UK
• Power: 385 nhp
• Propulsion: Single screw
• Speed: 10 knots
• Boilers: N/K
• Cargo capacity:N/K
• Crew: N/K

• Employment: General purpose cargo vessel

Career Highlights

• 16/3/11: Launched by R.& W.Hawthorn Leslie & Co.Ltd. l
• April 1911: Completed
• 1915: Managers restyled Haldin and Co. Ltd.
• 05/07/16: Requisitioned for war service
• 1922: Sold to L.Boyazidez & Co. Ltd. Andros, Greece and renamed Cleanthis
• 1935: Sold to Th.L. Boyazides
• 1939: Sold to Pindos Steamship Co.Ltd. Andros Greece
• 30/11/42: Torpedoed off Inhambane, East Africa.

Pre-WW1 History

No information currently available.

Service in WW1

• R.N.Collier No.1205 from 5/7/16 - 12/3/17
• Italian Govt. Service16/10/17 - 14/12/17 and 03/04/18 - 03/08/18
• Transport of wheat from River Plate up to 25/12/18

Service between WW1 and WW2

No information currently available apart from changes in name and ownership

The name Cleanthis is of ancient Greek origin:

According to Erasmus's work Adagia (London,1550):

The first to dedicate a work on the collection of proverbs was Aristotle. After him came Chrysippos, Zenodotus, and Cleanthis.

Participation in WW2 Convoys as Cleanthis

The data in the following table has been extracted from External Resource #5.

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

Sinking

According to External Resource #6, Cleanthis was attacked on 30 Nov 1942 by U-181 at position 24.29S, 35.44E en route from Aden to Durban with a cargo of ballast.

At 05.31 hours on 30 Nov, 1942, the unescorted Cleanthis was shelled by U-181 about 200 miles northeast of Lourenço Marques. The ship had been spotted 4 hours earlier and missed by two G7e torpedoes at 05.11 hours. The U-boat scored about 70 hits with 80 rounds from the deck gun and fired its last round from 400 metres into the waterline. At 06.55 hours, the burning ship sank after holes were fired into the stern with the 20mm AA gun. The survivors had abandoned ship in the last intact lifeboat. The master and eleven crew members were lost.

Out of a complement of 34 there were 12 dead and 22 survivors.

Names of those lost are not known and as the ship was under Greek ownership, no information is held by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission.

External resources

1. Information extracted from Lloyds Registers by John Powell
2. Norman Middlemiss: Travel of the Tramps - Twenty Tramp Fleets ISBN: 1871128021
3. Miramar Ships Index: http://www.miramarshipindex.org.nz
4. Sharkhunters International website: http://www.sharkhunters.com/historya.htm
5. Arnold Hague Convoy Database: http://www.convoyweb.org.uk/
6. Uboat.net: http://uboat.net/allies/merchants/2479.html

Images

1. Photo emailed to Benjidog - original provenance unknown. (There is a similar photo on External Resource #6)

(Anyone with a better photo is requested to add it to this entry or to send a PM to SN Member Benjidog)

Contributors

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