HMT Eastern Prince
From Our Contribution
 | |
 renamed Empirre Medway | |
| History | |
|---|---|
| Name | HMT Eastern Prince |
| Owner | Prince Line Ltd - Furness, Withy & Co Ltd |
| Builder | Napier & Miller Ltd, Glasgow |
| Yard number | 266 |
| Launched | 29 Jan 1929 |
| Completed | June 1929 |
| In service | 1929 |
| Out of service | 1952 |
| Fate | broken up 25 Nov 1952 at Faslane |
| General characteristics | |
| Type | Passenger / refrigerated cargo |
| Tonnage | 10,926 tons |
| Length | 514 ft (156.67m) |
| Beam | 64 ft 11 in (19.79m) |
| Depth | 35 ft 4 in (10.77m) |
| Propulsion | Twin screw |
| Speed | 16.5 knots (30.56 km/h) |
| Capacity | 2,150 troops |
Remarks
Built for the Prince Line, in 1932 she rescued the crew of D. Falangas's Artemis which had run aground off Bahia. During 1940 she made seven round trips between the UK and Canada with children and civilian personnel before being converted into a troopship at Liverpool on 20th-21st Dec 1940. During conversion she was damaged by German bombers but was commissioned for 1200 men in the following June. In 1943 she was refitted at Baltimore when US standee bunks were installed and her capacity increased to 2150 men.
Used as a floating hotel for British and American delegates to the Yalta Conference. To Minitry of Transport in 1946, but not renamed 'Empire Medway' until 1950 when Furness, Withy wished to use her name for a new ship. She was involved in a collision with HMT Empire Ken in Valletta Harbour, Malta in 1951. Scrapped in 1953 at Faslane.