MV Dmitry Donskoy

Dmitry Donskoy was a 5,061-ton German cargo ship which was built in 1943 as Eberhart Essberger. Taken as a British war prize in 1945, she was renamed Empire Ayr. She was allocated to the Soviet Union in 1946 and served until scrapped in 1974.

History
Name:
  • Eberhart Essberger (1943-45)
  • Empire Ayr (1945-46)
  • Dmitry Donskoy (1946-74)
Owner:
  • J T Essberger, Hamburg (1943-45)
  • Ministry of War Transport (1945-46)
  • Baltic Shipping Co, Leningrad (1946-74)
Operator:
  • Owner operated except:-
  • F C Strick & Co Ltd (1945-46)
Port of registry:
  • Hamburg (1943-45)
  • London (1945-46)
  • Leningrad (1946-74)
Builder: Öresundsvarvet, Landskrona
Yard number: 73
Launched: 11 May 1943
Completed: 20 January 1944
Identification:
  • Official Number 180681 (1945-46)
  • Code Letters GNPS (1945-46)
Fate: Scrapped 1974
General characteristics
Tonnage: 5,061 GRT
Length: 438 ft 8 in (133.71 m)
Beam: 57 ft 2 in (17.42 m)
Depth: 29 ft 2 in (8.89 m)
Propulsion: 2 x SCSA diesel engines (A/B Götavarken, Gothenburg) 990 hp (740 kW)
Speed: 10 knots (19 km/h)

History

Eberhart Essberger was built by Öresundsvarvet, Landskrona, and launched on 11 May 1943. She was completed on 20 January 1944.[1] She was built for J T Essberger, Hamburg.[2] Eberhart Essberger participated in Operation Hannibal in January 1945.[3] She was taken as a war prize in Kiel in May 1945 and ownership passed to the British Ministry of War Transport.[2] She operated under the management of F C Strick & Co Ltd.[4] In 1946, 'Empire Ayr' brought the first consignment of 4,000 long tons (4,100 t) of dates to reach Liverpool that year.[5] Later that year, she was allocated to the Soviet Union and renamed Dimtry Donskoy (Дмитря Донскоя).[2] She was operated by the Baltic Shipping Co, Leningrad, and served until she was scrapped in the fourth quarter of 1974.[6]

Official number and code letters

Official Numbers were a forerunner to IMO Numbers.

Empire Ayr had the UK Official Number 180681 and used the Code Letters GNPS[4]

References
  1. "1180681". Miramar Ship Index. Retrieved 22 January 2009.
  2. Mitchell, W H; Sawyer, L A (1995). The Empire Ships. London, New York, Hamburg, Hong Kong: Lloyd's of London Press Ltd. pp. 443–44. ISBN 1-85044-275-4.
  3. "1945 Januar" (in German). WLB Stuttgart. Retrieved 23 January 2008.
  4. "LLOYDS REGISTER, STEAMERS & MOTORSHIPS" (PDF). Plimsoll Ship Data. Retrieved 23 January 2008.
  5. "Sir B. Smith on Fat Supplies". The Times (50408). London. 23 March 1946. col F, p. 4.
  6. "Re: Eduard Esbjerg". Warsailors. Retrieved 23 January 2008.
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