Gisela L M Russ was a 1,175 GRT
cargo ship that was built in 1922 by
Stettiner Oderwerke AG,
Stettin,
Germany for German owners. She was seized by the Allies in May 1945, passed to the
Ministry of War Transport (MoWT) and was renamed
Empire Consort. In 1946, she was sold to the
Greek Government and renamed
Volos and then sold and renamed
Marios II in 1948. She served until she sank in 1959 following a boiler explosion.
Description The ship was built in 1922 by
Stettiner Oderwerke AG,
Stettin.
[1]
The ship was 230 feet 9 inches (70.33 m) long, with a beam of 36 feet 4 inches (11.07 m) and a depth of 14 feet 6 inches (4.42 m). The ship had a GRT of 1,771 and a NRT of 785.
[2] She had a DWT of 2,105.
[3]
The ship was propelled by a
triple expansion steam engine, which had cylinders of 17
1⁄
2 inches (44 cm), 27
1⁄
2 inches (70 cm) and diameter by 43
3⁄
16 inches (109.7 cm) stroke. The engine was built by Stettiner Oderwerke.
[2] It could propel the ship at 9 knots (17 km/h).
[4]
History Gisela L M Russ was built for Ernst Russ,
Hamburg.
[1] Her port of registry was Hamburg and the
Code Letters RDHJ were allocated.
[2] Little is known of her merchant career, although it is recorded that she delivered 360 tonnes of mixed freight to
Barcelona,
Spain in March 1929.
[5] In 1934, her Code Letters were changed to DHJB.
[6]
Gisela L M Russ was seized by the Allies in May 1945 at
Flensburg. Ownership passed to the MoWT and she was renamed
Empire Consistence.
[1] She was delivered to the
United Kingdom on 23 June 1945.
[3] Her port of registry was changed to
London. The Code Letters GFVC and United Kingdom Official Number 180605 were allocated. She was placed under the management of the Springwell Steamship Co Ltd.
[7] In 1946,
Empire Consort was sold to the
Greek Government. She was renamed
Volos. In 1948, she was sold to M A Karageorgis and renamed
Marios II. On 19 February 1959, she suffered a boiler explosion whilst on a voyage from
Stratoni to
Piraeus. Although taken in tow, she sank at
38°35′N 24°21′E.
[1]
References