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History
Name	Weserstrand (1944-45); Empire Gala (1945-46); Podolsk (1946-48);
Owner	Norddeutscher Lloyd (1944-45); Ministry of War Transport (1945-46); Soviet Government (1946-48);
Operator	Norddeutscher Lloyd (1944-45); France, Fenwick, Tyne & Wear Co. Ltd (1945-46); Soviet Government (1946-48);
Port of registry	Bremen, Germany (1944-45); London, United Kingdom (1945-46); Soviet Union (1946-48);
Builder	NV Nederland Scheepsbouw Maatschappij
Yard number	354
Launched	1 July 1944
In service	March 1945
Out of service	9 January 1948
Identification	United Kingdom Official Number 180584 (1945-46); Code Letters GJFW (1945-46); ;
Fate	Sank
General characteristics
Class and type	Hansa A type Cargo ship
Tonnage	1,923 GRT, 935 NRT, 3,100 DWT
Length	85.85 m (281 ft 8 in)
Beam	13.51 m (44 ft 4 in)
Depth	4.80 m (15 ft 9 in)
Installed power	Compound steam engine, 1,200IHP
Speed	10.5 knots (19.4 km/h)

Podolsk (Russian: Подольск) was a Hansa A Type cargo ship which was built as Weserstrand in 1944 by NV Nederland Scheepsbouw Maatschappij, Amsterdam, Netherlands for Norddeutscher Lloyd. She was seized as a prize of war in 1945, passing to the Ministry of War Transport and renamed Empire Gala. She was allocated to the Soviet Union in 1946, she was renamed Podolsk. She served until 1948 when she ran aground in the Yangtze and sank

Description

The ship was 85.85 m (281 ft 8 in) long, with a beam of 13.51 m (44 ft 4 in). She had a depth of 4.80 m (15 ft 9 in). She was assessed as 1,923 GRT, 935 NRT,^[1] 3,100 DWT.^[2]

The ship was propelled by a compound steam engine, which had two cylinders of 42 cm (169⁄16 inches) and two cylinders of 90 cm (357⁄16 inches) diameter by 90 cm (357⁄16 inches) stroke. The engine was built by Werkspoor NV, Amsterdam.^[1] Rated at 1,200IHP, it drove a single screw propeller and could propel the ship at 10.5 knots (19.4 km/h).^[2]

History

Weserstrand was a Hansa A Type cargo ship built in 1944 as yard number 354 by NV Nederland Scheepsbouw Maatschappij, Amsterdam, North Holland, Netherlands for Norddeutscher Lloyd.^[2]^[3] Launched on 1 July 1944, she was completed by Rickmers Werft, Bremerhaven, Germany in March 1945.^[2] Her port of registry was Bremen.^[3]

In May 1945, Weserstrand was seized as a prize of war at Kiel. She was passed to the Ministry of War Transport. She was renamed Empire Gala.^[3] The Code Letters GJFW and United Kingdom Official Number 180604 were allocated. Her port of registry was London and she was operated under the management of France, Fenwick, Tyne & Wear Co. Ltd.^[1]

In 1946, Empire Gage was allocated to the Soviet Union and was renamed Podolsk. She served until 9 January 1948, when she ran aground on the Amherst Rocks, in the Yangtze 60 nautical miles (110 km) from Wusong, China. Podolsk sank on 11 January.^[3]

References

^ ^a ^b ^c "Lloyd's Register, Navires a Vapeur et a Moteurs" (PDF). Lloyd's List. Lloyd's of London. 1945. Retrieved 29 May 2020.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d "Weserstrand (Ty.)" (in Danish). J Marcussen. Retrieved 29 May 2020.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Mitchell, W H, and Sawyer, L A (1995). The Empire Ships. London, New York, Hamburg, Hong Kong: Lloyd's of London Press Ltd. p. not cited. ISBN 1-85044-275-4.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)