Bel type

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The heavy lift standard ships of the "Bel" type belong to the group of Empire ships . They were built in British shipyards during World War II .

details

Against the background of the initially successful German submarine war of World War II, there was a shortage of cargo space on the British side. The British Ministry of Shipping had the construction of ships in the shipbuilding industry in the United Kingdom switched to the construction of standard ships soon after the start of the war . On the part of the Allies it was necessary during the war years to transport many heavy war goods, such as tanks, locomotives or landing craft and other large packages . The design of the "Bel" type was based on the heavy lift ships built before the war at the Armstrong-Whitworth shipyard for the Norwegian shipping company Belships . The "belships" were particularly valuable here. How great the meaning was can be measured by the fact that the term “Belship” became a synonym for heavy lift ships in the Anglo-Saxon-speaking area during the 1930s and 1940s. After the end of the war, the shipping company had to argue with the British authorities about changing the use of the term to heavy lift ships .

Between 1943 and 1947 a total of ten ships were built. Six units were built at the Vickers Armstrongs shipyard in Barrow, the first two ships were 10.67 meters shorter than the subsequent builds and equipped with diesel engines as the propulsion system, they reached a speed of around 12 knots. Four of the Vickers ships received steam turbines , which allowed a speed of around 15 knots. Four more turbo-electric powered ships were built at Greenock Dockyard in Greenock. These also reached a speed of around 15 knots. All ships had three holds with large hatches and a reinforced tank ceiling, three 132-tonne heavy-lift cargo booms and several winches. The ships were prepared for the transport of extremely heavy or particularly bulky loads on deck. The superstructures were arranged three quarters forward, the engine was aft. The ships were used by the Ministry of War Transport .

literature

  • William H. Mitchell, Leonard A. Sawyer: The Empire Ships . A record of British-built and acquired merchant ships during the Second World War. Lloyd's of London Press, London 1990, ISBN 1-85044-275-4 (reprint of Liverpool 1965 edition).