The type of ship was designed as a necklace for coastal service between the English coalfields and power stations. The deck layout of the ships as Raised Quarter Decker was typical for Colliers of those years. Behind the forecastle , a deep main deck joined the forward cargo hold . Behind it, a little further forward than amidships , was the forward deckhouse with the bridge. Behind the bridge superstructure was the rear cargo hold, the weather deck of which was built higher than the front. Behind it was a raised poop that housed the crew. The engine room was aft and a triple expansion steam engine served as the propulsion system . With a length of around 85 meters and a width of 12.19 meters, the units had a load capacity of around 2900 tons. The construction of the series lasted from 1941 to 1946, with the three units completed by John Crown & Sons at the end of the war received a self-trimming cargo space. All units were given names beginning with the term Empire .
In the post-war period, the ships were used by various shipping companies, mainly in European timber and bulk cargo shipping.
The ships
Icemaid type
Building name
Shipyard / construction number
delivery
Later names and whereabouts
Empire Ghyll
Grangemouth / -
1941
ran into a sea mine near Barrow Deep on October 18, 1941 and sank
Empire Lagoon
Grangemouth / -
1941
1946 Hudson Bay , scrapped in Blyth in 1964
Empire Clansman
Grangemouth / -
1942
1948 Sheaf Field , 1952 Corfield , 1964 Spyros Armenakis , ran aground off Vlissingen on February 13, 1965, broken in two and sunk
Empire Hearth
Grangemouth / -
1942
1945 Kentwood , 1956 Mayfleet , scrapped in Eire in 1961
Empire Pioneer
Ailsa / 443
Late 1942
1946 Hudson Bank , 1959 conversion to the motor ship Gertrud C. Ertel , 1964 Saga , ran aground on December 24, 1965 near Falsterbo, dismantled in July 1968 and scrapped in Oskarshamn from August 1968
Empire Citizen
Grangemouth / -
1943
1945 Queenworth , scrapped in Dunston in 1960
Empire Islander
Grangemouth / 450
August 1943
1949 Rattray Head , 1960 Brick Quarto in Vado Scali e Bacini in October 1973 from Vado Ligure canceled
