Stan Mayes

 

17. Conakrian

This page describes Stan’s account of his voyages on the ship. There is a history of Conakrian with photographs on the Benjidog website HERE.

Voyages on Conakrian

 

15th April 1945 Conakrian was in convoy ATM 125 - Antwerp for London when she was heavily damaged by a mine exploding below No 4 hold. She was towed to Tilbury Docks and discharged her cargo.

 

She was then laid up until 18th June 1945 when I joined her with a 'run crew' with the intention of being towed to the Tyne where she would be repaired.

 

Off Southend we received orders to anchor the ship which we did and a few days later we the 'run crew' left the ship - only some officers and engineers remained.

 

Conakrian remained at anchor off Southend until 23rd December 1945 and then left under tow for the Tyne, arriving Christmas Day..

Basic Data: Conakrian

Type: Cargo ship

Registered owners, managers and operators:

Elmina Ltd.

United Africa Co Ltd. Managers

Builders: Furness Steam Boat Co. Ltd.          

Yard: Haverton Hill on Tees

Country: UK

Yard number: 272

Registry: Freetown, Sierra Leone

Official number: 157536

Signal letters: N/K

Call sign: VPTN

Classification society: N/K

Gross tonnage: 4,344 tons

Net tonnage: 2,778

Deadweight: N/K

Length: 422.5 Feet

Overall Length: 438.3 Feet

Breadth: 56.7 Feet

Depth: 23.6 Feet

Draught: N/K

Engines: Triple expansion steam engine

Cylinder diameter: 23”, 38”, 65”

Cylinder stroke: 45”

Engine builders: N.E Marine Engineering Co. Ltd.

Works: Newcastle

Country: UK

Boilers: 2 single-ended and 1 auxiliary single ended boilers, 220 psi

Power:   456 NHP

Propulsion: Single screw

Speed: 10 knots

Crew: N/K