SS Lambridge

History
United Kingdom
Name	Glennevis[1]
Namesake	Glen Nevis, Scotland
Owner	Western Steam Ship Co, Glasgow[2]
Operator	James Gardiner & Co[2]
Port of registry	Glasgow
Builder	Ayrshire Dockyard Company Ltd, Irvine[1]
Yard number	445[3][2]
Launched	2 March 1917[3]
Completed	May 1917[1]
Out of service	1922[2]
Fate	Sold
Name	African Prince[1]
Owner	Rio Cape Line, Ltd.[1]
Operator	Furness Withy[1]
Port of registry	Newcastle upon Tyne
Acquired	1922[2]
Out of service	1936[2]
Identification	code letters JPRN[1] (until 1933) [1] UK official number 137842[1]
Fate	Sold[2]
Name	Pentridge Hill[4]
Namesake	Pentridge Hill, Dorset
Owner	Dorset Steam Ship Company[4]
Operator	Counties Ship Management[4]
Port of registry	London
Acquired	1936[4]
Out of service	1939[5]
Identification	Call sign GQTZ (from 1934) [4] UK Official Number 137842[4]
Fate	Sold
Name	Botlea[5]
Owner	Ministry of War Transport (1939)[5]
Operator	Sir Wm. Reardon Smith & Sons[5] (1939–43 or 44?) Weidner, Hopkins & Co (?–1945)[6]
Port of registry	London
Acquired	1939[5]
Out of service	1939[2]
Identification	Call sign GQTZ (from 1934) [6] UK Official Number 137842[6]
Name	HMS Lambridge (X15)[3][2]
Owner	Admiralty[3]
Operator	Royal Navy[3]
Acquired	1939[2]
In service	1939
Out of service	1941[2]
Name	Lambridge[3][2]
Owner	Admiralty[3]
Port of registry
In service	1941
Out of service	1945[2]
Fate	Scuttled[3][2]
General characteristics
Type	Cargo ship[1]
Tonnage	5,119 GRT[1] tonnage under deck 4,800[1] 3,245 NRT[1]
Length	400.7 feet (122.1 m)[1] p/p
Beam	53.4 feet (16.3 m)[1]
Draught	24 feet 1 inch (7.34 m)[1]
Depth	27.4 feet (8.4 m)[1]
Installed power	510 NHP[1]
Propulsion	3-cylinder triple expansion steam engine; single screw[1]
Speed	10.5 knots (19.4 km/h)[2]

SS Lambridge was a 5,119 GRT UK cargo ship that was built in 1917, gave 28 years of service and was scuttled in 1945.^[3][2] She was launched as Glennevis but changed owners and names a number of times, successively becoming African Prince, Pentridge Hill, Botlea, HMS Lambridge and Lambridge. She was scuttled as part of a programme to dispose of UK stocks of chemical weapons.

The Ayrshire Dockyard Company Ltd. built the ship to the UK Shipping Controller's standard "B" type cargo ship design. She had nine corrugated furnaces with a combined grate area of 119 square feet (11 m²) heating three 180 lb_f/in² single-ended boilers with a combined heating surface of 7,647 square feet (710 m²).^[1] The boilers fed a Dunsmuir and Jackson three-cylinder 510 NHP triple expansion steam engine that drove a single screw propeller.^[1]

The ship was launched in 1917 as Glennevis for the Western Steam Ship Company of Glasgow.^[2] In 1922 she was sold to Furness Withy who renamed her African Prince.^[2] In 1936 she was sold to the Dorset Steamship Company, which renamed her Pentridge Hill.^[4] Dorset SS Co was a London-based company controlled by Counties Ship Management.^[4]

In 1939 she was sold to Sir Wm. Reardon Smith & Sons, Ltd, who renamed her Botlea.^[5] In September and October 1939 she became one of nine merchant ships that the Admiralty acquired to convert into Q-ships.^[2] Botlea was commissioned into the Royal Navy as HMS Lambridge with the pennant number X15. The Q-ships were not successful and from February 1941 she served as the armed merchant cruiser Lambridge.^[3]

After the Second World War the Admiralty used her to dispose of redundant chemical ammunition.^[2] On 30 December 1945 she was scuttled in the North Atlantic beyond the continental shelf, 120 miles (190 km) northwest of Ireland.^[7] Her wreck is at 55°30′N 11°00′W / 55.500°N 11.000°W / 55.500; -11.000 in 8,200 feet (2,500 m) of water.^[7]

Lambridge was one of four redundant cargo ships that the Admiralty used to dispose of chemical ammunition at the same site in the North Atlantic.^[2] The others were Empire Simba on 11 September, Empire Cormorant on 1 October and Wairuna on 30 October.^[2]

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Approximate position of Lambridge's wreck

55°18′N 11°06′W / 55.30°N 11.10°W / 55.30; -11.10