SS Maudie Maudie was a 4 , 661 GRT tanker that was built in 1920 by Lithgows , Port Glasgow , Scotland . Laid down as War Peshwa for the British Shipping Controller , she was completed as " Maudie " for a Norwegian company . In 1937 , she was sold to Finland and renamed Angra . A further sale in 1942 saw her renamed Mercator . She was seized by Germany in 1944 and then seized by the United Kingdom as a prize of war , passing to the Ministry of War Transport ( MoWT ) as Empire Crouch . In 1946 , she was returned to her Finnish owner and regained her former name " Mercator " . A sale in 1956 saw her renamed Ruth Nurminen . She served until scrapped in 1959 . Description . The ship was built in 1920 by Lithgows Ltd , Port Glasgow . She was Yard Number 725 . The ship was long , with a beam of . As built , she had a depth of , and a draught of . She was assessed at 4 , 661 GRT . 2 , 757 NRT . The ship was propelled by a 2 , 650 nhp triple expansion steam engine . , which had cylinders of , and diameter by stroke . The engine was built by Rankin & Blackmore , Greenock . It drove a single screw propeller and could propel the ship at . She was assessed as Ice Class IIA . History . Laid down as " War Peshwa " for the British Shipping Controller , she was launched as " Maudie " on 30 July 1920 . " Maudie " was a whale oil refinery ship , she was owned by A / S Hvalen , Tønsberg , Norway and operated under the management of N Bugge . The Code Letters LBDM were allocated . In 1929 , she was sold to A / S Hektor , Tonsberg . On 9 January 1937 , " Maudie " was sold to Rederi AB Atlanta - Laivanvarustaja OY Atlanta , Helsinki . Her port of registry was Helsinki . The Code Letters OFAJ and Finnish Official Number 804 were allocated . Converted to a dry cargo ship , she was operated under the management of Birger Krogius , Helsinki until 1938 . On 14 January , she was renamed " Angra " . On 5 February , she arrived at Turku for conversion to a cargo ship by OY Chrichton - Vulcan AB . In 1942 , " Angra " was sold to AB Finland — Amerika Linjen OY ( Finland America Line ) and renamed " Mercator " , in place of an earlier ship of that name which had been sunk by enemy action on 1 December 1939 . Her draught was assessed as On 2 September 1944 , " Mercator " was loading coal at Danzig when Germany broke off relations with Finland . Loading was stopped and her cargo was discharged on 5 September . She attempted to leave Danzig on 12 September but was prevented from doing so . On 16 September , " Mercator " was seized by Germany , passing to the Kriegsmarine on 24 September . Her crew were interned at Stutthof until May 1945 . On 16 October 1944 , Mercator was placed under the ownership of Atlas Reederi AG . She was placed under the management of Schulte & Bruns , Emden . Her draught was assessed as . The Code Letters DKML were allocated . These were later changed to DVQB . " Mercator " was seized in May 1945 at Copenhagen , Denmark . On 11 September , she was brought before the Prize Court as a prize of war . " Mercator " was passed to the MoWT and renamed " Empire Crouch " . In 1946 , she was chartered to the Finnish Government and renamed " Mercator " . She was reallocated her former Official Number and Code Letters . " Mercator " was operated by her former owners , to whom she was returned in 1948 . " Mercator " was assessed as 4 , 748 GRT , 2 , 740 NRT , with her draught assessed as . In 1951 , " Mercator " was sold to Suomen Höyrylaiva OY — Finska Ångfartygs AB ( Finsk Line ) , Helsinki . In 1955 , her draught was reassessed as In 1957 , she was sold to John Nurminen OY , Helsinki , and was renamed " Ruth Nurminen " . She was assessed as 4 , 631 GRT , with a depth of . " Ruth Nurminen " served until 1959 , arriving on 4 April at Yokohama , Japan for scrapping .