SS Noemijulia Noemijulia was a cargo ship built in 1895 as Barlby by Sir R Ropner & Sons Ltd , Stockton - on - Tees , County Durham , England , for their own use . She was sold to Greece in 1926 and renamed Noemi . In 1930 , she was sold to a British company and renamed " Noemijulia " . Questions about the manner of her operation were raised in the British Parliament in 1935 , and she was attacked by Spanish Nationalist aircraft in 1937 off Cape de Creus . In 1940 , she was sold to Panama , followed by a sale to Ireland in 1941 and renaming to Irish Hazel . She was requisitioned in 1943 by the British Ministry of War Transport ( MoWT ) and renamed Empire Don , In 1945 , she was returned to her previous owners and renamed " Irish Hazel " . Sold in 1949 and renamed Uman , she served until 1960 when she ran aground and was wrecked . Construction and design . " Noemijulia " , originally named " Barlby " , was built in 1895 by Ropner & Son Ltd , Stockton - on - Tees , County Durham . " Barlby " was built for R Ropner & Co Ltd , West Hartlepool . Yard number 312 , she was launched on 4 October 1895 and completed in November . The United Kingdom Official Number 99728 was allocated . " Barlby " was long , with a beam of . She had a depth of and a draught of . As built , she was assessed at 2 , 489 GRT , 1 , 559 NRT . Her DWT was 3 , 750 . The vessel was propelled by a 224 nhp triple expansion steam engine , which had cylinders of , and diameter by stroke . The engine was built by Blair & Co . Ltd . of Stockton on Tees . It drove a screw propeller and could propel the ship at . Service history . Early history . On 8 October 1924 , " Barlby " departed from Dakar , Senegal for Bordeaux , France . A week after departure , the entire crew of " Barlby " were struck down by malaria . The British steamship rendezvoused with her at and placed a crew on board in order to return her to Dakar . In 1926 , " Barlby " was sold to D A Mango , Piraeus , Greece and renamed " Noemi " . The Code Letters JGMC were allocated . In 1930 , " Noemi " was sold to the Noemijulia Steamship Co Ltd , London and renamed " Noemijulia " . She was operated under the management of W G Walton Ltd , London . Her port of registry was London . She regained her Official Number 99728 and the Code Letters GSJD were allocated . In 1935 , management passed to S Catsell Ltd . In July 1935 , questions were asked in Parliament by Vice - Admiral Campbell as to the number of British subjects working on board " Noemijulia " and their rates of pay . In reply , the President of the Board of Trade , Leslie Burgin replied that there was only one British subject on board the ship , and he was paid £7 per month . The ship had not visited the United Kingdom since her transfer from the Greek to the British Flag in 1930 , and had not been inspected since 1930 . On 16 October , " Noemijulia " ran aground in the Danube at Brăila , Romania . She was refloated on 18 October . On 16 November 1935 , she ran aground in the Brăiţa River , Romania , some from the mouth of the river . She was refloated on 18 November and sailed to Sulina for inspection . In November 1935 , the operation of " Noemijulia " was again raised in Parliament . George Oliver asked whether the Board of Trade was aware that " Noemijulias " radio installation was defective , and what measures were being taken to correct this . Leslie Burgin replied that the Board was aware , and had requested that the ship be detained should she visit certain countries which had adopted the 1929 Safety Convention , but so far she had not docked at any port belonging to one of the signatories . In January 1936 , " Noemijulia " arrived at Antwerp , Belgium , where she was detained . She was still detained in March as the defects in her radio and other defects had not been remedied . Spanish Civil War . On 23 August 1937 , " Noemijulia " was on a voyage from Marseilles , Bouches - du - Rhône , France to Barcelona , Spain when she was bombed by two Spanish Nationalist aircraft , coded ME 528 and ME 529 , some off Cape de Creus ( ) . Both bombs missed , and " Noemijulia " proceeded to Port - Vendres , Pyrénées - Orientales , France , escorted by the , which had answered her SOS . This was the second attack on a British ship that month , following the attack on on 6 August . On 2 January 1938 , " Noemijulia " rescued the crew of the French schooner " La Bougeotte " , which had sank on 31 December 1937 . They were landed in Marseilles . On 15 August 1938 , " Noemijulia " was in port at Valencia , Spain when she was caught in an air raid and bombed . A long hole was blown in her port side . World War II . " Noemijulia " was sold in 1939 to the Compagnia Maritima de Panama Ultrama , Panama City , Panama , remaining under Catsell ' s management . She was a member of Convoy HG 32 , which departed from Gibraltar on 31 May 1940 and arrived at Liverpool , Lancashire on 10 June . She was bound for Sharpness , Gloucestershire . On 17 June 1941 , " Noemijulia " was sold to Irish Shipping Ltd , Dublin , Ireland for £67 , 500 and renamed " Irish Hazel " . She was originally being offered for sale as scrap , with the Hammond Lane Foundry , Dublin as prospective buyers . She was described as " fit for nothing but the scrap yard " , and needed extensive repairs . Seventy percent of the ship was condemned . This included all decks . On 29 October 1941 , the subject of the purchase of " Irish Hazel " was raised in the Dáil Éireann by James Hickey , who asked specific questions as to the purchase cost , state and operational costs of the ship . In reply , Minister for Supplies Seán Lemass stated that he would not answer specific questions such as those posed , but that the purchase price of the ship took into account her condition and the cost of the necessary repairs . Due to a lack of steel in Dublin , and the MoWTs refusal to release the steel to a Dublin shipyard , it was decided to send " Irish Hazel " to the United Kingdom for the repairs to be carried out . She departed from Dublin on 13 January 1942 for the yard of C H Bailey , Newport , Monmouthshire . Bailey ' s were to repair her on an " as and when " basis . The ship was almost completely rebuilt , with of new steel needed . " Irish Hazel " was requisitioned by the MoWT on 17 November 1943 whilst under repair at Newport , Monmouthshire and renamed " Empire Don " . The requisitioning was partly offset by the granting of a warrant that allowed Irish Shipping Ltd to operate the Italian steamer " Caterina Gerolimich " . She had been trapped in Dublin port since the outbreak of the war . She was purchased by Irish Shipping Ltd . following the Armistice between Italy and Allied armed forces and renamed . She sailed under the Irish flag on 26 October 1943 . The " Empire Don ' s " port of registry was London and the Code Letters GCGT were allocated . She was operated under the management of the Stanhope Steamship Co Ltd . < ref name = Tees / . Little is known of her wartime service . " Empire Don " was a member of Convoy EN 423 , which departed from Methil , Fife on 17 August 1944 and arrived at Loch Ewe three days later . She was also a member of Convoy FN 1489 , which departed from Southend , Essex on 23 September and arrived at Methil two days later . She is recorded as having departed from Falmouth , Cornwall on 3 December 1944 and arriving at Gibraltar a week later . On 18 May 1945 , she departed from Genoa , Italy under escort , arriving at Livorno the next day . Postwar service . On 5 September 1945 , " Empire Don " was returned to Irish Shipping Ltd and regained her former name " Irish Hazel " . She was operated under the management of the Wexford Steamship Co Ltd . " Irish Hazel " was sold on 17 May 1949 to Turk Silepcilik Limitet Sirketi , Istanbul , Turkey and renamed " Uman " . She served until 6 January 1960 , when she ran aground in the Black Sea at Kefken Point , Turkey whilst on a voyage from Zonguldak to Istanbul . She was declared a total loss .