SS Clan Alpine ( 1942 ) Clan Alpine was a 7 , 168 GRT cargo ship which was built in 1942 for the Ministry of War Transport ( MoWT ) as Empire Barrie . She was sold to Clan Line Steamers Ltd in 1947 and served with them until 1957 when she was sold to Bullard , King & Co Ltd and renamed Umvoti . In 1959 she was sold back to Clan Line and renamed " Clan Alpine " . She was sold for scrap in 1960 and wrecked in a cyclone in October 1960 at Chittagong , East Pakistan , finally being scrapped in February 1961 . History . " Empire Barrie " was built by J L Thompson & Sons Ltd , Sunderland as yard number 615 . She was launched on 17 January 1942 and completed in April 1942 . " Empire Barrie " was built for the MoWT and was initially placed under the management of Allan , Black & Co . In 1944 , management passed to Cayzer , Irvine & Co Ltd . War Service . In May 1943 , " Empire Barrie " delivered 24 Spitfire aircraft to Casablanca , Morocco . JL166 , JL175 , JL 179 , JL185 , JL188 and JL219 . " Empire Barrie " was a member of a number of convoys during the Second World War . Convoy SL 134 sailed from Freetown , Sierra Leone on 28 July 1943 and arrived at Liverpool on 19 August . " Empire Barrie " was in carrying a cargo of manganese ore from Takoradi , Gold Coast . Convoy SC 144 which sailed from Halifax , Nova Scotia on 11 October 1943 and arrived at Liverpool on 27 October . " Empire Barrie " was carrying general cargo and bound for London . Convoy KMS 37 sailed from Liverpool on 25 December 1943 and arrived at Gibraltar on 7 January 1944 . " Empire Barrie " was carrying general cargo and ammunition and was bound for Port Sudan , Aden and Dar es Salaam . Convoy MKS 47 sailed from Port Said on 19 April 1944 Postwar . In 1945 , " Empire Barrie " was sold to Clan Line Steamers Ltd and renamed " Clan Alpine " She was the fourth Clan Line ship to bear that name . In 1952 , she underwent a series of tests with the . On 3 February 1956 , six crewmembers were killed by carbon monoxide fumes from a makeshift brazier they had set up in their cabin whilst the ship was in dry dock at Glasgow undergoing repairs . In 1957 she was sold to Bullard , King and Co Ltd and renamed " Umvoti " , serving with them until 1959 when she was sold back to Clan Line and renamed " Clan Alpine " . She was sold to Japan ese shipbreakers , with delivery scheduled for November 1960 . Although in good condition , her maximum speed of made her too slow for the route she was employed on ( United Kingdom - East Africa - India - Pakistan - Ceylon - Australia ) . Final voyage . On 16 September 1960 , " Clan Alpine " sailed from the Mersey for Chittagong , via Glasgow , the Suez Canal , Assab , Djibouti , Aden , Bombay , Cochin and Tuticorin . She arrived at Chittagong at 01 : 30hrs on 31 October and anchored to await a berth at the docks . Orders had been received at Bombay for " Clan Alpine " to proceed to Vizag or Rangoon to embark cargo bound for Japan after she had discharged her cargo at Chittagong . This was to be delivered before she made her way to Onomichi for scrapping . It was reported that a cyclone was heading for Chittagong , and by 18 : 35 hrs there were reports that the wind was exceeding Force 12 . Although " Clan Alpine " engine was at " Full Ahead " she was being dragged astern up the Sandwip Channel at dragging both anchors with her . A storm surge had struck the area . The Chittagong Meteorological Office recorded windspeeds in excess of at the height of the cyclone . It was later revealed that the wind had peaked at . At 18 : 50 hrs , the eye of the storm passed over the ship and at 19 : 25 hrs a bump was felt and it was reported that the ship had run aground . The engines were stopped , but a request was made for them to be restarted as the ship was apparently near rocks . The rocks were quickly revealed to be the tops of palm trees . The engines and two of the three boilers were shut down , leaving one boiler supplying steam to run the generators and other auxiliary equipment . " Clan Alpine " had come to rest upright , some upstream of the Karnaphuli River mouth at Skonai Chori ( ) . A message was sent by radio to Clan Line ' s head office in London informing them of the situation . The reply received asked for confirmation of the position of " Clan Alpine " . The President of Pakistan , General Mohammed Ayub Khan paid a visit to the ship by helicopter . The crew were made honorary members of the Chittagong Club , which enabled them to use bungalow s owned by the club as a break from staying aboard the ship . Salvage engineers assessed that it was practical to salvage the ship , but not economical to do so . To keep the boilers supplied with water , sea water was pumped on board during each high tide , using a diesel powered fire pump . The generators were only used at night to help preserve stocks of fresh water on board ship . " Clan Alpine " was carrying 2 , 400 tons of general cargo . A road was constructed linking the ship with the main Chittagong highway , and the cargo was discharged into lorries by using the ship ' s steam winches . The last of the cargo was unloaded on 4 January 1961 . Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip visited the ship during the time that she was stranded . " Clan Alpine " was declared a constructive total loss , and sold on 14 February 1961 to East Bengal Trading Corporation Ltd and scrapped in situ . She was sold for about £50 , 000 . Propulsion . She was powered by a triple expansion steam engine of which was built by George Clark ( 1938 ) Ltd , Sunderland . Steam was supplied by three Scotch boilers . Electricity was supplied by two Belliss and Morcom steam powered generators . Official number and code letters . Official Numbers were a forerunner to IMO Numbers . The ship had the UK Official Number 169016 . " Empire Barrie " and " Clan Alpine " used the Code Letters BDRD .