SS Verna Paulin Verna Paulin was a cargo ship that was built in 1945 as Empire Envoy by Short Brothers Ltd , Sunderland , Co Durham , United Kingdom for the Ministry of War Transport ( MoWT ) . She was sold into merchant service in 1946 and renamed Cheltenham . A further sale in 1952 saw her renamed La Orilla . A sale to a Swedish company in 1955 saw her renamed Stallberg . In 1958 , she was sold to a Finnish company and renamed " Verna Paulin " . She served until 1969 , when she was scrapped . Description . The ship was built in 1942 by Short Brothers Ltd , Sunderland , Co Durham . She was yard number 473 . The ship was long , with a beam of . She had a depth of , and a draught of . She was assessed at 7 , 046 GRT , 4 , 858 NRT , 10 , 280 DWT . The ship was propelled by a 510 nhp triple expansion steam engine , which had cylinders of , and diameter by stroke . The engine was built by North East Marine Engine Co ( 1938 ) Ltd , Newcastle upon Tyne . It could propel the ship at a speed of . History . World War II . " Empire Envoy " was built for the MoWT . She was placed under the management of the Buries , Markes Ltd , London . The United Kingdom Official Number 169107 and Code Letters were allocated . Her port of registry was Sunderland . " Empire Envoy " made her maiden voyage on 3 January 1943 , when she sailed from Sunderland to join Convoy FN 907 , which had departed from Southend , Essex the previous day and arrived at Methil , Fife on 4 January . She then joined Convoy EN 181 , which departed on 5 January and arrived at Loch Ewe on 7 January . She proceeded to the Clyde , arriving the next day . " Empire Envoy " was a member of Convoy ON 161 , which departed from Liverpool , Lancashire on 12 January and arrived at New York , United States on 31 January . She was fitted with anti - torpedo net s . During the nights of 23 – 24 and 24 – 25 January , she was one of ten ships which straggled behind the convoy in a gale . Her captain criticized the Convoy Commodore ' s handling of the convoy in a letter to the MoWT . The convoy had been kept on its intended course and speed despite a severe gale springing up . Although " Empire Envoy " was making , she was unable to keep up with the convoy . As no rendezvous point had been given , she put into St . John ' s , Newfoundland for orders , which resulted in a delay . She arrived at St . John ' s on 27 January , sailing four days later for Halifax , Nova Scotia , Canada , where she arrived on 3 February . " Empire Envoy " sailed on 2 March to join Convoy HX 228 , which departed from New York on 28 February and arrived at Liverpool on 15 March . She was carrying a cargo of grain and flour , there were also a number of passengers on board . She joined the convoy on 4 March at . She was bound for the Clyde , where she arrived on 15 March . " Empire Envoy " departed on 15 April to join Convoy OS46KM , which departed from Liverpool on 15 April and split at sea on 24 April , forming convoys OS 46 and KMS 13 . OS 46 arrived at Freetown , Sierra Leone on 3 May . " Empire Envoy " was in the part of the convoy that formed KMS 13 and arrived at Gibraltar on 26 April . Her armament consisted a 4 - inch or 4 . 7 - inch gun , four Bofors gun s , two machine guns , kites and anti - torpedo nets . She was carrying a cargo of stores and ammunition bound for Bône , Algeria . Convoy KMS 13 departed from Gibraltar on 26 April and arrived at Bône on 29 April . " Empire Envoy " was stated to be bound for Bougie , Algeria , but she arrived at Algiers on 28 April , sailing on 2 May for Bône , where she arrived the next day . She departed on 20 May for Algiers , arriving the next day and then sailing for Oran , where she arrived on 21 May . She sailed the next day for Gibraltar , arriving on 23 May . She sailed on 28 May to join Convoy OS 48 , which formed at sea on 29 May and arrived at Freetown on 7 June . She departed on 11 June as a member of Convoy ST 69 , which arrived at Takoradi , Gold Coast on 16 June . She detached from the convoy and sailed to Rio de Janeiro , Brazil , arriving on 27 June . " Empire Envoy " departed on 19 July for Freetown , where she arrived on 4 August . " Empire Envoy " was a member of Convoy SL 135 , which departed on 14 August and rendezvoused at sea with Convoy MKS 22 on 26 August . The combined convoys arrived at Liverpool on 6 September . She was carrying a cargo of manganese ore and two passengers , bound for the Barry Roads . She sailed on to Cardiff , Glamorgan arriving on 7 September . " Empire Envoy " was a member of Convoy OS 56KM , which departed from Liverpool on 7 October and split on 18 October , forming Convoy OS 56 and KMS 29 . OS 56 arrived at Freetown on 29 October . " Empire Envoy " was in the part of the convoy which formed KMS 29 and arrived at Gibraltar on 20 October . She was carrying a cargo of aircraft and ammunition . She was bound for Aden , then Basra and Bandar Shapur , Iraq . Her armament consisted a 4 - inch or 4 . 7 - inch gun and seven machine guns . Convoy KMS 29 departed from Gibraltar on 20 October and arrived at Port Said , Egypt on 31 October . " Empire Envoy " departed that day for Suez , arriving the next day . She departed two days later for Aden , where she arrived on 7 November . She then joined Convoy AP 52 , which departed on 10 November and arrived at Bandar Abbas , Iran on 17 November . She then sailed to Hormuz , from where she departed that day for Basra , arriving three days later . " Empire Envoy " then sailed to Abadan , from where she departed on 27 December for Bahrain , arriving on 1 January 1944 . " Empire Envoy " sailed form Bahrain on 12 January for Karachi India , arriving on 25 January . She departed on 11 February for Durban , South Africa , where she arrived on 27 February . She was a member of Convoy DKA 15 , which sailed on 11 March and arrived at Aden on 1 April . She sailed that day for Port Said , arriving on 8 April and departing ten days later for Suez , where she arrived on 19 April . " Empire Envoy " sailed on 21 April for Aden , arriving on 26 April and sailing three days later for Mombasa , Kenya , where she arrived on 8 May . She sailed the next day for Lourenço Marques , Mozambique , arriving on 16 May . She departed on 8 June to join Convoy DKA 19 , which had departed from Durban on 6 June and arrived at Aden on 25 June . She left the convoy at Kilindini , Kenya , on 17 June and sailed to Mombasa . " Empire Envoy " departed on 28 June for Durban , arriving on 7 July . She sailed on 16 August for Cape Town , arriving three days later and sailing on 20 August . She returned to Cape Town on 25 August , sailing on 2 September for Buenos Aires , Argentina , where she arrived on 18 September . She sailed on 28 September , making a return trip to Rosario and arriving back at Buenos Aires on 1 October . She sailed on 16 October for Freetown , arriving on 4 November . " Empire Envoy " was a member of Convoy SL 176 , which departed on 7 November and rendezvoused at sea with Convoy MKS 67 on 18 November . MKS 67 had departed from Gibraltar on 17 November . The combined convoys arrived at Liverpool on 24 November . " Empire Envoy " was carrying a cargo of wheat and two passengers . She arrived at Avonmouth , Somerset on 25 November . " Empire Envoy " departed on 7 December for Newport , Monmouthshire , arriving that day . She sailed on 17 December for Milford Haven , Pembrokeshire , arriving two days later . She departed on 25 December to join Convoy ON 274 , which had sailed from Southend on 23 December and arrived at New York on 8 January 1945 . She was fitted with anti - torpedo nets for this voyage . She left the convoy at Halifax on 6 January . " Empire Envoy " sailed on 6 March to join Convoy HX 342 , which had departed from New York on 4 March and arrived at Liverpool on 19 March . She was carrying general cargo . She left the convoy and proceeded to The Downs , off the coast of Kent , arriving on 20 March . " Empire Envoy " departed from The Downs on 12 April to join Convoy ON 296 , which departed from Liverpool that day and arrived at New York on 30 April . Her destination was a port in Quebec , Canada and she was fitted with anti - torpedo nets . She arrived at Sydney , Cape Breton , Nova Scotia on 29 April , sailing on 5 May for an unrecorded destination . Post - war . On 9 June 1945 , " Empire Envoy " departed from Cape Chatte , Quebec , for Sydney , where she arrived on 11 June . She sailed four days later for Southend , arriving on 27 June . She sailed the next day for Grangemouth , Stirlingshire , arriving on 30 June . She departed on 4 August for Saint John , New Brunswick , Canada arriving on 17 August and sailing on 8 September for Port Said , where she arrived on 29 September . " Empire Envoy " then sailed to Suez , from where she departed on 30 September for Bombay , arrivng on 12 October . She departed three days later for Karachi , arriving on 18 October and sailing on 24 October for Lourenço Marques , where she arrived on 8 November . She sailed on 15 November for Colombo , Ceylon , arriving on 3 December . In 1946 , " Empire Envoy " was sold to the Thompson Steam Shipping Co Ltd , London and was renamed " Cheltenham " . In 1952 , " Cheltenham " was sold to Buries , Markes Ltd , London and was renamed " La Orilla " . She was transferred in 1954 to Louis Dreyfus & Co , the French owners of Buries , Markes . In 1955 , " La Orilla " was sold to Stallbergs Grufve Rederi , Stockholm , Sweden and renamed " Stallberg " . She was placed under the management of Skiold & Lundberg AB , whose management she was to remain under whilst flying the Swedish Flag . In 1957 , " Stallberg " was sold to Rederi AB Stellvik , Stockholm , being resold to Stallbergs Grufve Rederi in 1960 . In 1962 , " Stallberg " was sold to Paulins Rederi AB , Turku , Finland and renamed " Verna Paulina " . The Finnish Official Number 1412 and Code Letters OGGX were allocated and she was assessed as Ice Class II and 4 , 118 NRT . From 1962 – 63 , her draught was recorded as , reverting to from 1964 , in which year she was sold to Kommanditbolaget AB Paulin Chartering Oy & Co . On 25 February 1964 , a crewman on " Verna Paulin " was injured in a fall whilst the ship was in the vicinity of Souda Bay , Greece . answered her call for assistance . A surgeon from " Enterprise " was transferred to " Verna Paulin " by helicopter . She served until 1969 , arriving on 19 July at Bruges , Belgium for scrapping .