SS Empire Galahad
SS "Empire Galahad was a refrigerated cargo ship built in 1942 and scrapped in 1967. She was also called SS "Celtic Star (1946), SS "Murillo (1946–52), SS "Bogliasco (1952–54), MV "Bogliasco (1954–63) and MV "Ocean Peace (1963–67). She was built as a steamship, but in 1954 she was converted into a motor ship. She was scrapped in Taiwan in 1967. Background. Empire ships were civilian vessels in UK Government service. Their names were all prefixed with "Empire". Mostly they were used during World War II by the Ministry of War Transport (MoWT), who owned the ships but  contracted out their management to various shipping lines. Some ships requisitioned during the Suez Crisis were also given the "Empire" prefix. They were acquired from a number of sources. Many were built for the MoWT, others obtained from the USA, still others were captured or seized from enemy powers. History. Lithgows in Port Glasgow built "Empire Galahad" for the MoWT. She was launched on Monday 18 May 1942 and completed in July. "Empire Galahad" spent the war years under the management of Blue Star Line. War service. "Empire Galahad" took part in the following convoys: Post war. In 1946 Blue  Star bought her and renamed her "Celtic Star", after a previous sunk by enemy action in 1943. Blue Star was part of the Vestey Group, and the ship was quickly transferred to another company in the group, Lamport and Holt. She was renamed "Murillo", making her the second Lamport and Holt ship to carry that name. In 1952 she was sold to Industriale Maritime, renamed "Bogliasco" and registered in Italy. In 1954, the original triple-expansion steam engine made by JG Kincaid of Glasgow was replaced with a six-cylinder two-stroke single cycle single-acting marine Diesel engine made  by Cantieri Riuniti dell' Adriatico, Trieste. She served for a total of nine years before being sold in 1963 to Ocean Shipping & Enterprises, who renamed her "Ocean Peace"and registered her in Panama. She was sold for scrap in 1967, and arrived at Kaohsiung, Taiwan for scrapping on 12 September 1967. Official number and call sign. Official Numbers were a forerunner of IMO Numbers. "Empire Galahad"s UK official number was 168985 and her call sign was BDYN.