SS Empire Boy
Introduction '''''Empire Boy''''' was an  coastal tanker which was built in 1941 for the Ministry of War Transport (MoWT). Completed in December 1941, was transferred to the Dutch Government in 1942 and renamed '''''Doorman'''''. In 1947, she was sold into Dutch merchant service and renamed '''''Flandria'''''. In 1952, she was sold to a West German company and renamed '''''Alice'''''. She was lengthened in 1954 and renamed '''''Hammonia''''' and was later renamed '''''Petra'''''. In 1962, she was sold to an Italian company and renamed '''''Anny'''''. A new engine was fitted in 1965 and she was renamed '''''Tosco''''' in 1971, serving until scrapped in 1975.
Description The ship was built by Goole Shipbuilding & Repairing Co Ltd, Goole. She was yard number 361.Launched on 25 August 1941, she was completed in December 1941.As built, the ship was  long, with a beam of  and a depth of . She was propelled by a triple expansion steam engine which had cylinders of ,  and  bore by  stroke. The engine was built by Amos & Smith Ltd, Hull. It developed  and could propel her at . In 1965, the ship was re-engined with a  6-cylinder Klöckner Humboldt Deutz diesel engine which had cylinders of 32 cm bore by 45 cm stroke.
Career ''Empire Boy's'' port of registry was Goole. She was operated under the management of F T Everard & Co Ltd. In 1942, ''Empire Boy'' was transferred to the Dutch Government and renamed ''Doorman''. Her port of registry was The Hague. She was operated under the management of the Netherlands Shipping and Trading Committee. Management was transferred to NV Hollandsche Stoomboot Maatschappij in 1944. ''Doorman'' was a member of a number of convoys during the Second World War. ;KX 13Convoy KX 13 departed from Milford Haven on 8 January 1944 and arrived at Gibraltar on 18 January.In 1947, ''Doorman'' was sold to NV Phs. Van Ommeren, Rotterdam. Her port of registry was Rotterdam. In 1948, she was sold Verenigde Tankkustvaart NV.In 1951, ''Flandria'' was sold to Ulric Thomas and was renamed ''Alice''. She was operated under the management of S Stein KG. Her port of registry was Hamburg. In 1952, she was sold to Bauermann & Metzendorf GmbH and renamed ''Hammonia''. She was lengthened to . In 1954, ''Alice'' was sold to Regia Reederei & Warenhandel GmbH and was renamed ''Petra''. She was sold in 1957 to Rex Bauermann, operating under the  management of Olea Tankschiff GmbH. In 1962, ''Petra'' was sold to Vittorio Rosetti and was renamed ''Anny''. Her port of registry was changed to Livorno. In 1965, a new diesel engine was fitted. In 1971, she was renamed ''Tosco'' and her port of registry was changed to Cagliari. She was sold to Tosco Sardi di Navigazione SpA in 1975. ''Tosco'' was scrapped at La Spezia in June 1975 by Demolizione Decomar SpA.
Official Numbers and Code Letters Official Numbers were a forerunner to IMO Numbers. ''Empire Boy'' and Doorman had the UK Official Number 168714. ''Anny'' had the Italian Official Number 535 and  ''Tosco'' had the Italian Official Number 359.Both ''Anny'' and ''Tosco'' were assigned the IMO Number 5019331. ''Empire Boy'' used the Code Letters BCVJ. ''Doorman'' used the Code Letters PDNO, which were changed to PDRO in 1944. ''Flandria'' used the Code Letters PCEF.
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