SS Empire Brutus
Introduction '''''Empire Brutus''''' was a  cargo ship which was built in 1941 by J. L. Thompson & Sons Ltd for the Ministry of War Transport (MoWT). Although twice damaged by enemy action, she survived the war. Postwar she was sold into merchant service, being renamed '''''Vergmor''''', '''''Southgate''''' and '''''Fatih''''', serving until scrapped in 1968.
Description ''Empire Brutus'' was built by J. L. Thompson & Sons Ltd, Sunderland. She was yard number 624.Launched on 18 December 1942, she was completed in March 1943.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 the Central Marine Engine Company (1938) Ltd, Newcastle upon Tyne. She had a GRT of 7,233 with a NRT of 4,294.
Career ===Wartime===''Empire Brutus's'' port of registry was Sunderland. She was operated under the management of W. T. Gould. On 26 July 1943, ''Empire Brutus'' was damaged by enemy bombing  west of  Cape Caroeiro, Portugal (). It took five days for  to tow her the  to Lisbon at . She was on a voyage from Newport, Wales to Algiers and Bougie, Algeria laden with ammunition, bombs and trucks. ''Empire Brutus'' was a member of Convoy MKS 43G, which departed Gibraltar on 22 March 1944 bound for the United Kingdom. and Loch Ewe on 10 September. It dispersed at sea on 15 September. She was carrying general cargo. On 8 July 1944, ''Empire Brutus'' struck a mine  off Arromanches, France () and was damaged when on a voyage from Juno Beach to Southend on Sea in ballast. She was beached on Juno Beach. The following day, she was refloated and towed to Middlesbrough for repairs. ''Empire Brutus'' was a member of Convoy MKS 101G, which departed Gibraltar on 15 May 1945 bound for the United Kingdom. ''Empire Brutus'' was carrying a cargo of wheat. Those killed whilst serving on ''Empire Brutus'' during World War II are commemorated at the Tower Hill Memorial, London.===Postwar===In 1948, ''Empire Brutus'' was sold to the Haddon Steamship Co Ltd, London and renamed ''Vergmor''. In 1950, she was sold to the Turnbull, Scott Shipping Co Ltd and was renamed ''Southgate'', serving with them for five years. In 1950, ''Southgate'' was sold to Sadikzade Rusen Ogullari KS, Turkey and renamed ''Fatih''. She served until 1968. ''Fatih'' was scrapped at Istanbul in February 1968.
Official Numbers and Code Letters Official Numbers were a forerunner to IMO Numbers. ''Empire Brutus'', ''Vergmor'' and ''Southgate'' had the UK Official Number 169111. ''Empire Brutus'' used the Code Letters BFFY.
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