SS Barlind

Barlind was a 1,453 GRT cargo ship that was built in 1938 as Süderau by Deutsche Schiff- und Maschinenbau AG, Bremen, Germany for German owners. She was seized by the Allies in May 1945, passed to the Ministry of War Transport (MoWT) and was renamed Empire Content. In 1946, she was allocated to Norway and renamed Svartnes. She was sold into merchant service in 1947 and renamed Barlind. In 1971, she was sold to Greece and renamed Ikaria. She served until 1972 when she was scrapped.

Description
The ship was built as yard number 596 in 1938 by Deutsche Schiff- und Maschinenbau AG.

The ship was 260 ft long, with a beam of 41 ft and a depth of 27 ft. The ship had a GRT of 1,453 and a NRT of 713, with a DWT of 2,120.

The ship was propelled by a compound steam engine which had two cylinders of 17+11/16 in and two cylinders of 37+7/16 in diameter by 35+7/16 in stroke. The engine was built by Deutsche Schiff- und Maschinenbau AG. The engine was supplied with steam by two boilers of 13 ft diameter by 11 ft length, giving a total heating surface of 3744 sqft. The engine drove the propellor via double reduction gearing and a hydraulic coupling. It could propel the ship at 13 kn.

History
Süderau was built for Bugsier Reederei und Bergungs AG, Hamburg. She was completed in January 1939. Her port of registry was Hamburg and she was allocated the Code Letters DJYQ.

In May 1945, Süderau was seized by the Allies at Bremerhaven. She was passed to the MoWT and renamed Empire Content. Her port of registry was changed to London. The Code Letters GJBK and United Kingdom Official Number 180645 were allocated. She was placed under the management of Gillespie & Nichol Ltd.

In 1946, Empire Content was transferred to the Norwegian Government and was renamed Svartnes. In 1947, she was sold to F Olsen & Co and was renamed Barlind. Her port of registry was Oslo and the Code Letters LLTV were allocated. She was sold in 1971 to L N Pothas, Greece and was renamed Ikaria, serving until she was scrapped in Aspropyrgos in the first quarter of 1972.