One of several middle-aged ships then operating for Mullion & Co. Ltd., of Hong Kong, the ARDEE, 7072gt, had already had a quite chequered career since her completion in October 1942. This too was of some interest as her birthplace had been just round the corner at the Wm Gray shipyard in Hartlepool, from where she was delivered as the EMPIRE CENTAUR. Only two months later, on 12.12.1942 she was damaged by Italian assault craft while at Algiers. She was one of several Empire ships transferred to the Government of Belgium for whom she served as BELGIUM CAPTAIN from 1943. In 1946 she entered Belgian commercial ownership as the CAPITAINE LAMBE. It was in 1960 she took the name of ARDEE, and in 1964 moved to another Hong Kong based company as the ALPHA TRADER. She ended her days at Shanghai in November 1967 when she arrived to be broken up.
These many years later, my first ship still generates excitement in my mind; so did my 1000th because I knew when I set out that particular morning that this accolade would fall on my first new sighting, whatever that may have been. Such sense of excitement did not repeat for a further 35 years when I was expecting to see my 10,000th ship! The edge was taken off that somewhat as various recounts of my sightings in recent years have meant that particular title has shifted from ship to ship - currently bestowed on the Immingham tug LADY SUSAN, seen there during 1997.
Details on the ARDEE from THE EMPIRE SHIPS (SECOND EDITION) by Mitchell and Sawyer.