Flytende hvalkokeri D/S Empire Venture

Empire Venture[edit]

Empire Venture was a 12,639 GRT factory ship which was built by Swan, Hunter & Wigham Richardson Ltd, Newcastle upon Tyne. Completed in 1929 as Vikingen. Sold in 1938 to Hamburger Walfang-Kontor GmbH, Hamburg and renamed Wikinger. Requisitioned in 1939 by the Kriegsmarine. Formally seized by Royal Navy on 16 June 1945 at Kiel. To Howaldtswerke yards, Kiel, for repair and refit, August–November 1945. To MoWT November 1945 and renamed Empire Venture. Deployed to Southern Ocean on British account c 20 November 1945. Allocated to USSR by Tripartite Merchant Marine Commission at Berlin, 7 December 1945. Whaling equipment fitted at Kiel removed at Liverpool, June–September 1946. Handed over to USSR in Britain 26 September 1946 and renamed Slava. Re-refitted, presumably at Liverpool, September–December 1946. Sailed from Liverpool 22 December 1946 for the first Soviet whaling season in the Antarctic. Sold to Japanese buyer in 1971 and renamed Fuji Maru. Scrapped in October 1971 at Kaohsiung, Taiwan.