SS Darien (1924)

History
Panama
Name	MV La Marea (1924–29); SS Darien (1930– );
Owner	Balboa Shipping Co, Inc.
Operator	United Fruit Company
Port of registry
Builder	Cammell Laird, Birkenhead
Completed	April 1924
Identification	Call sign HPBD (from 1934); ;
General characteristics
Tonnage	as built:; 3,689 GRT; tonnage under deck 3,183; 2,148 NRT; after lengthening:; 4,281 GRT; tonnage under deck 3,533; 2,276 NRT;
Length	as built: 325.2 ft (99.1 m) after lengthening: 352.7 ft (107.5 m)
Beam	48.1 ft (14.7 m)
Draught	as built: 22 ft 5.5 in (6.85 m) after lengthening: 22 ft 6.5 in (6.87 m)
Depth	28.3 ft (8.6 m)
Installed power	as built: 981 NHP; as re-engined: 839 NHP;
Propulsion	single screw; as built: diesel-electric; as re-engined: turbo-electric;

SS Darien was a refrigerated cargo ship of the United Fruit Company. Cammell Laird of Birkenhead, England built her as MV La Marea, completing her in 1924.^[1] She had been renamed Darien by 1930^[1] and had been re-engined from diesel to steam by 1931.^[2]

The ship was owned by a United Fruit subsidiary, Balboa Shipping Co, Inc, which registered her under the Panamanian flag of convenience.^[1] She was still in service in 1945.^[4]

Building

La Marea was built as a diesel-electric motor vessel, with four four-cylinder single-acting two-stroke diesel engines.^[1] They powered electric generators that supplied current to a single electric propulsion motor rated at 981 NHP that turned a single propeller shaft.^[1] She was equipped with both submarine signalling and wireless.^[1]

Rebuilding

By 1930 Darien had been lengthened by 27.5 feet (8.4 m), which increased her gross register tonnage by 592 tons.^[1] By 1931 she had been converted from diesel-electric to steam turbo-electric propulsion.^[2] Her four diesel engines and four electric generators were replaced with two water-tube boilers and a single British Thomson-Houston turbo generator.^[2] Her boilers had a combined heating surface of 8,660 square feet (805 m²)^[2] and a working pressure of 400 lb_f/in².^[2] The conversion reduced Darien's power output to 839 NHP.^[2]

Darien was not United Fruit's first turbo-electric ship. As early as 1921 Workman, Clark and Company of Belfast had completed SS San Benito for Balboa Shipping, again using a BT-H turbo generator and propulsion motor.^[5]

References

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l ^m ⁿ ^o ^p Lloyd's Register, Steam Ships & Motorships (PDF). London: Lloyd's Register. 1930. Retrieved 5 May 2013.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l ^m ⁿ ^o ^p ^q ^r ^s ^t Lloyd's Register, Steamers & Motorships (PDF). London: Lloyd's Register. 1931. Retrieved 5 May 2013.
^ Lloyd's Register, Steamers & Motorships (PDF). London: Lloyd's Register. 1934. Retrieved 5 May 2013.
^ Lloyd's Register, Steamers & Motorships (PDF). London: Lloyd's Register. 1945. Retrieved 23 May 2013.
^ Lloyd's Register, Steamers & Motorships (PDF). London: Lloyd's Register. 1933. Retrieved 5 May 2013.

[LR30-1] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l ^m ⁿ ^o ^p Lloyd's Register, Steam Ships & Motorships (PDF). London: Lloyd's Register. 1930. Retrieved 5 May 2013.

[LR31-2] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l ^m ⁿ ^o ^p ^q ^r ^s ^t Lloyd's Register, Steamers & Motorships (PDF). London: Lloyd's Register. 1931. Retrieved 5 May 2013.

[3] Lloyd's Register, Steamers & Motorships (PDF). London: Lloyd's Register. 1934. Retrieved 5 May 2013.

[4] Lloyd's Register, Steamers & Motorships (PDF). London: Lloyd's Register. 1945. Retrieved 23 May 2013.

[5] Lloyd's Register, Steamers & Motorships (PDF). London: Lloyd's Register. 1933. Retrieved 5 May 2013.

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]