SS Ashkhabad

	Ashkhabad being shelled
History
Name	SS War Hostage (1917–1919); SS Milazzo (1919–1924); SS Aldersgate (1924–1925); SS Mistley Hall (1925–1934); SS Kutais (1934–1935); SS Dneprostroi (1935–1938); SS Ashkhabad (1938–1942);
Owner	Shipping Controller, London (1917–1919); Società Italiana di Navigazione Transoceanica, Naples (1919–1922); Navigazione Generale Italiana, Naples (1922–1924); City Gate Line, London (1924–1926); Charles G Dunn Shipping Co Ltd, Liverpool (1926–1934); Sovtorgflot, Moscow (1934–1942);
Operator	Anglo-Saxon Petroleum, London (1917–1919); Black Sea Shipping Company, Odessa (1934–1940); Far East State Sea Shipping Company, Vladivostok (1940–1942);
Builder	Harland & Wolff, Govan
Yard number	525
Launched	16 October 1917
Completed	December 1917
Fate	Sunk on 30 April 1942
General characteristics
Tonnage	5,181 gross register tons (GRT) (as built); 3,148 net register tons (NRT) (as built); 8,175 tons deadweight (DWT) (after 1919); 5,256 gross register tons (GRT) (after 1924); 5,288 gross register tons (GRT) (after 1925); 3,193 net register tons (NRT) (after 1925); 5,284 gross register tons (GRT) (after 1926); 3,164 net register tons (NRT) (after 1926);
Length	400.7 ft (122.1 m)
Beam	52.3 ft (15.9 m)
Depth	28.5 ft (8.7 m)
Installed power	489 nhp ; 2500 ihp;
Propulsion	Triple expansion steam engine

SS Ashkhabad was a merchant ship of the Soviet Union sunk in 1942. She had been built as a British merchant ship in 1917 in Glasgow, Scotland as War Hostage. Over the next three decades she passed through a number of owners and had several different names; Milazzo (1919–1924), Aldersgate (1924–1925), Mistley Hall (1925–1934), Kutais (1934–1935), Dneprostroi (1935–1938) and finally Ashkhabad from 1938 to 1942. Originally designed as a freighter, she was at several points converted to a tanker to carry fuel oil. At the time of her loss the four hundred foot tanker was owned by the Soviet Union's Sovtorgflot organisation.^[1] She was torpedoed on 29 April 1942, and then sunk as a hazard to navigation on 3 May 1942. The wreck is now a popular dive site.

^ Gentile, Gary (1992). Shipwrecks of North Carolina from Hatteras Inlet south. Philadelphia, PA: G. Gentile Productions. ISBN 0-9621453-5-1.

[Gentile-1] Gentile, Gary (1992). Shipwrecks of North Carolina from Hatteras Inlet south. Philadelphia, PA: G. Gentile Productions. ISBN 0-9621453-5-1.

[1]

History
Ashkhabad being shelled
Name	SS War Hostage (1917–1919) SS Milazzo (1919–1924) SS Aldersgate (1924–1925) SS Mistley Hall (1925–1934) SS Kutais (1934–1935) SS Dneprostroi (1935–1938) SS Ashkhabad (1938–1942)
Owner	Shipping Controller, London (1917–1919) Società Italiana di Navigazione Transoceanica, Naples (1919–1922) Navigazione Generale Italiana, Naples (1922–1924) City Gate Line, London (1924–1926) Charles G Dunn Shipping Co Ltd, Liverpool (1926–1934) Sovtorgflot, Moscow (1934–1942)
Operator	Anglo-Saxon Petroleum, London (1917–1919) Black Sea Shipping Company, Odessa (1934–1940) Far East State Sea Shipping Company, Vladivostok (1940–1942)
Builder	Harland & Wolff, Govan
Yard number	525
Launched	16 October 1917
Completed	December 1917
Fate	Sunk on 30 April 1942
General characteristics
Tonnage	5,181 gross register tons (GRT) (as built) 3,148 net register tons (NRT) (as built) 8,175 tons deadweight (DWT) (after 1919) 5,256 gross register tons (GRT) (after 1924) 5,288 gross register tons (GRT) (after 1925) 3,193 net register tons (NRT) (after 1925) 5,284 gross register tons (GRT) (after 1926) 3,164 net register tons (NRT) (after 1926)
Length	400.7 ft (122.1 m)
Beam	52.3 ft (15.9 m)
Depth	28.5 ft (8.7 m)
Installed power	489 nhp 2500 ihp
Propulsion	Triple expansion steam engine