SS Letitia

The ship as Captain Cook
History
United Kingdom
Name	Letitia (1924–39) HMS Letitia (1939–44) HMHS Letitia (1944–46) Empire Brent (1946–52) Captain Cook (1952–60)
Owner	Anchor-Donaldson Line (1925–36) Donaldson-Atlantic Line (1936–46) Ministry of Transport (1946–59) Government of New Zealand (1959–60)
Operator	Cunard Line and Anchor-Donaldson (1925–36) Donaldson-Atlantic Line (1936–46) Donaldson Bros & Black (1946–60)
Port of registry	Glasgow (1925–39)  Royal Navy (1939–46) Glasgow (1946–60)
Builder	Fairfield SB and Eng Co, Govan
Yard number	601
Launched	14 October 1924
Completed	April 1925
Identification	UK official number 148847 code letters KSLT (until 1933) Call sign GLBX (1934–39) pennant number F16 (1939–44)
Fate	Scrapped in 1960
General characteristics
Tonnage	13,475 gross register tons (GRT)[1] tonnage under deck 10,217 8,161 NRT
Length	525.7 ft (160.2 m) p/p 538 ft (164 m) o/a
Beam	66.4 ft (20.2 m)
Depth	29.5 ft (9.0 m)
Installed power	9,000 SHP
Propulsion	6 × DR geared turbines by Brown-Curtis-Fairfield twin screw 3 double- & 2 single-ended forced draught boilers supplying steam at max pressure 210 lbf/in2
Speed	15 knots (28 km/h) (service) 16 knots (30 km/h) (max)
Capacity	(As built) 516 cabin class 1,000 third class (After 1927) 298 cabin class 310 tourist class 964 third class (As hospital ship) 1,000 patients (As 1949 emigration ship) 965 emigrants (As 1951 emigration ship) 1,088 passengers in two, four, and six berth cabins
Armament	As an armed merchant cruiser: 8 × 6-inch (150 mm) guns 2 × 3-inch (76 mm) guns

SS Letitia was an ocean liner built in Scotland for service with the Anchor-Donaldson Line. She continued to serve with its successor company Donaldson Atlantic Line. At the start of the Second World War in September 1939, the British Admiralty requisitioned the ship for service and had it converted to serve as an armed merchant cruiser. She was withdrawn from this service in 1941 to become a troop ship.

Badly damaged in 1943, after being repaired the Letitia was used as a hospital ship in Canada. She was returned to civilian service in 1946 after the end of the war. She was bought by the Ministry of Transport, which renamed her as Empire Brent and assigned Donaldson Brothers and Black to manage her. She sailed on a number of voyages, at times carrying troops to the Far East, as well as being an emigration ship to Australia. She was briefly laid up in 1950. She was returned to service under charter to the Government of New Zealand as Captain Cook. She was withdrawn from service in 1960 and sold for scrap.