The SS Hewsang was a 3,539 GRT cargo vessel originally built in 1944 by William Gray & Co Ltd in West Hartlepool, during World War II. Constructed as part of the Ministry of War Transport's fleet, she was initially named Empire Bermuda and designated with yard number 1173. Launched on 30 September 1944 and completed by November of the same year, the ship measured 315 feet 5 inches (96.14 meters) in length, with a beam of 46 feet 5 inches (14.15 meters) and a depth of 22 feet 1 inch (6.73 meters). Her gross register tonnage was 3,359, and her net register tonnage was 2,257. Empire Bermuda was managed by the Joseph Constantine Steamship Line under the auspices of the MoWT, serving as a cargo ship during wartime. She was powered by a triple expansion steam engine, built by the Central Marine Engineering Works in West Hartlepool. The engine featured cylinders with bores of 20 inches, 31 inches, and 55 inches, with a stroke of 39 inches, providing reliable propulsion for her cargo runs. Postwar, the vessel was sold in 1949 to the Indo-China Steam Navigation Co Ltd, based in London, and was renamed Hewsang. She continued her merchant service under this new name for over a decade. In 1963, she was sold again to the Sunshine Navigation Co Ltd in Panama and was renamed Sunshine, with management transferred to Patt Manfield & Co Ltd, based in Hong Kong. The ship remained in operation until she was scrapped in March 1970 at Kaohsiung, Taiwan. Throughout her career, the vessel carried the UK Official Number 180078 and the Code Letters GDMP. The SS Hewsang's service life spanned over two and a half decades, witnessing the transition from wartime requisition to civilian merchant operations, marking her as a notable example of mid-20th-century cargo ship design and usage.

This description has been generated using GPT-4.1-NANO based on the Vessel's wikidata information and then modified by ShipIndex.org staff.