After launching, the City of Manchester was towed from J.L.Thompsons shipyard in Sunderland to Wallsend Slipway on the River Tyne to have its engines installed. On 11th February 1950, the ship was being returned to Thompsons for completion of fitting out by seven tugs. Britain was being battered by severe gales that day and the tugs struggled to manage the ship. One of the tugs capsized and sank with the loss of four crew members, two survived.