Empire Driver was a 7,042 GRT cargo ship that was built in 1942 by William Gray & Co Ltd, West Hartlepool, Co Durham, United Kingdom for the Ministry of War Transport (MoWT).

[1] The United Kingdom Official Number 168917 and Code Letters BDFV were allocated.

Three days later, Empire Driver departed the Clyde for Milford Haven, Pembrokeshire, where she arrived on 28 December.

She was carrying a cargo of petrol and stores bound for Gibraltar,[8] where she arrived on 13 January.

On 17 June, she departed from Buenos Aires for Cape Town, South Africa via Montevideo, arriving on 10 July.

She sailed four days later for Port Elizabeth, from where she departed on 19 July for Mombasa, Kenya, arriving on 6 August.

[5] She departed from Lourenço Marques on 7 November for Port Louis, Mauritius, arriving a week later.

Her stated destination was the Clyde,[18] but she sailed to Loch Ewe to join Convoy WN 586, which arrived at Methil on 24 May.

Empire Driver departed from Rosario on 24 April for Buenos Aires, arriving the next day.

[5] By 14 August 1945,[4] Empire Driver had been transferred to the French Government and renamed Radiotélégraphiste Biard.

[1] She was named for Victor Biard, the radio operator on the British merchant ship Djurdjura,[22] which was torpedoed and sunk by the Italian submarine Brin on 13 June 1941.

[23] She was placed under the management of Compagnie des Chargeurs Reunis,[1] Le Havre, Seine-Maritime.

[1] In May 1951, Dea Mazzella was caught up in industrial action by the Ship Painters' and Dockers' Union at Melbourne.

[25] The dockers had blacked certain New Zealand-flagged ships in support of striking dockworkers from that country.

[26] On 11 July 1956, Dea Mazzella was in collision with the Panamanian Liberty ship Estoril, which sank at 42°50′N 61°00′W / 42.833°N 61.000°W / 42.833; -61.000.

[1] In 1960, Maria Mazzella was sold to Pala & Franchescini, Genoa and renamed Falzarego.

A further sale in 1964 to Società per Azioni Costanza, Genoa saw her renamed Grazia Prima.