Coastwise Sail

COflSTUJISE COASTWISE SAn. COASTWISE SAIL by JOHN ANDERSON Dedicated to the memory of the sailing ships of the West Country and the gallant seadogs who manned them. ' LONDON PERCIVAL MARSHALL & CO. LTD. , I FOREWORD O-DAY, the English sailing schooner is almost as dead as the dodo, and it is rather a doleful tale I T have to tell in these pages,-the story of the last days of sail in British waters. Twenty-five years ago or even less, our shores and our ports were literally alive with little sailing vessels engaged in our busy coasting trade, lovely sweet-lined topsail schooners, smart brigantines and stately barquentines; but old Father Time has dealt very hardly with them. What is the position to-day? Of all the great fleet that graced the British coasts in 1920, only two purely sailing vessels remain afloat in this year of grace 1947. These are the little topsail schooner Katie of Pad stow and the Irish three-masted topsail schooner Brook lands* of Cork. All the others have fallen by the way with the relentless passing of the years, or else they have been converted to cut-down auxiliary motor vessels, usually operating as motor ships rather than sailing vessels, and so the days of sail in the English coasting trade are "rapidly passing. No longer will one see a bunch of little schooners riding to their anchors in Falmouth Roads, and no longer will one see a fleet of wind-bound sailers sheltering off Holyhead. Yet these gallant little schooners of the West Country are not forgotten, and it is with the object of keeping their memory ever-green that this book is written. May it bring pleasure and interest to every one of its readers; if so, my work is well rewarded. JOHN ANDERSON. Printed by The Hereford Times Ltd., London and Hereford, and July, 1948. published by Percival Marshall & Co., Ltd., 23, Great Queen Falkirk. Street, London, W.C.2. * See Footnote in text. COASTWISE SAIL ADA Ada was a wooden two-masted topsail schooner of 133 tons gross, measuring 88·6' X 22·3' X 11·5\ built in 1876 at Ulverston, her port of registry being Barrow. After many long years round our shores in the coal and china clay trades, the old ship was converted to a house boat in the river Gannell, near Newquay. I understand that an old two-master still lies in this little river and this may well be the old Ada, but she is-alas-in a sad state of dilapidation and disintegration, like so many old ships at the present time. Ada was one of the very few coasting schooners with painted ports. ALERT I A very handsome wooden three-masted topsail schooner of 163 tons, a real aristocrat of the coasting trade, measuring 103·8' X 23·6' X 11·1'. She was built at Runcorn in 1885 and in her palmy days she made many a smart passage across the Western Ocean to New foundland in the saltfish trade. She spent the evening of her career in wandering all round our rock-bound coasts with cargoes of coal, kaolin or salt. She was a wonderfully lucky little ship and had few mishaps. In 1932, she sailed from Cornwall to Leith in only 15 days. 2 COASTWISE. SAlt COASTWISE SAIL 3 In 1936, she lost her sails and anchor in Moelfre Bay and and Southern ports and once again she caught fire but this was abandoned, but she was picked up and taken into port time was only slightly damaged. Just before the Great next day. Here are two of her 1937 trips-Runcorn War she was sold to Robertson of Lerwick and he fitted Falmouth, 18 days; Cornwall-Mersey, 7 days. In 1937, her with a motor. In July, 1917, while on passage from she was sold to the Marquis of Anglesey as a yacht. A Methil to Lerwick, Ariel was shelled and sunk by a German motor was installed and the topsail yards were retained, submarine off Peterhead. Her crew were picked up by a but the conversion was· not a success and the fine old ship British naval patrol boat. was sold to shipbreakers. - BALTIC of Dublin A small two-masted topsail schooner of 87 tons gross, ALICE WILLIAMS built away back in 1857 by Jones at Rhyl, her dimensions A sturdy two-masted topsail schooner of 132 tons, being 78' X 20 · 7' X 9'. In her early days she was a her dimensions being 88·3' X 22·9' X 11·8'. She was slate trader and sailed deepwater for many years. Latterly, built away back in 1854 at Llanelly in Wales, and was she was Irish owned and plied in the coastal trade, usually certainly built to last. Most of her long life was spent in sailing between the Mersey and various small Irish ports. the Welsh slate trade. The end came in February, 1928, In September, 1928, this salt-seasoned old-timer ran on the when she stranded in a dense fog at the foot of a cliff on rocks at Ro"scarberry and, though she was refloated, she was the west coast island of Skokholm and became a totalloSi. found to be too seriously damaged to be worth repairing. She had painted ports. * BROOKLANDS ex SUSAN VIITERYt ARIEL A wooden three-masted topsail schooner of 140 tons gross and measuring 100·6' X 21·4' X 12·1'. Brook A very stoutly-built wooden topsail schooner of only lands was built in 1859 by Kelly of Dartmouth. Originally 99 tons net, Ariel first saw service as an English Channel a two-masted vessel, she was one of the famous Brixham pilot schooner in the Solent for which she was built at fleet of fruit scl!ooners trading to the Azores and -later Cowes in 1844. She was a pilot vessel until 1860 when made , several Atlantic passages to Newfoundland. In she switched over to the -other end of the B~itish Isles, 1879, her owner, Mr. Vittery of Brixham, sold her to being sold to owners in the then-remote Shetland Isles. Mr. H. A. Hawkey ofBrixham. She was in trouble shortly She now fished for cod off the Faroe Islands each summer, and in the winter sailed to the Baltic and to Spain with • This vessel has now been sold for service between Liverpool and the islands of the West Indies. She is fitting out for this trade and cargoes of salted fish. In 1872, she was badly damaged will be fitted with auxiliary engines, the usual practice with all sailing vessels to-day. It is hoped that this fine old sailing ship will yet attain by fire at Baltasound and had to be completely rebuilt. her century. In 1880 she became a coaster and traded between Lerwick t lllustrated. 4 COASTWISE SAIL COASTWISE SAIL 5 afterwards and had her bows damaged. In repairing her very lucrative freights, as did anything that could float at MI. Hawkey had a figurehead made and fitted, using his that time. After the war, she became a coaster and was wife, Ellen Hawkey, as the model. In 1884 Mr. Hawkey owned by her master, Captain Kelly; but freights fell to sold her to Newquay owners and she became a humble a low level and cargoes of any kind were lamentably few coaster. In 1918 she passed to H. Parker of Grimsby so, after a few years, the good captain gave up the useless and soon afterwards ran ashore, her repairs costing about struggle and put the old ship on the market. No one £13,000. She was sold in 1923 to her present owner, wanted her as a sailing vessel and she was eventually sold Captain Creenan of Ballinacurra, Ireland, and is afloat for service as a humble barge, and is now at the port of to this day, usually trading to the Mersey or the Bristol Sharpness under the name Enterprise. Channel. She relies entirely on the wind for propulsion * CROWN OF DENMARK ex AUTO ex AFIENA and is always kept in first-class condition as her owner MAR CHIENA has a real pride in the old ship. She has had many mis A modern steel shallow-draught coaster of 136 tons, haps in her time but always survived them. Recently, she this vessel was at first a fine two-masted motor schooner, was fitted with an entirely new suit of canvas so she may but now she is a sadly cut-down motor ketch, depending be good for many more years of service. The detail more on power than sails for propulsion. She is 136 tons photographs of the figurehead and the transom stern gross and measures 101·6' X 19·1' X 8·5'. She was which we reproduce will be of use to model-makers who are built in Holland in 1918, being owned there originally. interested in this type of vessel. She now potters about the Bristol Channel with occasional C. & F. NURSEt cargoes of Welsh coal, usually loading for such ports as A fine modern, steel, two-masted topsail schooner of Gloucester or Avonmouth. Incidentally this little coaster 110 tons, she was built as recently as 1900 by Lean of was the last ship to sight the ill-fated submarine Ml on . Falmouth for Nurse Brothers of Bridgwater. Her dimen her last fatal cruise, when so many gallant lives were lost . sions were 89 · 7' X 21· 8' X 9 · 9'. She was a very fine CYMRIC of Dublin example of a small steel-built sailing vessel, of which quite An iron three-masted fore-and-aft twin screw motor a number were turned out at the close of the century.

Load more