Will (Thames barge)
Thames sailing barge Will
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History | |
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United Kingdom | |
Name |
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Port of registry | London, United Kingdom. |
Builder | Fellows & Co, Great Yarmouth |
Launched | 1925 |
Identification |
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General characteristics | |
Class and type | Thames sailing barge |
Length | 97.6 ft (29.75 m) overall |
Beam | 23.1 ft (7.04 m) |
Draught | 6 ft (1.83 m) |
Depth | 9.6 ft (2.93 m) |
Propulsion | Sail and auxiliary diesel engine |
Sail plan | Mainsail, topsail, mizzen, foresail, jib, flying jib) |
Complement | 3 or 4 |
Notes | Website: [1] |
Will is a
Early life as an Everard barge
Will Everard, as she was originally known, was commissioned by F.T. Everard in 1925 as one of four steel-hulled sister ships. The vessels were to be the largest Thames sailing barges ever built and were coasters destined for ports up to Newcastle in the north-east and round to Poole in the southwest.[1] The Barges were built to Mr F.T. Everard's exact specifications and named after four family members: Will, Ethel, Fred and Alf. According to long term skipper, Jim Uglow MBE, "four stouter built barges never put to sea."[2]
Will Everard was finished in 1925 and worked for the firm for over 40 years. She was initially bound to a coal contract supplying the gasworks at Margate with coal from Keadby[1] on the Humber but routinely fitted in other cargoes between voyages. She was designed to be sailed by a Master, a Mate and two boys, however, her large size meant in practice a man at Third Hand proved more capable than two boys. In the 1930s she parted cables while sitting though a storm off Eastbourne and was blown ashore and battered on the beach for hours before the storm passed. She was found buried in the shingle, damaged but intact (her bottom survived this damage for decades before it was finally replaced in 2006). She was towed out by horse and the rig was repaired within days.[3]
World War II
Will Everard was due to participate in the Dunkirk evacuation, but her cargo was not unloaded in time.[4] Her sister ship, Ethel Everard was lost on the beaches[clarification needed] and left aground. Will Everard continued her trade work throughout the war. She completed 147 coasting voyages and carried, in total, 38,345 tons of cargo that included grain, sugar beet, oil cake, fertilisers, flour, sugar and cement.[5]
In 1940, she was machine gunned twice in the River Medina and bombed in a daylight raid at Phoenix Wharf by the Luftwaffe. In the same year another Thames sailing barge, Britisher, was destroyed by depth charges only 300 yards away.[6] In 1942 she was very nearly torpedoed off Harwich by a German motor torpedo boat and in the following year she was attacked by a Focke-Wulf that shot 1,000 holes through her mainsail.[7] However, none of her crew were injured and by this point her wheelhouse had been reinforced with steel to withstand aircraft mounted machine guns. Jim Uglow was awarded an MBE for his work becoming the only Barge Master to be honoured with such an achievement in this line of work.[8]
A new life for an old barge?
Will Everard continued to trade after the war and was for a while the largest barge to remain trading under sail. However, the fleets were smaller and the sail trade was changing. An auxiliary engine was fitted in 1950 but the cost of running the barges was going up, many of the crews sought work elsewhere and shipping was changing with the introduction of containerization and a growing road network.
She was sold out of trade in 1966 to Vernon Harvey for £750
In 1986, P&O (
Her skipper of 17 years, Sue Harrison, bought her in 1999 before she was sold to Mark Tower and Topsail Events in 2004 to continue work in corporate hospitality.[8] Her hull has had many colours, notably green under OCL and dark blue under P&O, however, she was recently repainted in 2006 by the current owner into her original grey hull with gold sheer line. Between 2018 and early 2020, she operated out of the Pool of London by a charter company called Thames Leisure. In 2020 she was bought outright by another owner and operates as Thames Barge Will. She is moored at the heart of Canary Wharf in the West India Docks where she cruises through London, the east coast and beyond.
In 1996, Will was made a part of the
See also
Citations
- ^ a b
Paul, Brown (2013). Historic Sail: Britain's Surviving Working Craft. ISBN 978-0-7524-8581-2.
- ^ Uglow 1975, p 96
- ^ Uglow 1975, p 134
- ^ Uglow 1975, p 145
- ^ Carr 1989, p 357
- ^ Carr 1989, p 358–359
- ^ Carr 1989, p 360
- ^ a b c d e
Paul, Brown (2013). Historic Sail: Britain's Surviving Working Craft. ISBN 978-0-7524-8581-2.
- ^ a b Carr 1989, p409
- ^ National Historic Ships
References
- "Will". National Historic Ships. Retrieved 15 August 2014.
- Carr, Frank G. G. (1989). Sailing Barges: A New Edition. Terence Dalton Limited. ISBN 0-86138-060-6.
- Uglow, Jim (1975). Sailorman: A Barge-Master's Story. ISBN 085177-085-1.