Jump to content

Sheffield-sized boats


Pluto

Featured Posts

On ‎08‎/‎10‎/‎2018 at 13:10, Roy Batty said:

I, and a couple of friends, saved a Sheffield keel (that looks to be from the 40s or 50s) from being scrapped last summer because of a rotten hull. We bought her and intend in the coming months to have her completely underplated and touch up the superstructure so that she will last another 80 years. 

I am very familiar with 'overplated' but I have not come across the term 'underplated' before. Can you clarify what this means please :captain:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

3 minutes ago, pete harrison said:

I am very familiar with 'overplated' but I have not come across the term 'underplated' before. Can you clarify what this means please :captain:

Hi Pete, 

 

She will be overplated. I am not sure whether my phone auto-corrected my writings or if I had a short mental aberration. 

 

?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

3 minutes ago, Roy Batty said:

Hi Pete, 

 

She will be overplated. I am not sure whether my phone auto-corrected my writings or if I had a short mental aberration. 

 

?

Thanks, that makes more sense.

 

I am not too sure that overplating will extend the hull life expectancy by another 80 years but I wish you well with your project.

 

For your records A39 was built under W.J. Yarwood and Sons Ltd. 'Yard Number' 429, being launched on 03 April 1933 and completed on 10 April 1933 (nominal dimensions 61'0'' x 14'0½'' x 4'8'') - with its first engine being an 18hp Widdop :captain:

  • Greenie 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

16 minutes ago, pete harrison said:

Thanks, that makes more sense.

 

I am not too sure that overplating will extend the hull life expectancy by another 80 years but I wish you well with your project.

 

For your records A39 was built under W.J. Yarwood and Sons Ltd. 'Yard Number' 429, being launched on 03 April 1933 and completed on 10 April 1933 (nominal dimensions 61'0'' x 14'0½'' x 4'8'') - with its first engine being an 18hp Widdop :captain:

Great information, thank you. Are there records kept of these build details in books or files kept somewhere? 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

3 minutes ago, Roy Batty said:

Are there records kept of these build details in books or files kept somewhere? 

There are not records for every single boat, but those that do exist are scattered across archives and collections throughout the country. As far as W.J. Yarwood and Sons Ltd. are concerned there are numerous documents housed at Cheshire Records Office - but I am fortunate in having a few odd notes at home :captain:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

4 hours ago, pete harrison said:

I am very familiar with 'overplated' but I have not come across the term 'underplated' before. Can you clarify what this means please :captain:

Thank you so much! As a Continental member I had been desperately searching in all online dictionaries... ?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 08/10/2018 at 13:59, Roy Batty said:

That is so cool to know. 

 

Well rest assured that A39 will live on. She is now on the Thames awaiting welding. 

 

Thank you. 

 

Regards

 

Roy

Hi Roy

 

Nice interesting boat there. 

 

I noticed it at 4allmarine. 

 

Not sure if you have seen it out of water yet but I believe that replating may be the way forward and may also be very expensive. It has already been subjected to extensive over plating which has  not been helpful :(

 

lovely engine though ! 

 

Quite a bit more discussion and history here 

 

http://thunderboat.boards.net/thread/1604/leeds-liverpool-shortboats?page=1

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hi Roy Batty

From another guy called Roy posting as Angelo on Thunderboats. If you connect to this site there are several photos of the ex B I Fleet. under heading Leeds & Liverpool Short Boats. On page 5 are two of my favourite photos showing A 40 loaded with 50 tons of Grain for delivery to either ex Appleby's Daisyfield Mill or Greenwoods Mill both in Blackburn the boat in the distance on one photo is the A 38. There are also on that forum several photos of A 39 carrying coal on the Westwood Power Station run at Wigan.

My connection with these photos is because my Father Peter Gibbons was the Captain of the A 40.

Best Wishes for a successful restoration. 

 

Edited by royg
Post duplicate
Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 hours ago, royg said:

Hi Roy Batty

From another guy called Roy posting as Angelo on Thunderboats. If you connect to this site there are several photos of the ex B I Fleet. under heading Leeds & Liverpool Short Boats. On page 5 are two of my favourite photos showing A 40 loaded with 50 tons of Grain for delivery to either ex Appleby's Daisyfield Mill or Greenwoods Mill both in Blackburn the boat in the distance on one photo is the A 38. There are also on that forum several photos of A 39 carrying coal on the Westwood Power Station run at Wigan.

My connection with these photos is because my Father Peter Gibbons was the Captain of the A 40.

Best Wishes for a successful restoration. 

 

Wow, that is amazing. I will get on to that immediately. 

 

Thank you Royg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...
On 11/10/2018 at 12:18, pete harrison said:

Thanks, that makes more sense.

 

I am not too sure that overplating will extend the hull life expectancy by another 80 years but I wish you well with your project.

 

For your records A39 was built under W.J. Yarwood and Sons Ltd. 'Yard Number' 429, being launched on 03 April 1933 and completed on 10 April 1933 (nominal dimensions 61'0'' x 14'0½'' x 4'8'') - with its first engine being an 18hp Widdop :captain:

They are doing incredible plating here....so I believe it will be like A39 having a new Hull. Here is A Dutch barge partly replated. It is like a massive beautiful patchwork. 

IMG_20181018_180557.jpg

IMG_20181024_140938.jpg

IMG_20181023_173415.jpg

IMG_20181023_173358.jpg

IMG_20181012_220427.jpg

IMG_20181023_115220.jpg

On 14/10/2018 at 14:35, royg said:

Hi Roy Batty

From another guy called Roy posting as Angelo on Thunderboats. If you connect to this site there are several photos of the ex B I Fleet. under heading Leeds & Liverpool Short Boats. On page 5 are two of my favourite photos showing A 40 loaded with 50 tons of Grain for delivery to either ex Appleby's Daisyfield Mill or Greenwoods Mill both in Blackburn the boat in the distance on one photo is the A 38. There are also on that forum several photos of A 39 carrying coal on the Westwood Power Station run at Wigan.

My connection with these photos is because my Father Peter Gibbons was the Captain of the A 40.

Best Wishes for a successful restoration. 

 

I didn't know which images were A39 carrying coal. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

just for information purposes its worth clarifying the meaning of terms when it comes to steel hull works. 

 

The Dutch barge pictured above is having some overplating works. This is where new material (steel) is welded over the top of existing material (steel or possibly iron but probably steel). This will stop water getting in but because of the nature of the work it will also add weight to the boat and trap moisture between the existing hull and the new plating which will accelerate corrosion. 

 

Replating is where existing steel or iron plating is completely removed and new material added by welding from both sides. In effect a new hull. 

 

Replating is not feasible without completely stripping the interior below the waterline providing access from both sides to all the framing. Overplating can usually be carried out easily with internal lining floors etc in place. So its much less work and general aggravation but it is a completely different kettle of fish to replating. 

 

Overplating is viewed by some people as a modification which reduces the value of an interesting historic boat (but worth it to extend the life of some dutch scrap) because if you wish to restore the boat the overplating, which is often welded on somewhat above the waterline, will need to be removed and tidied up followed by replating so you have to do more work. And remove internal lining and floors etc.  

 

Just thought this might be worth clarifying :)

 

to be blunt A39 needs replating. Its going to be expensive. More overplating will keep it afloat but probably speed up its journey to the scrap yard. 

 

all in my opinion :)

 

its a nice boat. 

Edited by magnetman
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hi Roy Batty Locks

Just posted two photos of A 39, one at Westwood Power Station the day the contract finished.

All the Sister Boats together left to right A 40 , A 37 , A 39 in the foreground A 41.

The other photo shows A 39 approaching Poolstock Locks on the Leigh Branch Nr. Wigan

Regards

Roy Gibbons

  • Greenie 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I used to take A39 along the Sheffield canal to Tinsley and back when she was a restaurant boat. Lightly ballasted she was a bugger to steer and would “slide” quite alarmingly around tight bends, which made the night time trips interesting. The hull was definitely getting thin in places. After the first day of a winter cruise heading for docking at Castleford, thin ice had holed the bows around the water line. Luckily there was some Blu-tac on board that set overnight as a temporary repair!  Lovely engine though.

  • Greenie 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

43 minutes ago, noddyboater said:

I used to take A39 along the Sheffield canal to Tinsley and back when she was a restaurant boat. Lightly ballasted she was a bugger to steer and would “slide” quite alarmingly around tight bends, which made the night time trips interesting. The hull was definitely getting thin in places. After the first day of a winter cruise heading for docking at Castleford, thin ice had holed the bows around the water line. Luckily there was some Blu-tac on board that set overnight as a temporary repair!  Lovely engine though.

Ops she must have been overplated at some point because she sat around Sheffield basin doing nowt for years! Mind she was low in the water so maybe she wasnt ?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

She already had plenty of plating when she arrived in Sheffield to start the new job. The annual docking at Castleford normally added one or two, when overplating was still allowed.

I remember being down in the engine room during a November evening cruise, when unknown to me some little darlings threw a lit firework at us. It got drawn towards the prop and went off under the hull next to me, with a mighty loud bang.

 I spent the rest of the trip checking the area for leaks!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 5 months later...

I owned Ethelwood (which was correctly listed as a Dunston Sheffield Design Humber Keep from the early 1950s) after she had been moved to Kingston-on-Thames in the late 1970s, and had her interior converted into accommodation; I had her on a mooring on Chelsea Reach from 1979 to 1984. She still had her Lister engine working, and we made various trips down and up the Thames. She later moved to Shoreham where she now lies.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 9 months later...
  • 10 months later...

I remember seeing a long (74 feet?) Humber Keel in the Port du Canal, Dijon, France, many years ago. It’s still there if you look on Google Earth. It’s the one at the end of the jetty. Unfortunately it’s not possible to zoom in on a ground level shot, so you can’t see it in profile. There was no name on the bows or stern but I had a feeling that the name began with “V”.

Edited by XLD
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue.