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The fate of Irish Lightships
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Simon has taken himself off on a short holiday – well deserved I must say. Before he left he found time to smarten up the repairs he has been doing on the stern bulwark (Photo 991). Of course painting at deck level is easy, but the hull needs some TLC as well. He can only do what is within reach from above (Photo 992).
Eventually of course he will have to take to the water – hopefully not to the mud like the chap I showed up to his hips in it (April).
The stern and the port side are accessible and there is good news about the starboard side access, currently blocked by not one, but two ‘hangers on’. After two years of asking, the marine owners have finally agreed to park these vessels elsewhere. One actually belongs to them and the other is an abandoned restoration project – no sign of the owner (or mooring fees) for a year or more. It will be interesting to see the condition of that side of Simon’s ship.
The other excitement to look forward to is the de-rusting below deck – something which is badly needed (Photo 993). We are hoping that this will be by dry-ice blasting, which leaves no residue apart from rust dust. However, it is not going to be cheap, so if any of my readers know of a charitable person/trust/organisation which would like to help preserve one of the very few ‘composite’ ships still afloat, do get in touch!
If we can get this work done it will mark the start of the below deck preservation. As long-term readers will remember, downstairs does need a great deal of work (Photo 994). When the rust has gone (well most of it anyway), the interior will be painted and/or sealed with sprayed insulating foam. Simon does not want a bland, smooth box, so we will have to devise some way of keeping the character, perhaps be leaving those frames partially exposed?
David0 -
When I started writing this story (September 2013), I hoped that people with knowledge and/or memories of lightships in general and Cormorant in particular, would get in touch and add to the story. I post each chapter on my blog and on three nautical-type websites, including this one. Over 1,000 people view each weekly chapter on the four sites and the 21 month total has passed 74,000. In spite of this interest, the feedback has been rather sparse, but then I suppose that people with knowledge and/or memories of lightships prior to WWII must also be very sparse! I am very grateful to those who have responded. However, researchers and historians are continually delving into the past and unearthing previously lost or forgotten facts, which may or may not be relevant to their field. I did wonder when I found the Trinity House record of Winston Churchill being fined one shilling for smoking at a board meeting, whether any of his biographers knew of the incident.
Well, out of the blue, I have been contacted by Dr Eoin Kinsella of the University College Dublin. He is currently working for the Commissioners of Irish Lights, putting together a history of the Commissioners during the revolutionary decade in Ireland (c.1912-22). It seems that, in 1916, Cormorant was requisitioned by the Royal Navy to temporarily house some rebel prisoners. It was for only one night and they were taken off to Dublin the next day. It does seem a lot of trouble to go to and I wonder if they were rebels of importance. The documentation found by Dr Kinsella was in the very formal style of the time – I wonder if anyone today uses the phrase “I am, Sir, Your obedient Servant” ! Photo 101 shows one of the original documents and as it is quite faded I have transcribed it below.
Irish Light Stores
Kingstown
Co. Dublin
Date 3rd May 1916
Sir,
I beg to report that on the afternoon of 1st inst, I received a visit from the Naval Commander here stating that the Captain in Charge of the Naval Base at Kingstown required the use of one of our Lightships in the Harbour here for purposes of their own services.
I took the Officer over to the “Petrel” and “Cormorant” and he decided on the latter vessel and asked that a few small matters such as securing latches and putting some loose material away should be carried out which I had done. Some few men were sent on board during the night in charge of a Guard from the Naval ship in the Harbour, and next day the Prisoners were removed and the vessel was not further required as will be seen by the enclosed letter.
I am,
Sir,
Your obedient Servant,
J R Foot
Superintendent
The Secretary,
Irish Lights Office,
Dublin.
The enclosed letter referred to by Mr Foot is a letter from the Navy saying they have no further use for Cormorant as the prisoners have been moved to Dublin (Photo 102).
Next year is the centenary of the 1916 Easter Rising and there will no doubt be a great deal of interest in that era which, I hope, will yield further revelations on Cormorant’s past. I intend to approach the Admiralty to see whether any records of that period still exist and whether the names of those special prisoners can be ascertained. A long shot? Yes it is, but who would have thought that I would be able to find out the name of the tugboat skipper who towed Cormorant from Dublin to Belfast in 1943 ? (Mr John Cooper).
David0 -
Very much heartened by the kind comments I have been receiving about the blog and the restoration/preservation work, on we go.
A couple of posts ago I mentioned that Simon could paint only the areas of the hull that he could reach. A spell in dry dock would bring all areas within reach for painting and inspection, but out of reach financially! So necessity being the mother of invention, he has devised a platform which will float on the water, or the mud (depending on the state of the tide) and give him access to the areas not within reach from the deck (Photo 1011). It is a large, thick slab of expanded polystyrene sandwiched between two aluminium plates. It floats well even with Simon on it – a bit wobbly at times he says. “Rather him than me” I hear you cry. I can but agree but you can’t tell your children anything they don’t want to hear, especially when they have passed 40.
In my 6 June posting I mentioned that, at last, the two ships moored alongside Simon were going to be moved and he went off on holiday looking forward to them not being there when he returned. Surprise, surprise they are still there. Apparently there were gales in the Medway estuary every day last week, preventing any boat moving. That must have made flying difficult for all those pigs overhead!! So I (Disgusted of North Wales) have been searching the Internet for another berth for him in the Medway area, but 100ft residential berths are hard to find.
On the historical side I have sent a query to the National Maritime Museum to start the hunt for Royal Navy records of the 1916 requisition and another to an Irish commemorative group who keep alive the memory of the rebels who were executed in May 1916. No response from either yet.
Finally, a question for my nautical readers. Photo 1012 (taken in about 1908) shows Cormorant’s lifeboat hanging on davits. It is hanging inboard and the boat is longer than the space between the two davits. How does it get outboard when being launched?
David0 -
Well I had a different version of this post all ready to be published, including the answer to my davits question, when Brenden O’Connell contacted me. He first sent me a map from 1877 showing the Victoria Dock area (Photo 1021 courtesy Trinity College Dublin). This map was published at the time when Cormorant was being built and shows a lot of detail –the positions of cranes, capstans etc. It also shows (the three maps that make up this picture are high resolution) that the ‘fuzzy’ edges of the docks – something I had seen on other maps – are in fact a series of lines. All became clear when Brenden sent me his second consignment of delights – two wonderful old photos of the Victoria dock in action (Photos 1022 and 1023).
These make it clear that the sides of the dock were stepped, which accounted for those multiple lines on the map. Photo 1023 is of an unknown vessel, but 1022 shows the paddle steamer "America", which was the last tender to attend RMS Titanic off Roche's Point at the mouth of Cork Harbour. The PS America and its twin PS Ireland were a pair of tenders at Cobh (then Queenstown) bringing passengers and baggage to and from the liners at the mouth of the harbour. So thank you Brenden for those nuggets.
Meanwhile, back at the ranch, one of Simon’s two ‘hangers on’ has finally been moved. Quite ugly and obviously unloved, this abandoned project is now moored in front of Simon, beyond the end of the catwalk (Photo 1024). The second is due to be moved today or tomorrow …. we shall see!
David0 -
My enquiries into Cormorant’s brief episode as a prison ship have not got very far. I am exploring three avenues – the Ministry of Defence because they probably ordered the dirty work; the Royal Navy because they did the dirty work; and the Irish organisation who celebrate the memory of the rebels, who were the dirty work! Nothing heard yet from Ireland, but I have had a reply from the National Maritime Museum. However we had crossed wires somehow and I received information about HMS Cormorant and how to find out about her RN crew, so I have gone back with clarification. The other avenue I could try is the National Archives at Kew. Annoyingly, last year at a car rally lunch I sat next to a young chap who works there and I did not make a note of his contact details. Long term readers may remember that I obtained from Kew copies of the blueprints which were sent down from Belfast to Dublin in 1942, specifying what was to be done to Cormorant in her transformation from lightship to Pilot Station. So I am quite hopeful that they may have records about this Royal Navy activity in 1916.
One question has been answered (thank you Jim) – how to get the cutter/lifeboat from inboard the davits to outboard. The sequence is quite straightforward, although the dimensions of the davits and the boat need to be well thought out. I have even tried out the sequence, albeit on paper (Photos 1031 - 1034).
Meanwhile, back on the Medway, that second vessel hanging onto Simon’s starboard side was not moved when promised (surprise, surprise!). Excuses included too much wind on Friday and not enough water on Saturday. However, there was movement in that the ‘tug’ was moored alongside ready for action. Now that I see the size of the ‘tug’, I can sympathise with the Marina’s desire for absolutely perfect conditions! (Photo 1035).
The latest news is that an attempt was actually made to move her but the hold was full of water and so she did not come far enough out of her mud bed with the tide. The bilge pump has been working overtime and a bigger ‘tug’ engaged. Watch this space!
David0 -
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Pursuing the ‘prison ship’ line of enquiry, I looked for the naval officer who requisitioned Cormorant and stored prisoners aboard for one night – 1 May 1916. Signatures are often hard to decipher, which is why many people print their names beneath their scrawl. The letter I showed in June from the ‘Captain in Charge’ of the Kingstown Naval Base, saying ‘thank you for the loan of Cormorant, you can have her back now’, had no printed name beneath the scrawl (Photo 1041). His appointment also proved difficult as the man in charge of the base at that time was no less than Admiral Sir Lewis Bayly – rather more elevated than a Captain. I am sure my naval readers will be able to explain that apparent anomaly.
So, concentrating on the signature I searched the National Archives, first trying J Aplin, then H Aplin and scored a hit – Henry F Aplin, born 9 June 1862; commissioned as a Sub-Lieutenant 22 March 1882; Commander 31 December 1897; and retired as Captain 23 June 1908. I thought I had reached a dead end. Well it cost me £3.30 to download his service record but it was worth it. He was recalled, as many retired officers were, when war loomed and was posted to ‘Boadicea II’ (Kingstown Naval Base) in December 1915, which puts him at the right place at the right time to do that bit of requisitioning (Photo 1042).
Aplin is not a common name, so if anyone out there knows the family, perhaps enquiries could be made to see if Captain Aplin left any memoires. He passed away in 1927 and his brothers Charles and Stephen were appointed executors. The address at that time was in the Kilburn area of London.
Great news (at last!). The second ‘hanger-on’ has been moved to another mooring after 18 months of asking. Pumping out the hold and using a bigger tug obviously worked. The shore view on the starboard side was blocked (Photo 1043) and is now uninterrupted (Photo 1044).
Simon reports that he cannot stop looking out of the kitchen, sorry galley, window (Photo 1045).
« Tout vient à point à qui sait attendre »
David0 -
Until now Simon had never seen the starboard side of his ship and his ship’s starboard side had not seen the light of day for many years! With the removal of the two ‘hangers-on’, all that has changed. A fellow owner took Simon out in his motor boat to take photographs, but they had to be quick as the tide was going out and the weather closing in! A closer inspection and more detailed photographs will be possible soon.
Photo 1051 shows the whole vessel. Originally the stanchions were not visible, being boarded over with 2-inch English oak around bow and stern and teak amidships. All that has long gone and I doubt whether Simon will be able to afford replacement.
Photo 1052 shows the bows, with the prominent Knight-heads. The hawse-pipes look as if they would let in water but of course they slope sharply upwards to deck level.
Photo 1053 is a close-up of the ship’s side. The teak planking is very obvious, as is that port which looks as though it has been (partially) bunged up with expanding foam! Less obvious, just below this port, is the Muntz metal sheathing. Comparing this with old photographs of Cormorant, I estimate that she is riding about a foot higher in the water these days and the Muntz was mostly under water back then.
So, along with the excitement and pleasure of uninterrupted views across the Medway estuary, Simon now has an uninterrupted view of the work required on the starboard hull. I suppose after 137 years of sea and weather, it’s not looking too bad !
David0 -
In an idle moment I used Photoshop to reinstate the gunwale/side strakes on the ship (and paint her sides) to see what she could look like if Simon won the Lottery (Photo 1061). She obviously looks a lot smarter than the photos in my last post, but also I think better proportioned. Well we can dream.
Back to reality and unretouched photos. The stern is as imposing as the bow (Photo 1062) and up on top there the bollards, having lost the mooring lines of the hangers-on, have been cleaned and painted to match the restored gunwale (Photo 1063).
Perhaps I should not be calling it the gunwale. If the side strakes were in place (have I got that right?), surely the gunwale would sit on top of them – the bit you lean on when admiring the view?
Grabbing the odd spare hour or two and tackling small jobs like this does keep up the momentum I suppose and they all have to be done sooner or later. But below deck a far bigger challenge awaits and cannot be put off forever. (Photo 1064) For a start the inner sides/walls (?) and ceiling/overhead (?) must be de-rusted and painted - about 2,400 sq ft at a rough guess, three weeks hard work for a three man labour force. For one man working very part time ………
David0 -
I had a long and interesting phone call recently with Anthony Lane, who wrote that excellent book on Lightships ‘Guiding Lights’. Tony visited Simon’s ship back in 2000 at Hoo. She was then called ‘Lady December’; still had her mizzen; and was still partially painted red. He says it was difficult to see much as the ship was very cluttered, but he did send me one photo of the starboard stern lead (Photo 1071).
This relates to Steve’s question about stern hawes pipes, so it set me thinking. Although these vessels were not anchored by the stern whilst on station, they did need some form of mooring when in harbour, whether they were tied up alongside, or stern first. The ropes, which I assume were fed through leads, had to be secured to something substantial on the ship. The stern leads on Cormorant have long since disappeared, but there are twin bollards on either side (as shown in my last post). Her bow leads (Photo 1072) are still in use.
However I cannot find much evidence of bollards on similar vessels, mainly because the photos I do have were mostly taken from other craft and any bollards are hidden by the gunwales. That is not to say there were no bollards there, but nor can I find any evidence of stern leads or gaps in the gunwales where the bollards would be.
There are two exceptions – Gull and the ill-fated Puffin (Photo 1073) – the bollards are visible, but both vessels were in a very poor state when the photos were taken and the gunwales have disintegrated in more than one spot.
How did the ropes leave these vessels? Not over the top of the rail surely! Tony Lane pointed out a likely candidate in the photo of Guillemot I sent him, but a better resolution picture (Photo 1074) showed that it was more of a projection than a hole and Tony correctly deduced that it was the signalling cannon.
The model of the Seagull in the Dublin Maritime Museum (Photo 1075) has the canon in just the right place and also has bollards. But where are the leads or gaps in the gunwales? Of course a model is just an artist’s impression of what he sees – or to which photographs and documents he has access.
This is more fun than a Telegraph crossword !
David
PS: Is ‘gunwale’ the correct term for the ‘fence’ that goes round the ship between the deck and the rail? Nobody has answered this question which I also put in my last post.0 -
Well I feel rather diffident about pontificating on nautical terms, me being a pongo, but with help from John and others I think I have got it now. Using a photo of Cormorant from 1991, I have labelled the various bits (no, sorry, John tells me that ‘bits’ are the ‘bollards’ on a ship and ‘bollards’ are big versions of ‘bits’, usually on shore), so I have labelled the various items (Photo 1081). The stern leads then were in much better condition than in my last post and in addition to these, Cormorant has gaps in the bulwark for mooring lines. However, as I said earlier, I cannot see leads or gaps on the early photos of Irish lightships.
Getting back to historical research again, I have made a little progress on those Irish rebels who were ‘guests’ aboard Cormorant on 1 May 1916. I put a paragraph on a website called ‘Ships and Navies – Great War Forum’, hoping that the 1916 uprising might feature. ‘Johnny’ supplied this nugget after much digging:-
“Some prisoners taken in Galway were detained on board HMS Laburnum. The trawler Guillimot also gets a mention with Galway prisoners. Captain Aplin was in charge of the RN in Kingstown and had travelled up the Liffey early on in the Rising on the Helga.
‘The Sea Hound’ by Daire Brunicardi contains a reference to Capt Alpin and mentions Boadicea II being ordered to steam at full speed to Skerries. Threads in this forum suggest HMY Boudicea II was depot ship for Kingstown and Holyhead. There is also mention of a ship of the Commissioners of Irish Lights being requisitioned as a temporary prison whilst transport to British camps was organized. No names or details”.
So, leaving no stone unturned, I have obtained a copy of ‘The Sea Hound’ and also a copy of ‘Danger Zone’ by E Keble Chatterton, which deals with RN activities in this period. The latter arrived first and I scoured its pages. Chatterton does mention the Easter Rising, but the only useful bit of information relating to my search for the identity of those Cormorant prisoners, was in his description of the number of suspected rebels rounded up by the Army and Navy – thousands! I would think officials were desperate to find ‘homes’ for the prisoners awaiting transportation to Dublin or mainland UK.
The book actually concentrates on the bitter struggle between the Royal Navy and the German U-boats in the Irish Sea and the Western Approaches. I am finding this book quite fascinating. I had no idea that the U-boat campaign in WWI was so successful and nearly turned the tide of war, as indeed it almost did again in WWII.
‘The Sea Hound’ does mention the requisition of Cormorant and as stated by Johnny, there were no details about the vessel or the prisoners:-
“In Kingstown a vessel of the Commissioners of Irish Lights was requisitioned as a temporary prison while transport to the British camps was being organised.”
So at the moment I conclude that the small group of guests, who spent the night of 1 May 1916 on Simon’s ship, were probably just a bunch of bolshie local residents! However, I think it worthwhile to contact the author, Daire Brunicardi, to see whether he has any more information which he did not include. He is apparently on Facebook, but I am not, so Simon will have to try. It reminds me of the man who liked the idea of Facebook but did not have a computer. So he walked around the town chatting to strangers, showing them pictures of his kids and telling them all about his illnesses and what he did each day. He soon had four ‘followers’ – two policemen, a psychiatrist and a social worker!
David0 -
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PS: I am told that 'bits' should be 'bitts' and 'bulwark' should be 'bulwarks'.0
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Well there is good news and not so good news to report. The good news is that we have been given a length of rope for the ship. Actually that is an understatement because the ‘rope’ is over 60 metres in length and about 120mm in diameter. I would imagine it has been used to secure something like the QEII to the dockside! (Photo 1091) The Lightship is already secure and would not need something as substantial as this. It is in good condition, although probably not good enough for the QEII, and we are going to use it as a rail (on top of the bulwarks - when they are back in place) right around the ship. Taking my doctored photo of the ship and adding this rail shows what it will look like (Photo 1092).
The bad news is that Simon has been out in his canoe again taking photos, this time at very low tide. With the ship sitting on the mud, a lot more of the hull is visible. Much of the revealed surface looks fine, if somewhat barnacled/limpeted (Photo 1093), Here and there are what look like oysters!
However, there are one or two nasty looking holes at the bow (Photo 1094), which look much worse on closer inspection (Photo 1095).
Now the bilges are not filling at every tide, indeed the bilge pumps have very little to do, so this may not be as bad as it looks, but somehow we have to check. Any ideas? Is it the dreaded Gribble Worm?
One thought has occurred to me – the bow seems to have a very thick extra piece attached, which incorporates the hawes pipes and the bow leads and stretches from gunwale to keel. I am told (thank you Bill) that this is called the Bow Doubler. Simon and I had not noticed this feature before now. If this is separate from the main hull, although attached to it, the holes may not matter. Or am I clutching at straws?
David0 -
I went down to the lightship this week, delivering the rope and a couple of huge pieces of herringbone patterned coir carpet for Simon’s living room. I am told I should not call it a salon because that is defined as “A salon is a gathering of people under the roof of an inspiring host, held partly to amuse one another and partly to refine the taste and increase the knowledge of the participants through conversation”. Well I am sure that is what it will be when Simon gets a bit further in the restoration. A saloon is “A public room for ship’s passengers” – not quite appropriate – and the term wardroom is a little militaristic. So ‘living room’ will do for now.
As an aside, the M6 is in a mess around Birmingham and it took 40 minutes to go three miles. It’s well worth paying the charge on the M6 toll road. The M25 is awful – over an hour to do two miles – and the M1 has about 30 miles of 50mph restriction. What do we pay our road tax for?
Back to the story. The other reason I went down there was to deliver and try out my air compressor and de-scaler nail gun. It is hard, noisy work, but easier and quicker that the traditional chip, chip, chip with a hammer. The resulting surface is not bare metal (unless you really go at it hard and long), but all loose scale, paint and dirt is removed (Photo 1101). Areas A and B and the ledge above B have been cleaned; C and D have not. Of course the debris has then to be removed, unless we want the bilges full of rust, paint and dust!
Taking a break from the noise and dirt, I was pleased to see the above deck areas looking so good. The new wall-paper in the living room looks very smart indeed and the decking also. The starboard deck is a bit cluttered with ‘useful’ bits and pieces, but the port side looks very ship-shape (Photo 1102). That ‘rubberoid’ playground matting is pleasant to walk on and protects the waterproofing underneath. At the stern Simon has finished his decking and he is not going to stain and varnish it because he likes the weather-beaten effect he got with just a sealant (Photo 1103)
I took time out to relax on a recliner and admire the view across the estuary, now that the hangers-on have gone (Photo 1104) and it is easy to see why Simon prefers living afloat to living in a London flat. Last year he briefly sported a ‘full set’, which made him look very nautical and I did a portrait of him with a background of his upper deck and the estuary. If I say so myself, I think it turned out quite well (Photo 1105). He has been clean-shaven ever since, but that is another matter!
David0 -
Last weekend Simon had a visit from Tony Lane (“Guiding Lights”), who visited the ship in 2000, long before Simon acquired it. He had a good look around over two days and measured almost everything! He also produced a large file with some very interesting photos in it. One showed the riding lantern which I featured back in January 2014, (Photo 1111).
However, his photo, taken by him in 2000 has it in its rightful place at the top of the mizzen mast (Photo 1112). In fact there were two there at the time and I wonder where the other one went when the mizzen was ‘felled’! They obviously were not hoisted up and down and they were electric. Riding lanterns were not present in any photo up to 1908 and there is then a big gap in my photographic record up to the conversion in the Liffey Dockyard in 1943. They do appear on the blueprints for that conversion (Photo 1113) and subsequent photos, so I assume they date from then.
Tony also produced a photo of two doors in the superstructure (Photo 1114). Through the glass you can make out the walkway, so this must be the port side and as there is a triangular fillet visible (wall to roof), this must be the living room – there are no fillets in the kitchen (no pun intended!). However, there is only one door in that area; it is very different (Photo 1115) from the two in Tony’s photo; and there is no trace of a second door.
I suppose the answer should have been obvious. They are not doors, they are rather elaborate windows! Not at all suitable for a storm tossed ship unable to seek shelter from a force 9 gale! The windows (there are 4 in the port wall) are now plain rectangular double-glazed units, with no sign of those fancy shutters, which is a pity.
David0 -
Simon is gallivanting around Europe on a car rally at the moment, so nothing to report from him – except for the latest sinking of the good ship Ena (Photo 1121). Yes there is a ship down there – or what’s left of a ship. I would not be at all surprised if this time it’s terminal. I think the attempts to dry dock her have been abandoned and she will eventually be sold to the scrappers. This was what Cormorant was heading for two years ago, before Simon found her.
Ena, is/was an interesting sailing barge – she was built in 1906 and was originally a small boomie before being converted to a sprittie – and she’s also a registered Dunkirk little ship. In 2002 the TV program Salvage Squad did an extensive restoration and actually had her sailing. In 2011 she was up for sale (on eBay!!) starting at £85,000, I don’t know whether she sold, but she has been going downhill/ underwater ever since. What a waste! I am glad Simon saved Cormorant from such a fate, in spite of the huge amount of work and investment involved.
In tracing Cormorant’s evolution, I am faced with a big gap between 1908 and 1943. Her early years are reasonably clear – she lost her foremast around the end of the century (the 18th century!) and had her hoistable lantern replaced by a fixed one by 1908. Up to this point in time she did not have a deckhouse, although similar vessels (Guillemot, Gull, Petrel and Seagull) had deckhouses of various sizes ranging from about 1/5 to 1/3 of the ship’s length. From 1908 to 1943 I have absolutely nothing – no photos, sketches or documentation – so I have no idea what state she was in when the Belfast Harbour Commissioners bought her from the Commissioners for Irish Lights. Tony Lane thinks she had a 10m deckhouse at some stage (the current living room), which was moved and supplemented by a similar sized addition (the current kitchen), probably in the 1943 reconstruction. Since then small alterations have been made by the various owners, but the basic size and shape has remained the same. As Tony has said, Simon is lucky to have such a large deckhouse to make use of.
Tony also reckons that the basic structure of the ship follows quite closely the 17-page specification, drawn up for the Commissioners for Irish Lights in 1880 by Joshua Cole, Com. R.N., Alex. F. Boxer and W. Douglass. (Photo 1122).
From his visit to the ship in 2000, Tony has also come up with a photo of the bulwarks (Photo 1123) on the port side as they were then (where did they go?). The rail seems in reasonable order, but appearances can be so deceptive, especially where woods (and old cars!) are concerned. Tony also sent me a very good photo of the ship in Belfast Lough as Lady Dixon (Photo 1124).
Where would we be without such stalwarts?
David0 -
We would like some feedback this week – if you would be so kind. Looking ahead to resurrecting the bulwarks, Simon and I disagree on their construction. I favour going back to the original look of the ship and having solid bulwarks (Photo 1131). The orange rail is the closest colour I could find in Photoshop to match the rope I took down there recently, which we plan to use as a rail.
I suspect that Steve (Eskimo Sailor) will agree with me, but Simon prefers rails so that he can see more of the sea when he is relaxing on his sunbed (Photo 1132). It’s his ship of course but I would be interested in any views you might care to put forward.
On an historical note, I recently came across an old photo of the innards of a portable foghorn (Photo 1133). The internet tells me it is a ‘Norwegian Pattern’ dating from around 1900 and I assume lightships may well have carried something like this in case their normal machine had problems.
Winding the handle cranks the two small bellows in turn, but at first I could not work out how the large single bellows on the top functioned. Apparently if you turn fast enough the small bellows produce enough air to inflate that large bellows, which being urged to close by the spring, acts as a reservoir and the sound produced by the machine changes from short bursts (as each small bellows closes), to a continuous note, interrupted only when you pause your cranking. Ingenious. I must find one for Simon.
David0 -
Perhaps I should not have used the word 'original'. My preference for the solid bulwarks is based on looks rather than originality (this project is not a restoration as she will never be a lightship again) or utility (she is never going to sea again, so no rough waves to deflect). I just like the look of the ship with solid bulwarks.
David0 -
My great uncle worked on the light ships out of Dun Laoghaire for decades. Out of the crew he knew in DL he's only one of only two left now he told me at the weekend. He's convinced its because him and the other fella were the only two to ever spend their off shift time lying out on deck in the sun all day rather than cooped up inside
Became a doorman at the Killiney Castle after that and still going strong at 89 now.0 -
I would love to hear any tales he has to tell about his lightship experiences. Do you think he would write them down for you, or record them perhaps?
David0 -
Trawling through my (modest) collection of historical documents, I have come across two little nuggets. The first is an application to the Mercantile Marine Department of the Ministry of War Transport, for permission to have the Lady Dixon (ex Cormorant) surveyed for registration and tonnage measurement at Dublin (Photo 1141). It is dated 24 May 1943 and shows the vessel to be 98ft 6ins, which is a few feet longer than we thought. The extra may be accounted for by the ‘landing stage’ that was added to the stern (Photo 1142).
I also found a memorandum to the Secretary of the Irish Lights Office, dated 19th May 1916 showing the “wages and materials expended and issued on behalf of H.M. Authorities during the recent Sinn Fein Riots” (Photo 1143). I have highlighted the Cormorant item.
In my last post I described the workings of a Norwegian Pattern Portable Foghorn, half hoping that someone would come up with one I could buy for Simon – a not too secret Christmas present perhaps. Well someone has come up with one, in excellent working order, but at what I thought was too high a price. However, examining the photos closely I came across something which changed my mind (Photo 1144).
David0 -
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Thanks Chris. It’s a desert at the moment. Simon is very busy at work (which is good) and has not had time for any restoration (which is bad). My contacts in Ireland have gone very quiet and yours is the only bit of information I have received lately.
“My great uncle worked on the light ships out of Dun Laoghaire for decades. Out of the crew he knew in DL he's one of only two left now he told me at the weekend. He's convinced it’s because him and the other fella were the only two to ever spend their off-shift time lying out on deck in the sun all day rather than cooped up inside. He became a doorman at the Killiney Castle after that and still going strong at 89 now”.
Working backwards in time, your great uncle would have been born in about 1926 and, providing he started his career early, could well have served aboard the old wooden lightships. Who knows, he may remember Cormorant before she went to Belfast in 1943.
Meanwhile I have taken the plunge and bought that foghorn for Simon. With that identification mark it was irresistible.
Hopefully I will have more to report next week, but meanwhile, for those who expressed interest when I mentioned my old car, have a look at www.drivingvintagecars.blogspot.co.uk
David0 -
Oh dear! Poor old Ena has had it – it’s a death sentence! Regular readers will recall Simon reporting a neighbouring vessel in the marina was having trouble staying afloat when the tide came in. She is/was an interesting sailing barge built in 1906 and a registered Dunkirk little ship. Well the owner has thrown in the towel and she is doomed. Once a proud working barge (Photo 1161); restored as recently as 2002; and for sale (starting price £85,000) in 2011.
She is being extensively stripped to lighten her as much as possible prior to loading on a floating ‘dock’ for transportation to her grave. This will probably be a site further down the estuary where there are already numerous skeletons rotting away (Photo 1162). Sad.
On a brighter note, Tony Lane has been digging in his archives and he found some interesting stuff about Cormorant. In a document dated 1934 there is a description of the lightships owned by the Commissioners for Irish Lights. These vessels used incandescent oil burners, with a candle power of 70,000 white or 28,000 red. They were fitted with submarine bells (Photo 1163) and firing jibs (explosive fog warnings).
In this document there is no mention of a diaphone foghorn and the first reference Tony has to diaphones Tony has is in the Admiralty List of Lights for 1951, where the initial diaphone signal is referred to as 1943. Certainly the 1943 blueprints I have show the revamped Cormorant as having a diaphone. Tony’s document states that the light at this time is 2,000 c.p, fl. 15 secs, so obviously all the high-powered IOB installation with its compressed air and oil cylinders had been disposed of.
David0 -
I have been without the internet and telephone now for 12 days, so this week’s post is actually last week’s – thanks BT !!
Three days last week were spent down with Simon working on the ship. I had expected to be helping him lay that very large seagrass carpet I delivered to him a few weeks ago but, taking advantage of the good weather, he shifted all the furniture out onto the deck and laid it himself before we arrived. It looks very good (Photo 1171).
My main task was much more basic – and dirty! I used the air compressor and nail chisel gun to strip an area below deck. Much of the crud is old, peeling paint (Photo 1172) and this comes off fairly easily. It is arm–aching work, especially trying to reach into corners when the step ladder cannot be moved closer. In overalls, a bobble hat, face mask and goggles, it is also warm work! Of course there is a lot of rust down there too, but the aim is to get off the loose stuff and leave a firm surface (Photo 1173).
The plan is to spray these surfaces with insulating foam (the sort that is used to ‘fix’ tiles and insulate roofs), wherever there is contact with the outside shell. This will also reduce condensation. Not having any spray foam, I painted it with Hammerite to keep it stable until everything is ready down there for a complete job (Photo 1174).
Meanwhile, Tony Lane, who visited Simon a few weeks ago, is puzzling over a number of things he found. I let him have copies of the 1943 blueprints to study and he has been comparing them to photos of the ship at her Belfast station. The plans seem to show the anchor windlass mounted on the poop (what anchor can you lift there?), whereas the pictures of Lady Dixon have the windlass mounted right up on the bow over the hawse pipes. I can only guess that, with no need of the huge anchor chains which were standard when stationed out on the ocean, in the sheltered Belfast Lough she would need only normal anchors and the windlass on the poop was used for hoisting stores aboard.
Tony also noticed from the photos (not on the plans) an interesting purchase or preventer hung off the bowsprit, which would take some of the load off the mooring cable and reduce jerking if the water was rough and also reduce the strain on the windlass brakes.
Finally (an apt introduction) it looks as though Ena is getting ready for her final journey Photo 1175). The tide is coming in and the hearse (dry dock) has arrived alongside, but Ena will stay sitting on the mud until they can get her to float one more time. Then the dock will be sunk; Ena moved to a position above it; when the tide next goes out she will sink onto the dock; the dock will be drained and made watertight; then the next tide will lift them both; and it’s off to the graveyard. That’s the theory anyway!
David0 -
In between chiselling rust below deck, I poked my camera through a hole in the floor boards, sorry, deck, and took a photo of the nether regions (bilges?). It revealed a bulkhead on the right and two large tanks on the left, the nearest of which has a ‘tap’ (top left) with an extended shaft down to the bottom – presumably to make it accessible through a trap door in the deck (Photo 1181). Next time I visit, I want to carry out a more careful survey (photo) of the bilges through all the holes I can find.
Simon has found a Victorian firelighter to get his stove going quickly. Well it may not be Victorian, but it is certainly ancient and in keeping with the ship (Photo 1182). The stove now heats a radiator in the living room (Photo 1183), one on the spiral staircase (Photo 1184), one in the bathroom (Photo 1185) and one down below. That last one is temporary, just to get some warmth down there until he starts refurbishment in earnest.
David0 -
Simon has taken advantage of some fine weather and a gap in workload to have another look at the state of the hull – particularly around the bow. At first sight the damage seems to be confined to the bow doubler just below the starboard hawspipe (Photo 1191). The bottom edge of the doubler seems to curve upwards as it approaches the stem, but looking from the front it is possible to ascertain where the doubler bottom edge should run – in a fairly straight line (Photo 1192).
So I would guess that at some point this area of the bow has been damaged, the protective Muntz sheathing torn, allowing the dreaded Gribble Worms to start work all along that bottom edge of the doubler – areas A, B and C (Photo 1193). It would not surprise me if that bottom edge is completely gone and only the damaged Munz sheathing is maintaining the shape along A and B and towards C.
The important question is how far this has affected the hull underneath the doubler? It is very difficult to get close enough to the hull when the tide is out far enough to reveal the holes, but Simon is going to have to devise some way of doing it – with a ladder clamped to the hull and some sort of platform to sit on the mud. The only photo he has been able to take from the canoe raises more questions than it answers (Photo 1194). A proper dry-dock inspection may be necessary, but very expensive. Still, having seen what has happened to poor old Ena, expensive is a relative term!
So, for the moment at least, he can at least enjoy the benefits of life on board on the Medway (Photo 1195).
David0 -
My aim over the past week (apart from trying to get my phone and broadband reconnected !) has been to pinpoint that area of damage at the bow. It has been a fascinating exercise – am I turning into a Nerd? I started with one of Simon’s photos taken by him from his canoe. Although the bow is not actually in the photo, it was the only shot showing a full-on side view (Photo 1211).
Now this shows a long, slim craft (hull in need of a lick of paint) with an extensive superstructure. Next I took the 1943 blueprints and pasted the hull from those onto the photo, adding bits from other photos to complete the bow (Photo 1212). The waterline is in red. Chubby isn’t she?
Emboldened by this, I did the same to the bow, pasting a blueprint extract onto a photo of the damaged area (Photo 1213). This shows that the main damage area – along the bottom edge of the bow doubler which I have outlined - is where the lower deck meets the stem (?) at point A. The waterline is again in red and the ‘mudline’ is in brown – so that is quite a trough she is sitting in!
Quite fortuitously, Simon discovered a trapdoor in the lower deck, up at the bow and went down exploring. He took a good photo of the inside of the bow/prow, which shows I think that girder in Photo 1213 curving up towards point A along the centre-line of the ship (Photo 1214).
The damaged area must be further up than A and off to the right where I have no doubt that a similar girder curves in a horizontal plane into the stem. I have tried to indicate that area with B, but it will be behind that cross strut. He needs to crawl a bit further forward next time and photograph what is right up at the front. One reassuring thing is that there is no evidence of water ingress anywhere.
The horizontal beam I mentioned can be plainly seen (or can it?) in the outside shot taken by Simon some time ago (Photo 1215).
While he was down there, he turned around and took a couple of interesting shots of other things lurking, but they will have to wait until next time.
David0 -
It’s now 6 weeks since my phone and broadband went out. I am sitting in my Morris Minor in my neighbour’s driveway sending this – with her permission of course!
I thought this week I would amplify what Simon has been finding down in the bilges. First of all a diagram to show where he actually went (Photo 1221). I think I have got the scale of the figure about right – the headroom down there is about 3ft 6ins.
Next is a diagram to show where the camera was pointing for each of the three shots (Photo 1222). The fresh water tanks have been highlighted in both diagrams.
The first shot (Photo 1223) is of that bow area which I showed in the previous post, but closer to it. No damage or water ingress is apparent and Simon is still not sure what that multi-coloured material is on the sides. Any ideas? He will have to be a little bolder with his scraping tool to get a good sample – not too bold of course with the Medway just outside!!
Then he turned around and took a shot of the two lines of fresh water tanks, which altogether hold 7 tons according to the plans (Photo 1224). It would be interesting to know if they are empty or not. I suppose that tapping the sides might give us the answer – not that I would want to drink from them!!
The final shot is down the port side of the ship showing the tanks and the steep line of the hull as it sweeps down to the keel (Photo 1225).
It all looks pretty dry down there. Note that the tanks are set on timber blocks, as can be seen on the plans in photo 1221.
Doesn’t it make you want to crawl along those ‘corridors’ and see what else can be found? Perhaps next time I visit him ……….
David0 -
I think the mystery of the hull lining material has been solved. Suggestions have included sprayed cork and glue, but Simon reports that it is very hard and the small piece he was able to prise away does look like stone/cement.
To sum up - Portland Cement became popular in the mid-1800s. Many builders of iron vessels in the late 19th or early 20th century poured cement in the bilges as a protective coating. Compared to the best paint available at the time, cement served far better in protecting hulls from the corrosive effects of sloshing bilge water. I found all this on the Internet - yes my broadband is back again after 6 weeks!!
The clinching item came from the 1880 Specification for Irish Lightships, which stated “The inside of the vessel, as high as the sister keelsons, to be coated with best Portland cement; to be flush with the limber holes, and to be laid thickly in the throat of the frames, and to cover the nuts of the bolts."
I cannot fathom what ‘flush with the limber holes’ means, let alone ‘in the throat of the frames’, although I do know that a limber hole, 3 inches in diameter, was cut on each side of the keelson and a galvanized chain, 3/8 inch diameter, was passed through each limber hole for the entire length of the ship. These limber holes allowed bilge water to drain to the centre of the ship where it was pumped out from time to time and the chain kept the holes free of detritus (Photo 1231).
I hope I have got the diagram right – perhaps you naval chaps would put me right if necessary!
David0 -
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Well Simon has had a go with the compressor and nail chisel gun. “Quite arm-aching” he reports – well I did warn him. I think he should import some labour for this particular job. If he can find someone who could do two or three hours on two or three days per week (even Samson couldn’t last more than three hours at a stretch !) it might all be ready for spraying when the warm weather returns next Spring. I assume the surfaces have to be dry when sprayed.
Meanwhile a spell in dry dock will be better during warm, dry weather, so will probably take place after the below deck spraying next year. Looking at those composite pictures in the 14 November post, I was wondering if a normal tide will lift the ship out of that deep mud hole. No problem. I calculate that the mud hole is about 5ft deep and the difference between high and a low tide is over 15ft at Hoo.
So, something to get on with – the stanchions around the deck are a mixed bunch (Photo 1241). There should be about 50 of them, but 20 or so are missing, 15 need replacing and a dozen are OK. Simon is thinking of steel boxes fabricated with base plates (Photo 1242).
If all surfaces were true and in good condition that would work, but all that welding would be expensive. Easier to fabricate, adjust and fit would be angle brackets (Photo 1243) and they would be a lot cheaper.
On the historical side, I am trying to establish where Cormorant/Lady Dixon sits on the timeline. I am sure she is one of just a handful of ‘composite’ ships still afloat (Cutty Sark is ‘composite’ but not afloat). She may also be the oldest Irish Lightship still afloat, but I will be happy to hear of other contenders for the title.
David0
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