SHIP NOTES, SEAPORT & MUSEUM NEWS WORLD SHIP TRUST NEWS Two new vice presidents of the Trust have been elected , Sir Peter Scott, CBE, DSC, and the Rt. Hon Lord Shackleton, KG, PC, OBE, together with a new Trustee, Dr. Nei l Cossons, QBE, MA , who is director of the National M aritime Museum of Britain . " Like you,'' wrote Dr. Cossons in his letter of acceptance, " I be lieve that the work of ship preservation should be carried out in a spirit of mutual cooperation and consultation and I wou ld regard it as a privilege to be allowed to add my views to your deliberations." The Trust has retained George Campbell , architect of the Cutty Sark restoration at Greenwich and of the %vertree in New York , to draw up plans fo r the restoration of the iron bark Lady Eliwbeth in the Falkland Islands . This work will be based on a carefu l survey made last year at the request of the Trust by the Snowsqua ll Expedition, led by Dr. Fred Yalouris of H arvard . It is proposed to restore the Lady Elizabeth as a museum ship in the Falklands-whose population has seen three historic ships and parts of one other (as well as one ship's cutter, the Wavertree's) removed for exhibition in England and the Un ited States. The Trust is also actively interested in the preservation of the Liverpool-built East Indiaman Jh elum , which has deteriorated sufficie ntly to endanger the hulk . The bitter course of cutting the ship up to save her may have to be adopted. Thought is also being given to preserving the whale catcher Petrel, now in South Georgia, which might be brought to the Falklands by Operation Raleigh in 1988. And plans are being weighed to recover from South Georgia the steel sa iling ship Brutus, built in Scotl and in 1883, which might become an ex hibition ship fo r the Londo n Dockland development. A C hatham Dockyard Trust has been proposed at the initiative of Nei l Cossons of the National Maritime Museum , to preserve the buildings of the historic dockyard which date back to 1703. An active shipbuilding and rigging center is envisaged to fill the old buildings with act ivity and provide a center for hi storic restoration and replica work. This would move the National Museum decisively into the rea lm of the "experiential " museum embodied in such centers as Mystic Seaport in Connecticu t o r the National Maritime Museum in San Franc isco or the Exeter Maritime Museum in Devo nshire. Matters of purely British interest are the concern of the Maritime Trust of Britain , whose c hairman Maldwin Drummond is a Trustee of the World Ship Trust; but the development of the Dockyard and its ships for restoratio'n wou ld involve international interests in which the World Ship Tru st would have a poss ibl e role to play.
GREAT BRITAIN The future of the historic Chatham Naval Dockyard in Kent is now assured. The Government has announced that it is setti ng up a Chatham Historic Dockyard Trust to control the area after official closure in March. In redeveloping the area , the concept of a " living dockya rd " is being adopted with a variety of activities varying from commercial ship-repair to a major museum project. The history of the Dockyard reaches from the days of Samuel Pepys to the repair of nuclear submarines. Within 80 acres there are SEA HISTORY, SUMMER 1984
about 50 listed buildings, and for the future of what is an almost intact Georgian dockyard, there is to be an endowment of $ 11 million . Starting in April , admission charges have been introduced at the National Maritime Museum at Greenwich. It is hoped this will raise ÂŁ500,000 a year, making possible longer opening hours and a greater marketing effort. At present, the Museum attracts 600,000 visitors a year. A survivor of the Severn Trows, traditional sailing barge on the River Severn and its tributaries, the trow Spry is currently awaiting restoration at the Ironbridge Gorge Museum in Shropshire. She is not the only survivor. Your correspondent recently went to Purton near Gloucester. There, between the river and the ship canal are the remains of about 40 vessels, including a few almost-intact hulls. Mostly mud-filled, they stabilize the bank. They include the wooden motor barge Severn Collier built in the Thirties fo r the Lydney Canal coal traffic. About twenty trows and double-ended Stroudwater lighters are identifiable. The best preserved is the trow
Harriet, her name and port of registry still legible on her transom . The classic British pleasure paddle-steamer Kingswear Castle has retu rned to steam. Built in 1924, she was used in trips on the River Dart in Devon . She is ow ned by the Paddle Steamer Preservation Society (i nvolved with the p.s. Waverly Preservation Project). She is on the River Medway and may be carrying passengers by summer. Built by Philip & Son of Dartmouth , she is 108ft by 17 l/2 ft . Fourteen years of volunteer restoration have restored her to pristine condition. Her small size and " Victorian" si mplicity make a great contrast with the %verly. Finance to the tune of $ 10,000 is being sought to back the commercial operation : donations please to P.S.N. Ltd, 138 Gillingham Rd ., Gi llingham , Kent, England. Plans are in the pipeline to move the pioneer steam turbine vessel Turbina to the Quayside at Newcastle. Tyne & Wear Museums are hoping to arrange for het display as part of a new exhibition complex to be developed on the Quayside. At present in storage Turbina, built in 1894 by C harles Parsons, made history by passing through Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubil ee Review at Spithead at 34 knots . On a visi t to London recentl y, your correspondent was privileged to be shown some substantial wooden piles, uncovered in a development on the si te of the old Scott Russell shipyard on the Isle of Dogs. It is suspected that they are part of the wooden ways constructed for the launching of Brunel's huge iron steamer the Great &stern. The Museum of London is hoping to su rvey and possibly preserve some of the timber piles, which extend over a large area.
Some Brunel-style wrought iron bridge railway track has also appeared . R OBERT FORSYTHE
Information-and photos-should be sent to Mr. Forsythe at !29A North St., Burwell, Cambridge CBS, OBB, England. (This address was erroneously transcribed in SH:JI.) The National Maritime Museum plans an " International Symposium to Commemorate the Centenary of the Adoption of Greenwich as the Prime Meridian;• July 9-13. Co-sponsored by the International Union for the History and Philosophy of Science and the International Astronomical Union, this will take up such topics as long itudes and meridians before the 17th centu ry, cartography in the age of exploration, 19th century meridians, international cooperation towards universal time. "Longtitude Zero Symposium ," National Maritime Museum , Greenwich , London SE!O 9NF. The International Commission for Maritime History co-sponsors another important conference with the National Maritime Museum , September 17-21. This covers " various aspects of the history of shipowning, and fuctors and patterns of its development from the med ieval peri od to the 20th century." ICMH Conference Secretary, National Maritime Museum . The Jubilee Sailing Trust works to get disabled people to sea under sail-square rig at that! This su mmer they continue their cruises in British waters in the chartered 105ft brigantine Soren Larsen , built in 1948 in Denmark as a cargo vessel. The Trust 's experience has shown that " by bringing disabled and able-bodied together to face the chall enges, adventures and achievements of sai ling a square-rigger" people are effectively helped to a new life. This spirited outfi t is now campaigning for fund s to build a 400-ton bark, designed for the purpose by Co lin
Mudie. She wi ll be called Lord Nelson , after the admiral who wrote, after losing his right arm that he had become "a burden to my friends and useless to my cou ntry." This was in 17CJ'7, before he won the victories that made him the most honored admiral in history. Jubilee Sailing Trust, Atlantic Road , Each Docks, Southampton , Hants SSOI IGD.
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Square Rigged Services Ltd. Commercial House Station Road Bogner Regis West Sussex P0211QD England Tel : Bogner Regis (0243) 825831/826877 Telex : 86664 ROWENA G
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