EMPIRE RAYMOND

Shipbuildervessel built by Alexander HALL & Co. (Footdee, Aberdeen)

Shipownervessel built for Ministry of Transport

Date21 January 1946

Object NameTUG

MediumSTEEL

ClassificationsShip

Dimensionslength 105 3/12' x breadth 27 1/12' x depth 12 3/6'
Gross Tonnage: 233 ton

Object numberABDSHIP001595

Keywords

Aberdeen Built Ships

About MeYard: Alexander Hall & Co.
Yard Number: 709
Official Number: 180997
Subsequent Name: CERVIA (1946)

Fate: Notice of proposed deconstruction issued June 2022 with expiry in November 2022.

Propulsion: Steam
Description: Tug, “Foremost” class, steam, screw, steel.

Owners:
21/01/1946: Launched for Ministry of War Transport.
14/02/1946: Registered at Aberdeen.
20/03/1946: Owners retitled Ministry of Transport, London.
30/04/1946: Completed and handed over to Townsend Bros. Ferries Ltd. for onward delivery.
12.1946: William Watkins Ltd., London. Purchase price £36,000. Registered at London in 1947.
01/02/1950: Ship Towage [London] Ltd. appointed managers.
20/09/1968: Owners restyled as London Tugs Ltd., (same managers).
1973: Sold to Michael List-Brain, Sittingbourne for preservation at Medway Maritime Museum.
1973: Sold back into towing to International Towing Ltd., Sittingbourne. (M. List-Brain, manager).
03/1983 Owners East Kent Maritime Museum, Ramsgate for preservation.
1989: Transferred to M. List-Brain, and under continued preservation at Ramsgate.
2009: Transferred on a 99-year lease to Preston based "Steam Museum Trust" (chairman Michael List-Bain).

General History:
12/1946: Based at Gravesend on the Thames estuary and worked as far north as the wash, often going to the assistance of vessels stranded on the Goodwin Sands. Worked towing between ports on both sides of the English Channel.
25/10/1954: Capsized and sank while berthing P&O’s ARCADIA at Tilbury. Skipper and 4 crew lost.
28/10/1954: Refloated and towed to Watkins repair yard at Ramsgate.
28/11/2018: Sank at moorings at Ramsgate. Refloated.
This vessel, as CERVIA, was a floating museum at Ramsgate, Kent. See National Register of Historic Vessels.

Notes: CERVIA – A seaside resort in the province of Ravenna, Italy.
Steam by screw, inverted, surface condensing, triple expansion engine, 16” x 25” x 42” with 27” stroke, 900 i.h.p., 107 n.h.p., A. Hall Engine No. 414. A/MS 1199
Boiler Number 1.S.B, oil fired; Heating Area (ft^2) 2904; Diameter 16'; Length 11' 6"; Furnaces 3 c.f.; Pressure (p.s.i) 200
Single screw propellor.
Call sign GDPM.

See also: History (CS): - http://www.clydeships.co.uk/view.php?year_built=&builder=&ref=52713&vessel=EMPIRE+RAYMOND
National Historic Ships (NH) - https://www.nationalhistoricships.org.uk/register/5/cervia