Transmare

The longer we are on the boat and the more work we do to her, the more we long to find out the history of her so we can build up a picture of how she would have looked over the years.

We know, for example, that sometime in the past, she was gaff rigged- but she has been re-rigged since then- and for some reason the sails we have for her are 40 year old canvas ones! She has been rigged with running back-stays but these, at the moment, are just hanging around being of no use!

So, what do we know?

And what we thought we knew has just changed! See the front page for a link!

We were told that she was built for HMS Delhi and worked as a ferryboat in Gloucester. Research uncovered the fact that HMS Delhi was too small for a 55 foot pinnace and that she may have been registered in Gloucester but was certainly not used as a ferry! Research into warships of the First World War period put us straight about the size of ship needed for a pinnace of Transmare's size.

So, where to start?

A seemingly easy place to start is the 'official' number- either the SSR (Small Ships Register- for British owned boats- or your country's equivalent) or hull humber. Transmare came with two different numbers- the SSR number which we got a copy of when we registered the boat in David's name; and what we though would be the hull number- 82755. Finding out that research through the SSR would cost us money, I decided to go for the easy option and contacted the Admiralty- more specifically the Naval Historical Branch. Thanks to the FOIA (Freedom of Information Act), it can be a little easier to find out some information but you have to have the correct facts and figures at your fingertips. But, Transmare has an Official Number, a SSR number, a yard number and somewhere her official work number (the number she would have been assigned when she was taken into service).

Starting with the fact that Transmare was registered in Gloucester- which we have kept- I contacted the Gloucester Docks directly. They unfortunately could not help me but gave the names of two gentlemen- one in particular is interested in the history of the Gloucester Docks and the River Severn. Hugh Conway-Jones of GloucesterDocks.me.uk was able to look up Transmare in the Gloucestershire Archives and found the name of the owner who appears to have first registered her in Gloucester! Ewart Williams Evans, a surgeon of Hagley in Worcs, owned Transmare in 1949 when she had the Chrysler engine. She was also cutter-rigged but there is no mention of her being a ketch (two-masted). Hugh also told me that the 11.77 tons measure we have for her is her passenger carrying capacity- plenty of space for duty-free then!

Hugh also told us that the number we thought was the hull number was missing a number- it should be 182755. Sadly, the Admiralty does not have either of these numbers on record- they must have been assigned after the boat was decommissioned.

Other places I contacted for information included The Maritime Museum at Greenwich (no plans or models of our boat) and the National Maritime Museum in Cornwall (who found Transmare listed in a copy of the Lloyds Register but with no more information than we had already), Preston Marine Services (for information and pictures on possible engine types), the British Military Powerboat Trust (and more specifically, the forum, for help and support) Lloyds Register of Shipping, the Maritime Steam Restoration Trust, the World Ship Society and the Surface Warship Association. All of them have helped where they have been able to- or referred me to someone who can! Many many thanks to everyone! Specific thanks must go the Deputy Librarian at the Albert Sloman Library, University of Essex in Colchester. Patient to the end, he raided the archives several times for me and has uncovered much information- and even some plans for parts for the boat, that on a future visit to the UK we will be able to go and see. Nigel Cochrane, you are a star!!