Sorry chaps, and girls!!! Couldn't think up a better topic title. Anyway, after deciding that perhaps the RAF pinnace is too much for me I'm eager to know where other projects may be, prossibly a little more local, so perhaps between us (well, I really mean you, but never ,mind) we could put together a sort of register of where and what. so let me begin but suggesting a few very patchy details of vessels, obvioulsy there's the selection on the NHSC website, of which Golden Galleon is one, which I came accross first when on Ebay about a year or so ago, and also there's the monster at shoreham http://www.imagesbrighton.com/mar15g.htm - http://www.imagesbrighton.com/mar15g.htm  is a photo of it, perhaps other poeple could fill in some details, if a bit about each one could be compiled that'd be great like condition and interesting points? I'll edit this post so it's a bit simpler when I decide how to summaries the above better, I might also add a title if we can think up a good one! Edited to add: there's also a boat very close to me called morning wings, HDML no.1309, supposed to be at upton upon severn?

Hello,

Re German monster, well, I think it it all feeds into the interest in coastal craft, BMPT have a piece on Norwegian craft under the News section, so...

John 

Hello All,

I have been reading and enjoying the forum for several months now and feel that its time to try the water, so here goes.

Could the German Monster in Brighton that is refered to above actually be the Ex German minesweeper FISCHE which is based as a houseboat at Shoreham. I believe that this was a replacement for a FAIRMILE D which is mentioned elsewhere on the forum.

Built by Abeking & Rasmussen, Lemwerder.
Build number: 5229

Ordered - 27/1/1959
Launched - 14//7/1959
Put into Service - 12/1/1960
Decommissioned - 20/4/1989
Brought to Southampton around 1996
Bought by the Cole's and towed to Shoreham-By-Sea in 2003
Now a residential Houseboat on the River Adur

There are at least four of these minesweepers for sale on the internet at the moment.

The Abeking & Rasmussen Teak hulled mine sweepers,were built for the German Navy in the 1960s, and were designed for speed, fuel efficiency and performance and to handle the most adverse sea conditions.

Original specification included twin 2,600hp Maybach 16 cylinder diesel engines which would give a maximum speed in the range of 30 knots.

LINKS

Could this be a picture of the FAIRMILE D houseboat thet FISCHE has replaced?

Taken some years ago I would imagine.

Hello

Regards minesweeper at Shoreham d-zine has got it spot on, also the picture of the Fairmile is great, a bit of a personal thing with me, the loss of the last D, I know she was in very poor shape, but boats have returned from worse shape! ah well, perhaps a project for the futrure, we have replica tall ships......

John Kempton

Hello d-zine

Excellent pics and info,many thanks."Luna Sea" ex RAF LRRC 029 ex RN MTB 682 was the dogboat replaced by Fische in the summer of 2003,but she had her original wheelhouse in situ so I don't think the boat you pictured is her,your boat does seem to have her MTB pennant number painted on her hull but I can't read this on the sub-50kb image you have had to post,can you read the number on your full-size image?

p.s.once again I cannot recommend Phil Simons' book Retired On The River highly enough,twelve quid from the Small Craft Group of The World Ship Society.It deals with all the Shoreham houseboats.

Regards,Christian.  

The Fische based at Shoreham opposite side of the river to the Crown and Anchor pub used up until recently to have tours around the interior to raise funds for continuing work. There was a theatre below for 'workshops', (whatevertheyare), and in general is in pretty good condition. There is lots to do and would require very serious funding to get this one back on the water. Also the residents living nearby are miffed due to the size of the boat as it completely puts everything else nearby literally in the shade.

There is some local news that Heron, a Shoreham based RAF HSL, is to be converted by the owner to kite power! He believes that the kite will become a principle means of boat power in years to come and so consequently is obviously barking mad. But maybe mad enough to sell for a good price? Heron is I believe a whaleback and may be in the sort of condition to preserve. She is located parallel to the Shoreham/Lancing coast road 200yds SW of the Norfolk Bridge.

A76NJK

Hi Christian,

I am certain that you will be able to enlighten us as to the identities of these boats at Shoreham.

While down at the Goodwood Festival of Speed this weekend I made a detour to Shorham to look at the Houseboats. For those of you not resident in the United Kingdom- 9th July, driving rain and gusting winds - what a joy the English summertime can be.

I have taken photographs walking upstream from the bridge and have uploaded them in that order.

I have taken other pictures from the bridge with an old fashioned camera ( not digital) with a telephoto lense so we will have to wait for those to be developed. They will show the two boats seaward of the bridge and the other boats with the bows out into the river.

Boat 1

Boat 2

Boat 3

Boat 4 - Is this a CMB hull form, looks very unusual and unfortunatly not in very good repair.

Boat 5

Boat 6

Boat 7

Boat 8

Boat 9

Boat 10

Boat 11 - Fische is BIG. You can seefrom the hull form how she could manage 30 knots.

Boat 12 - Hull form reminds me of a FAIRMILE D is that too much to hope. The bow has been shortened and the hull appears to be crudely plated with steel, it does appear to be about the right length. Do we have a history for this boat.

Boat 13

Boat 14

Boat 15 - This one appears to be afloat.

Boat 16

Boat 17

Boat 18 - Pinnace (similar ASCO and Irvine Wreck?) out of sequence im afraid.

There are at least two other boats down stream of the footbridge one of which appears to be a Whaleback of some sort.

I will add other photographs when they are developed.

Does anybody else have photographs of house boats or abandond MTB's along the south coast? I dead follow a lead on the Chichester canal near the marine and harbour but did not turn up any finds. I was also advised that there may be a boat near Porchester but did not have time to investigate, any ideas?

Hello Christian,

Great shots at Shoreham, I think you already know about Phil Simmons of the small ships group, his book Retired to the River, all about the houseboats at shoreham, had a spot of rain and wind at Zebrugge yesterday, was at Belgian Navy days, looking at patrol vessel Liberation, great crew and reception, interesting vessels ex France, Germany, Holland and Lithuania. Liberation same batch as P22 see elsewhere on the forum. Re vessel with plates, is that on a wooden hull then? chances of it being another D slim, as discussed before last one was said to be Luna Sea broken about three years ago. Indeed one of them is a CMB WW1 vintage, a couple about in museums. At least they survive as something, though for how much longer, not sure,

Regards

John

Hi Johnk

I took the photos yesterday, I hoped that CHRISTIAN might be able to shed some light re identification.As for boat 12 the hull form does look like that of a FAIRMILE D with the last 5 feet of the bow chopped of, as for steel plates over a wooden hull, I hope so or the ship yard that built here should be ashamed of their workmanship. As I said before I am hoping that somebody can shed some light on here origin, I am just not well enough informed myself.

As for the condition of the boats I am not sure whether to be grateful for the oportunity to see 20 MTB/MGB's together or to be heart broken at their condition through lack of maintainance.

Hi d-zine

I have the book at home,will fill in the blanks tonight.In the meantime,the Fairmile with the squared-off bow is a Fairmile H,this is how they were built-they were essentially landing-craft.The 60ft GSP is called Calshot Salar,ex-RAF,the CMB is called Yerba Buena (I have a pic of her taken in 1978 which I will post later,it gives a great indication of the rate of decay),there are 3 Whalebacks to be found in the area,one 63ft called Robrina and 2 x 70ft versions,Pelican and Lanroc.Excuse any errors as all this is from memory.

Regards,Christian.

Hello Christain and d-zine,

Re my comments, still tired from Zeebrugge! directed at d-zine of course, the book is very informative, hope its still available via small ships group, yes the vessel with the squared off bow was a landing craft as Christian said, I am afraid the dream of finding a D knocking about is just that!

John

Hi d-zine,

Indeed, in some ways a great collection of historic craft, bu.. as you say most will just rot away and be replaced.

John K

Hi Johnk, Christian,

I guess as you say its to much to hope of finding a D but I am sure that we will keep looking. There may be some unexpected survivors out there somewhere?

Well I have never heard of the Fairmile H, apart from being steel, does the hull in any way resemble the D?

And while on the subject where would one start looking for a copy of "Retired to the River" ?

Great thing about the forum, there is always somebody out there with the knowledge to inform.

Hi John

The book is indeed still available,having just had reprint.The price is now £12.00.

Hi d-zine-It is a tough one,deciding whether these boats are just being mercilessly used and disposed of once rotten,but if you consider that  they are here today only because they have provided several families with a home,an affordable one at that,also giving the boats a last chance at being useful having done their time as fighting vessels designed to last only a couple of years and then served in the intervening years as private yachts,Sea-Scouts headquarters or even as houseboats the whole time,we are lucky to see them at all.It is an opportunity for very rich enthusiasts to take them over for complete rebuilds,there are boats at Shoreham which represent the last of their class,such as Raglan the 57ft BPB Co target-towing launch,the 70ft Whalebacks and the 73ft Vospers.The most numerous surviving MTBs are the BPB Co 71.5ft,of which there are a few at Shoreham and the rest of the UK(including the magnificent MGB81),if I were to buy one to restore it would certainly be one of the Captain Morgan cruise boats from Malta which only went out of certified service last year and have suffered less fresh water ingress in their timbers,rather than one of these houseboats which are less likely to ever be seaworthy.So in my own way,even though I'm an enthusiast,I'd put myself and my bank balance ahead of any nostalgia-fuelled magnanimosity.Funnily enough most of these boats are lost upon change of ownership to someone with more pipedream ideas than practical sense and ability (e.g.NanaLoa).

Food for thought!

Regards,Christian    

Hi d-zine

In reply to your last message,you can buy Phil Simons' book "Retired On The River" through the Small Craft Group of The World Ship Society,they are on the internet,and provide a monthly journal to their members should you also wish to join.Also strongly recommend "Allied Coastal Forces of WW2" vols I and II,vol III is eagerly anticipated.I & II available from Amazon at the moment,the Fairmile H is covered as are all the Fairmiles,HDMLs,US Sub Chasers(vol I) and Vospers and Elcos(vol II).The construction methods used for the H were not the same as for the D,they were planked with ply over lighter scantlings,with 10lb DIHT plating over the planking.

Regards,Christian. 

Christian,

I agree with you re Shorham boats vs Captain Morgan BMP's, as my partner would say-you can't always save the world you have to pick the battles that you can win.

For the benefit of the forum do you know when the two Malta boats are up for sale and at what price?

OK let's give this a shot,without wanting to give too much away (thus robbing my mate Philip of book sales) here are their names but no types or histories:

Boat 1 is Nokomis,Boat 2 is Marne,Boat 3 is Enstone,boat 4 is Yerba Buena,Boat 5 is Enstone again,Boat 6 is Lanroc,Boat 7 is Raglan,Boat 8 is Moidore,Boat 9 is Thanet,Boat 10 is Laguna,Boat 11 is Fische,Boat 12 is Valeur,Boat 13 is The Clive,Boat 14 is Venture,Boat 15 is Heron,Boat 16 is Calypso,Boat 17 is very nice and Boat 18 is Calshot Salar.

According to the sequence,Boat 17 should be Happy Medium but it ain't,that is not a Thornycroft but from the poor picture plus the superstructure hiding the sheerline I cannot ID her-any help?Perhaps she is the boat brought in to replace Jalna? 

Update 25/07/06:It IS Happy Medium.Some conversion!

The pics Dad and I took in 1978,at their "half-life".They are(L-R,T-B) Nokomis,Calypso,Yerba Buena,Pelican,Happy Medium and Heron.

See the Malta MTBs on my Boats at Malta and Gibraltar topic,they can be bought now,for a song.Contact via Captain Morgan Cruises website.

Hi ALL,

While looking at Apolloduck a couple of months ago I came across the following class of MTB.

http://www.appolloduck.co.uk - www.appolloduck.co.uk

The finish Navy had a class of post war MTB's known as the NUOLI CLASS built between 1959-1964,14 boats were built of which 3-4 remain in private ownership and one is in a museum.These boats had two MTU50 light weight diesels and seem very much in the mold of our wartime boats - I do wonder if they are related to the Russian P6 boats?

Anyway the boat has been sold (£20,000), but the interesting part is that it has been sold to owners in the UK. Does anybody know anything about this and will we see a restored and running MTB or a houseboat?

I believe that Nuoli means Arrow, feel free to correct me.

Links

One in finland

http://www.hugohein.com/other/torpedo.boat/specs.torpedo.htm - http://www.hugohein.com/other/torpedo.boat/specs.torpedo.htm

And one for sale in the USA $175,000

http://www.b-americanboats.com/torpedoboat.html - http://www.b-americanboats.com/torpedoboat.html

Finnish boat recently sold on Apolloduck and coming to the UK?

Privatly owned Finnish boat - 2 may be available for sale in the near future.

USA Boat for sale

Any comments?

COOOOOL.....

p.s.did Chris Vermuelen take Bazzer Sheene's Suzuki stroker for a spin at Goodwood as advertised?

Hello,

Re Finnish patrol boat, been on sale for a while, most likely to be a houseboat, twin military diesels would be quite thirsty, though they could be replaced, but as I said she will most likely be a houseboat. The "active" one I have seen also for sale before, complete with guns, but for a lot more than 20,000!, looked at it myself, but then costs of getting her home and berthing brought me back to reality.

John

D-zine,

Did you ever get your photos from Shoreham (which you took with your telephoto lense) developed? re page 2 of this forum? It would be good to see them.

ps. there is a pair of Cummins V8 300hp engines with 2:1 boxes in Lowestoft 5.5k - any good to get you going? http://www.findafishingboat.co.uk - www.findafishingboat.co.uk

Clive...

ADMIRALTY BUILT 1945 MOTOR YACHT

Hi All!

Well I looked at the "Seaplane Tender" today. Pics below, its quite interesting, complete....sort of! Interior in a lot of pieces, but I think its all there, engines complete but probably only good for scrap...but saying that..they are Humber 6 cyl petrols so spares are probably available from the Military vehicle boys.

Construction is wood, single skin with GRP sheathing, the chine is diagonal but single skin, again sheathed, I know GRP is frowned on but it does look very solid and could be original?

Twin rudders look interesting too.

There is a fair bit of water in it....which an occasional optimist like me would say "well it shows the hull doesn't leak"!!

Most interesting thing was that inside their are two big lifting lugs with hatches directly above them, so its been designed for craning on and off land/or another boat.

Could it be a ships tender?

So as I thought it looked interesting I bought it!!  having it moved to Bedford Marina soon.

More updates to follow but any help identifying it would be very welcome.

Hi Don

Yes I pretty sure it was a ships boat, I mentioned that to the sellers and their comment was "must have been a big boat then", well yes we actually did have big boats in the past!!!

I looked for a builders plate but no joy, I think it may have been on the roof beams but they were covered in stick on carpet!!!!

I'm hoping the construction is pretty robust.

If anyone knows "photobucket" can they let me know how to link to an album, ta.

Mark

Hi Sently

Although it looks strange I think the rudder arrangement is original.

Philip is looking into possible identification so fingers crossed!

A link to the full photo album is on the other general disc thread.

Regards

Mark

Hi Mark

Thanks, I have seen the photos. I will be interesting to see what Phil turnes up. BTW how did you manage to get your girlfriend to agree to use the pressure washer let alone on a boat!

Regards

hi all ive just found arun up for sale on a web site called boatshop 24 looks like the owner has started part restoration. arun is of the river class build. not many left..same as avon ..not up for very much..also does any one no if avon is sold yet last saw up for sale for 14500k..

all the best lads phil...........

 Hi Phil,

  Avon was still available at te end of last year, don't know about now, she had a lot of work done and is now ready for engines and interior. http://www.joy-cruises.com/rebuild_info.htm - http://www.joy-cruises.com/rebuild_info.htm

all the best.  Clive..

Thats a small return for a huge investment!!  And a high price for the project one (Arun)!! Guess Avon would definitely make the better buy.

BTW Any views on whether GRP sheathing would ever have been put onto a new boat...I'm still trying to figure out if it was done from new, all the deck fittings and the rubbing strakes etc have been put over the sheathing, when I removed a section from the stern the wood was perfect and unpainted! 

Mark

hi clive  the owner of arun stated that there  is only four river class left .ive emailed him to let him know theres another my parents boat friends folly.....lets not forget about good old friends folly....ive tried to find her original name but with no luck..not even phil simmon has found it out yet does any one out there have any idea.. weve always been told that she was bought and fetched  up with avon to the york area and have been on the humber together.friends folly coming to her rescue when avon was holed by a bouy. the owners of avon and friends folly were friends and weve always been told that the bill of sales for both boats were with avon but no luck in tracing friends folly if any body out there knows of her original name can you let me know

all the best lads phil.........................