bob shayler
06-05-2008, 17:47
This outstanding preserved example of a Steam Pinnace is currently moored at Fort Blockhouse, Gosport (formerly HMS Dolphin, the Submarine base).
She was built in 1911 at Samuel White’s yard at Cowes on the Isle of Wight. By 1914, she was one of 634 examples on the Navy List. She is thought to have been one of two allocated to HMS Monarch as a guard ship. In 1918, a counter stern and brass funnel was added and she changed role to an Admirals barge.
Following Monarchs de-commissioning in 1925, she was used as a harbour launch and a tender to the Royal Naval Hospital at Netley. Sold off in 1949, she was stored at Weevil Creek in Gosport.
Sold again in 1952, she was used as a houseboat on the Thames and renamed ‘Ttreleague’. The voyage to the Thames is fully documented in Commander Stapleton’s book on Steam Pinnaces. She remained on the Thames for a number of years, her condition steadily deteriorating. Her steam engine was removed and replaced by a petrol engine (sacrilege), eventually being sold for the princely sum of £5:00 to an antique dealer.
Restoration was commenced but funding was inadequate. She was eventually acquired by the Royal Navy Museum in 1979 for restoration by the Steam Launch Restoration Group in Gosport. She was fitted with a Pinnace boiler and compound engine from a similar vessel donated by the Royal Navy engineering branch at HMS Sultan, Gosport. The Maritime Workshop now have responsibility for her maintenance, manning and management.
Re-commissioned in 1984, she was used as VIP transport and moored in the Mast Pond in Portsmouth Historic Dockyard. Remaining there until 1998, she was again sent to the Maritime Workshop for a complete re-fit. Steam Pinnace 199 is believed to be the last remaining naval steamboat and is listed in the National Historic Ships Register as a designated vessel.
Engine:
Two cylinder compound made by Mumford around 1920.
Cylinder sizes, 6 ½ and 13 inches by 8 inch stroke.
624 rpm producing 162 hp.
Operation:
Engine manned by engine room stoker responding to bell signals from the coxswain in the steering position. The signal code is:
One bell – stop.
Two bells – ahead.
Three bells – astern.
Four bells – ease engine revs.
The engine room also houses the main condenser which converts the waste steam back into water for the boiler, circulating sea water for cooling the condenser and two engine driven feed pumps for maintaining the water supply to the boiler.
Boiler:
Housed in a separate compartment to the engine.
Type: Three drum Yarrow built by the Thames Iron Works in 1898.
Converted from coal to oil firing in the 1920’s.
Laidlaw Drew burner fuelled by paraffin.
Operating pressure of 140 – 160 psi reached in 2 hours.
Mumford donkey pump used for bilge pumping any of the five compartments and pumping feed water from the tanks or hot wells into the boiler as and when needed.
Armament:
Hotchkiss 3 pdr gun built in 1887.
Re-proofed, 1945.
Previously fitted to an armed yacht sunk later that year and salvaged from a trawlers nets in 1980.
When armed, Pinnaces were known as Picket boats to protect capital ships against torpedo attack. Their speed and quick firing made them a formidable adversary in the 1880’s – 1890’s.
Other armament:
One light Maxim machine gun fitted onto the cabin roof.
Rifles stowed in after cockpit.
Two torpedoes occasionally carried in racks on either side of the hull.
Note: Could it have been one of these vessels that was observed 100 feet in the air, upside down, when HMS Queen Mary exploded ?
Regards,
Bob
7348
She was built in 1911 at Samuel White’s yard at Cowes on the Isle of Wight. By 1914, she was one of 634 examples on the Navy List. She is thought to have been one of two allocated to HMS Monarch as a guard ship. In 1918, a counter stern and brass funnel was added and she changed role to an Admirals barge.
Following Monarchs de-commissioning in 1925, she was used as a harbour launch and a tender to the Royal Naval Hospital at Netley. Sold off in 1949, she was stored at Weevil Creek in Gosport.
Sold again in 1952, she was used as a houseboat on the Thames and renamed ‘Ttreleague’. The voyage to the Thames is fully documented in Commander Stapleton’s book on Steam Pinnaces. She remained on the Thames for a number of years, her condition steadily deteriorating. Her steam engine was removed and replaced by a petrol engine (sacrilege), eventually being sold for the princely sum of £5:00 to an antique dealer.
Restoration was commenced but funding was inadequate. She was eventually acquired by the Royal Navy Museum in 1979 for restoration by the Steam Launch Restoration Group in Gosport. She was fitted with a Pinnace boiler and compound engine from a similar vessel donated by the Royal Navy engineering branch at HMS Sultan, Gosport. The Maritime Workshop now have responsibility for her maintenance, manning and management.
Re-commissioned in 1984, she was used as VIP transport and moored in the Mast Pond in Portsmouth Historic Dockyard. Remaining there until 1998, she was again sent to the Maritime Workshop for a complete re-fit. Steam Pinnace 199 is believed to be the last remaining naval steamboat and is listed in the National Historic Ships Register as a designated vessel.
Engine:
Two cylinder compound made by Mumford around 1920.
Cylinder sizes, 6 ½ and 13 inches by 8 inch stroke.
624 rpm producing 162 hp.
Operation:
Engine manned by engine room stoker responding to bell signals from the coxswain in the steering position. The signal code is:
One bell – stop.
Two bells – ahead.
Three bells – astern.
Four bells – ease engine revs.
The engine room also houses the main condenser which converts the waste steam back into water for the boiler, circulating sea water for cooling the condenser and two engine driven feed pumps for maintaining the water supply to the boiler.
Boiler:
Housed in a separate compartment to the engine.
Type: Three drum Yarrow built by the Thames Iron Works in 1898.
Converted from coal to oil firing in the 1920’s.
Laidlaw Drew burner fuelled by paraffin.
Operating pressure of 140 – 160 psi reached in 2 hours.
Mumford donkey pump used for bilge pumping any of the five compartments and pumping feed water from the tanks or hot wells into the boiler as and when needed.
Armament:
Hotchkiss 3 pdr gun built in 1887.
Re-proofed, 1945.
Previously fitted to an armed yacht sunk later that year and salvaged from a trawlers nets in 1980.
When armed, Pinnaces were known as Picket boats to protect capital ships against torpedo attack. Their speed and quick firing made them a formidable adversary in the 1880’s – 1890’s.
Other armament:
One light Maxim machine gun fitted onto the cabin roof.
Rifles stowed in after cockpit.
Two torpedoes occasionally carried in racks on either side of the hull.
Note: Could it have been one of these vessels that was observed 100 feet in the air, upside down, when HMS Queen Mary exploded ?
Regards,
Bob
7348