Additional information courtesy of Geoff Davidson

Technical

Official Number: 124830
Yard Number: 110
Completed: 1908
Gross Tonnage: 199
Net Tonnage: 63
Length: 110 ft
Breadth: 21.6 ft
Depth: 11.6 ft
Built: Goole Shipbuilding & Repairing Co Ltd, Goole
Engine: 300ihp T3-cyl and boiler by Earle’s Shipbuilding & Engineering Co Ltd, Hull

History

19.3.1908: Launched by Goole Shipbuilding & Repairing Co Ltd, Goole (Yd.No.110) for Kelsall Brothers & Beeching Ltd (64/64), Hull as PINTAIL.
4.1908: Completed.
18.4.1908: Registered at Hull (H982). George Beeching, Hull & John E. A. Kelsall, London appointed managers.
1.1.1914: Tonnage altered to 72.83 net under provision of Merchant Shipping Act 1907.
10.1914: Requisitioned for war service (Ad.No.382).
10.1914: Fitted with Hotchkiss 12pdr and 6pdr HA Based Penzance/Falmouth.
1.10.1918: At Penzance for General Patrol and Escort work.
12.3.1919: Returned to owner at Hull.
7.6.1919: Vessel mortgaged (64/64) to The London County Westminster & Parr’s Bank Ltd, London (A). John Slater appointed manager.
6.3.1923: Mortgagee re-styled as Westminster Bank Ltd, London.
14.10.1927: Mortgage (A) transferred to William Augustus Hayward, Eastbourne.
14.10.1927: Mortgage (A) transferred to Mercantile Marine Finance Corporation Ltd, London.
28.9.1928: Robert Burton appointed manager.
16.9.1932: Charles Hugh Emerson appointed manager.
10.1932: Mercantile Marine Finance Corporation Ltd in liquidation.
1.11.1932: Mortgage (A) transferred to Harold Frank Hayward, London; Maud Florence Katherine Rogers, Chelsea and Ernest Norton, London (joint mortgagees).
3.1936: Combined boxing and trawling fleet of Kelsall Bros. & Beeching Ltd and the Hull Steam Fishing & Ice Co Ltd consisting of 59 vessels laid up at Hull (declining catches, coal bill and increased maintenance costs had made the venture uneconomical).
6.3.1936: At Extraordinary General Meeting at Hull, Kelsall Brothers & Beeching Ltd placed in Creditors’ Voluntary Winding-up (Richard Field Helm of Messrs Hodgson Harris & Co, London appointed liquidators).
26.10.1937: Sold by order of the mortgagees under mortgage (A) to Brixham Trawlers Ltd (64/64), Brixham.
27.10.1936: Vessel mortgaged (64/64) to Harold Frank Hayward, London; Maud Florence Katherine Rogers, Corfe Castle and Ernest Norton, London (joint mortgagees) for £500 with interest at 5% (B).
12.1937: Transferred to Fleetwood when Brixham Trawlers Ltd moved to the port.
9.12.1937: Sailed Brixham for Fleetwood in company with AUK (H755), fishing round.
19.12.1937: First landing at Fleetwood, 74 boxes grossed £140.
2.12.1938: Brixham Trawlers Ltd registered office transferred to Fleetwood. Ralph S. Dugdall appointed manager.
9.2.1939: Mortgage (B) discharged.
13.2.1939: Vessel mortgaged (64/64) to Midland Bank Ltd, London (C).
26.4.1943: Typical wartime landing. 145 kits – hake-3, cod/codling-39, haddock-9, whiting-49, flats-11, ling/coley-14, roker-8, gurnard-12.
15.2.1949: Sailed Fleetwood for Donegal ground (Sk. R. Stafford); twelve crew all told.
25.2.1949: Aborted trip at about 1.30 pm. with winch defect and made for home.
26.2.1949: At 5.30 am. in WSW gale force winds and heavy seas, but with good visibility between squalls, stranded about 300yds southward of Bull Point Light, Rathlin Island, Co. Antrim, 50yds from shore at base of cliff. Schermuly rocket line from ship secured by Lighthouse keepers and Clifford Whitehead volunteered to swim to the shore and landed safely. Portrush lifeboat (Cox. Sam Cunningham) attempted to take off remainder of crew but driven back by heavy seas. Rathlin Island Life-Saving Co alerted and at about 10.30 a.m. remaining eleven crew safely landed. Rathlin Island had been cut off for two weeks due to bad weather, but the Portrush lifeboat managed to embark the crew and took them to Portrush. Wreck in position 55.17,42N 06.17,30W later declared a total loss.
27.2.1949: Crew returned to Fleetwood.
14.3.1949: Mortgage (C) discharged.
4.4.1949: Hull registry closed “Vessel stranded on Rathlin Island and abandoned as a total loss on 2nd April 1949”.
23.8.1949: At the BOT Formal Investigation (S.414) held at Fleetwood, the Court found Sk. Robert Stafford lacking in proper seamanlike care in navigation and suspended his ticket for six months with £100 costs. Remains of wreck lies in 6m.

Click to enlarge image

S.T. Pintail H982
Picture courtesy of The James Cullen Collection

S.T. Pintail H982
Picture courtesy of The Osta Collection

Changelog
03/01/2009: Page published. 3 revisions since then.
20/10/2014: Picture added.
30/12/2015: Information updated.
23/04/2017: Removed FMHT watermark from image.
30/08/2019: Updated information and added an image.
15/07/2021: Updated information.