Additional information courtesy of Christine Simm

Technical

Official Number:104153
Yard Number: 143
Completed: 1898
Gross Tonnage: 194
Net Tonnage: 33
Length: 110.0 (117.0 loa)
Breadth: 20.9 ft
Depth: 10.8 ft
Built: J. Jones & Sons, Liverpool
Engine: T.3-cyl by J. Jones & Sons, Liverpool

History

12.1898: Completed by J. Jones & Sons, Liverpool (Yd.No.143) for Boston Deep Sea Fishing & Ice Co Ltd, Boston as REVESBY.
28.12.1898: After successful builder’s trials sailed Liverpool for Boston (Sk. Alec Cutting).
1.1.1899: Arrived Boston.
1.1899: Registered at Boston (BN50). James Bloomfield designated manager.
4.1.1899: Sailed Boston for a trial trip to the Deeps with friends and press onboard (Sk. Alec Cutting).
5.2.1899: In the afternoon in Strait Bargate, Boston, the young son of Sk. Alec Cutting was knocked down and run over by a trolley. Taken to the hospital but no bones broken.
11.2.1899: Arrived Boston from the fishing grounds.
15.6.1899: Sailed Boston at 9.30am with the directors of the company onboard for the annual excursion to the Deeps, returning at 10.30pm.
2.1890: The Great Storm.
13.2.1890: Sailed Boston for the fishing grounds (Sk. Alec Cutting ), along with steam trawler GRAMPUS (Sk. Bob Lowe). When some 230 miles out and off the Aberdeenshire coast the weather started to deteriorate. Spoke with GRAMPUS and decided to shoot the trawl. The trawl was only down for two hours before the wind increased to severe gale and the net was hauled with great difficulty. With a very high sea running it was difficult to see the GRAMPUS, but she appeared to be making very bad weather of it. Started to dodge, but that night the weather worsened, the wind flying from SE to N and then back and the ship rolling heavily and constantly being swept by seas. At midnight the lights of the GRAMPUS could be seen but by 1.00am they had gone. The next morning main and mizzen sails were set to steady the ship, at about 11.00am a towering sea crashed onboard, hitting the sails throwing her right over and in danger of capsize. She rose, but not quite recovering laid on her beam ends. The engine had stopped, steering damaged, ventilators torn of and boat observed floating away. With ejectors working the situation was critical and for three days and nights water levels were slowly reduced and the weather started to moderate. It was then possible to enter the bunkers to trim the coal over to correct the list. Once this was done temporary steering gear was rigged and the ship put on course for shore.
19.2.1900: Arrived Hartlepool reported loss of boat, lifebuoys, anchors, cables, jib boom, warps, nets and part casing stove in. Temporary repairs carried out.
21.2.1890: Arrived Boston and reported that the GRAMPUS had possibly foundered. Sent to North Shields for repair.
6.3.1900: Tasked to look for trawlers missing since the last storm, arrived Kirkwall in the morning with part of boat, about 4ft next stern, marked ‘BN22’ identified as belonging to the GRAMPUS.
7.3.1900: Sailed Kirkwall for further search.
17.8.1900: Outward from Boston for the fishing grounds collided with the Danish registered schooner R0TA, Colchester for Blyth, damaging her bulwarks and other damage. Connected, towed to Clayhole and put to anchor.
19.8.1900: Boston tug BULLDOG (72grt/1884) connected and took ROTA up to Boston for repair.
21.8.1900: At Boston Court, deckhands James Rowan and Frank Knight were charged with refusing to join the trawler and each fined 40s and costs.
23.9.1900: Sailed Boston for North Sea fishing grounds. When about 40 miles out near the Inner Dowsing Lightship, Ch. Eng Charles Henry Dowsing (38) fell overboard and was drowned before the boat launched by the trawler could reach him.
24.9.1902: Returned to Boston.
13.10.1902: Body of Charles Dowsing washed ashore in Wainfleet Haven.
14.10.1902: Returned to Boston from a broken trip to report the death of deckhand Thomas Dunsden (40) who was taken ill on the fishing grounds and died on 13th October.
1904: Fred Donnison designated manager.
19.3.1907: On a North Sea trip (Sk. Parker). When about 100 miles from the Inner Dowsing, disabled with rudder broken. Grimsby steam trawler ASHTON (GY123) (Sk. Wright) responded to distress, connected and commenced tow to Boston.
20.3.1907: Delivered Boston.
24.2.1909: When lying at the jetty at Boston, struck by London registered steamer GRACE (354grt/1904)(Capt. J. W. Footit), inbound from Wisbech causing considerable damage.
1909: Thomas D. Donaldson designated manager.
1910: Fishing out of Fleetwood (Fred Donnison, Fleetwood managing agent).
20.2.1911: At Fleetwood landed 40 boxes (5 boxes of soles).
1912: Daniel Walker designated manager.
1.1.1914: Tonnage altered to 79n under provision of Merchant Shipping Act 1907.
15.8.1915: Reported that all the company trawlers were in port with the exception of REVESBY and INDIAN which had been sent out to fetch in the others.
11.1916: Requisitioned for war service as a boom trawler (P.No.NA). Based Sheerness.
Post 12.3.1919: Returned to owner.
1919: Sold to Frederick W. Simpson and T. Shone, Scarborough. Frederick W. Simpson designated managing owner. Fishing out of Hull.
23.5.1919: Arrived Hull from a North Sea trip.
2.6.1919: Sailed Hull for North Sea fishing grounds.
9.11.1919: When off the Aberdeenshire coast in severe weather answered the distress signal of the Kirkcaldy registered steamer RAITH (92grt/1895) (Capt Macdonald) struck by heavy seas the previous day, disabled and flooding. Closed and in very difficult conditions took off the crew pulled through the water with ropes.
10.11.1919: Landed survivors at North Shields.
1920: Sold to Revesby Steam Trawling Co Ltd, Scarborough. Frederick W. Simpson designated manager.
3.5.1920: At Scarborough, Sk. T. Casey was fined £25 with £5 costs for trawling in prohibited waters off Whitby (area contained sunken mines from WW1).
2.1921: Surveyed at Grimsby.
1921: Sold to Cameleyre Frères, Arcachon. Boston registry closed. Registered at Arcachon as MARGUERITR RENÉ.
1922: Remeasured 185g 42n.
1922: Sold to Société Anonyme des Pêcheries Cameleyre Frères, Arcachon.
28.1.1927: Reported that the Ministry of Public Works (merchant marine section) had issued a letter to the owners, congratulating them on the good state of maintenance observed on the vessel by the Port of Arcachon Commissioners (Sk. Deliges René).
22.11.1927: At Arcachon landed 11,081 kgs of fish.
27.11.1927: At Arcachon landed 12,963 kgs (204 boxes) of fish.
8.1.1928: At Arcachon landed 3,469 kgs of fish.
7.9.1928: Reported under repair.
1.10.1928: At Arcachon landed 5,860kgs (92 boxes) of fish.
7.2.1929: At Arcachon landed 9,718 kgs of fish.
20.6.1929: Reported under repair.
14.11.1929: At Arcachon landed 4,382kgs (69 boxes) of fish.
19.3.1930: At Arcachon landed 6,856kgs of fish.
1930: Sold to E. Leveau, Dieppe. Arcachon registry closed. Registered at Dieppe as Denise-Simonne.
9.11.1931: Landed at Dieppe.
17.12.1931: At Dieppe landed 37 ‘crates’ of fish, 18,053fr gross.
15.4.1932: At Dieppe landed 17 ‘crates’ of fish, 8,269fr gross.
22.10.1032: At Dieppe landed 4 tonnes (63 boxes) of fish.
2.9.1941: At La Rochelle landed 14,310 kgs (225 boxes) of fish.
1952: Latterly owned by Armement Leveau, Dieppe. Sold for breaking up. Dieppe registry closed.

Note: REVESBY and CARRINGTON (BN51) were built with an improved hull form and many additions not found in a trawler of that size, including a boiler pressure of 200psi, evaporator, steam steering engine in the wheelhouse, lifeboat with built in sealed buoyancy tanks and enclosed trawl winch, but … she still had a suit of sails.

Click to enlarge images

S.T. Revesby BN50 inboard of Dixon SH253
Picture courtesy of The George Westwood Collection

S.T. Revesby BN50 (outboard)
Picture courtesy of The George Westwood Collection

Changelog
14/07/2021: Page published.