Sailing barge Thalatta
Encyclopedia
The Thalatta was a Thames sailing barge
, built in Harwich
, Essex
, in 1906. She was 90 feet long and 26 feet across the widest part of the deck. Like all Thames barges, she was flat-bottomed and had leeboard
s instead of a keel
. She spent some of her life ketch
-rigged and some of it spritsail
-rigged. When she was spritsail rigged, she had a mainmast and topmast that, together, were about 90 feet high, and a mizzen mast. The Thalatta had two periods with an auxiliary engine and two without. She carried cargo for sixty years and was then converted for use as a sail training ship in 1966. She is currently being rebuilt at St Osyth with assistance from lottery
funds.
. She was bought from McLearon's by Fred Horlock of Mistley
, who gave her a spritsail
rig suitable for sailing in the smooth waters of the Thames estuary
. She was registered on 6 February 1906 and her first skipper was James Alliston of Mistley.
The Thalatta's first freight was from London to Lowestoft, and from there they went to Hull
and then back to Mistley. On the 24th of March, they sailed to Ipswich
to load beans for Nieuwpoort
in Belgium
and there they loaded a cargo for Antwerp. During that first year of trading, the Thalatta visited Hull again and also Dunkirk and Rotterdam
.
The spritsail
rig isn't a good rig for the rough waters of the North Sea
, and at some point, early in her life, the Thalatta was re-rigged as a ketch
, with a boom and gaff mainsail
Between 1908 and 1914 the barge made frequent passages to the north of England, to Newcastle and Sunderland, and west to Appledore
in North Devon
, as well as Dublin, Wicklow
, and Wexford
in Ireland
with malt
from Mistley and Ipswich. She also visited many ports on the European mainland.
On the 10th of November 1908, she was caught in a severe storm between Sunderland and the Thames and, three days later, was towed into Lowestoft with a broken main gaff and a split sail. A couple of months later, on the 15th of January 1909, under way in the Thames's Blackwall reach, and loaded with maize
, the Thalatta was in collision with a steamer, which did considerable damage to her starboard side. Such a collision was not an unusual occurrence in the Thames at that time.
In 1915, the first world war brought a change in the Thalatta's use and she was put to work as a lighter
in the Thames for a year. The following year, she ran between Shoreham
and Dieppe
, loaded with pig iron
to feed the French war machine.
In 1917 the barge was bought by the Wynnfield Shipping Company of Grimsby
, who installed a 70 hp two-cycle vertical oil engine, built by Plenty & Sons of Newbury
. She was used as a supply vessel to the Humber
boom defences skippered by Percy Richmond (who had previously been mate).
At the end of the war, Herbert John Body of Southend took over as skipper and the Thalatta had a regular run into war-torn Flanders
with materials for postwar rebuilding. Between 1919 and 1921 she also went to Paris
, Antwerp, Brussels
, and Rotterdam
.
After that, she carried cement to Torquay
, china clay from Fowey
to Greenhithe
, and granite chippings from the Channel Islands
.
Then in 1923, she was sold to Captain Body and, for reasons now long forgotten, her engine was taken out. She was converted back to a spritsail rig and continued carrying cargoes between the north of England
and the Channel, as well as to mainland Europe.
After ten years, Body sold her to malsters R & W Paul of Ipswich
and her cargoes then were malt and occasionally flour to London
, barley or wheat to Ipswich, animal feed to Colchester and Faversham, and occasional runs across the North Sea. Her skipper was Bob Ruffles and, after him, there were Lucas, Wells, and Webb. Pauls looked after the barge well and she was found to be unusually sound and well-preserved when her last Board of Trade loadline inspection was carried out in 1964.
After the second world war, her skipper, Joe Lucas, sailed her to Lowestoft
where she was again fitted with an auxiliary engine - a war surplus Ruston and Hornsby marine diesel - at Richards' yard.
In 1966 the Thalatta was sold to John Kemp
of Maldon
who converted her for use as a school ship. She was contracted to take school children from the London Borough of Redbridge
sailing for five day trips between April and October.
The barge was later taken over by the East Coast Sail Trust and continued to work as a schoolship skippered by John Kemp with Jane Benham
as the mate. John Kemp died at the wheel in September 1987, near Mersea Island
in the Blackwater
estuary.
In 2006, the East Coast Sail Trust received a grant of £527,500 from the Heritage Lottery Fund for the restoration of the Thalatta. In March, skipper Gary Diddams and mate Roger Davies sailed to the St Osyth boatyard for refurbishment. The original intention was to just replace the outer planking and the worst of the frames, but it became apparent that most of the frames were rotted beyond repair and only the floors (the bottom sections of the frame) and the relatively new transom were fit to be retained. It was decided that the old barge should be rebuilt and East Coast Sail Trust began to raise funds to carry out this very expensive job.
The Thalatta is currently still in the process of being rebuilt.
is the fact that Mrs Baillie Reynolds published a highly popular novel named Thalassa in the same year.
It seems unlikely that the conjunction of these three events is pure chance, although clear evidence of a link between them remains to be found.
Over forty years, thousands of kids benefited from their experience of living and working as crew aboard the barge. During the five-day voyages, the young people assisted with the working of the ship, taking turns with cooking and cleaning, as well as winding up the anchor, setting the heavy red sails, and taking a turn at the wheel.
The ship carried two large ship's boats, each able to carry eight passengers. These could be rowed or propelled by outboard motors and were used to explore coastal inlets and creeks which were too shallow for the barge to navigate.
The Thalatta's educational cruises offered the opportunity for a varied programme of environmental studies and gave a glimpse into the vanished age of working timber sailing ships. They combined adventure with formal learning, covering such topics as estuary ecology, pollution, fisheries, waterside communities, sea defences, and rescue services.
Thames sailing barge
A Thames sailing barge was a type of commercial sailing boat common on the River Thames in London in the 19th century. The flat-bottomed barges were perfectly adapted to the Thames Estuary, with its shallow waters and narrow rivers....
, built in Harwich
Harwich
Harwich is a town in Essex, England and one of the Haven ports, located on the coast with the North Sea to the east. It is in the Tendring district. Nearby places include Felixstowe to the northeast, Ipswich to the northwest, Colchester to the southwest and Clacton-on-Sea to the south...
, Essex
Essex
Essex is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the East region of England, and one of the home counties. It is located to the northeast of Greater London. It borders with Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent to the South and London to the south west...
, in 1906. She was 90 feet long and 26 feet across the widest part of the deck. Like all Thames barges, she was flat-bottomed and had leeboard
Leeboard
A leeboard is a lifting foil used by a sailboat, much like a centerboard, but located on the leeward side of the boat. The leeward side is used so that the leeboard isn't lifted from the water when the boat heels, or leans under the force of the wind....
s instead of a keel
Keel
In boats and ships, keel can refer to either of two parts: a structural element, or a hydrodynamic element. These parts overlap. As the laying down of the keel is the initial step in construction of a ship, in British and American shipbuilding traditions the construction is dated from this event...
. She spent some of her life ketch
Ketch
A ketch is a sailing craft with two masts: a main mast, and a shorter mizzen mast abaft of the main mast, but forward of the rudder post. Both masts are rigged mainly fore-and-aft. From one to three jibs may be carried forward of the main mast when going to windward...
-rigged and some of it spritsail
Spritsail
The spritsail is a form of three or four-sided, fore-aft sail and its rig. Unlike the gaff where the head hangs from a spar along its edge, this rig supports the leech of the sail by means of a spar or spars named a sprit...
-rigged. When she was spritsail rigged, she had a mainmast and topmast that, together, were about 90 feet high, and a mizzen mast. The Thalatta had two periods with an auxiliary engine and two without. She carried cargo for sixty years and was then converted for use as a sail training ship in 1966. She is currently being rebuilt at St Osyth with assistance from lottery
National Lottery (United Kingdom)
The National Lottery is the state-franchised national lottery in the United Kingdom and the Isle of Man.It is operated by Camelot Group, to whom the licence was granted in 1994, 2001 and again in 2007. The lottery is regulated by the National Lottery Commission, and was established by the then...
funds.
History
The Thalatta was built by McLearon's shipyard in HarwichHarwich
Harwich is a town in Essex, England and one of the Haven ports, located on the coast with the North Sea to the east. It is in the Tendring district. Nearby places include Felixstowe to the northeast, Ipswich to the northwest, Colchester to the southwest and Clacton-on-Sea to the south...
. She was bought from McLearon's by Fred Horlock of Mistley
Mistley
Mistley is a large village and civil parish in the Tendring district of northeast Essex. It is around 11 miles northeast of Colchester and is east of, and almost contiguous with, Manningtree. The parish consists of Mistley and New Mistley, both lying beside the Stour Estuary, and Mistley Heath a...
, who gave her a spritsail
Spritsail
The spritsail is a form of three or four-sided, fore-aft sail and its rig. Unlike the gaff where the head hangs from a spar along its edge, this rig supports the leech of the sail by means of a spar or spars named a sprit...
rig suitable for sailing in the smooth waters of the Thames estuary
Thames Estuary
The Thames Mouth is the estuary in which the River Thames meets the waters of the North Sea.It is not easy to define the limits of the estuary, although physically the head of Sea Reach, near Canvey Island on the Essex shore is probably the western boundary...
. She was registered on 6 February 1906 and her first skipper was James Alliston of Mistley.
The Thalatta's first freight was from London to Lowestoft, and from there they went to Hull
Kingston upon Hull
Kingston upon Hull , usually referred to as Hull, is a city and unitary authority area in the ceremonial county of the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. It stands on the River Hull at its junction with the Humber estuary, 25 miles inland from the North Sea. Hull has a resident population of...
and then back to Mistley. On the 24th of March, they sailed to Ipswich
Ipswich
Ipswich is a large town and a non-metropolitan district. It is the county town of Suffolk, England. Ipswich is located on the estuary of the River Orwell...
to load beans for Nieuwpoort
Nieuwpoort, Belgium
Nieuwpoort is a municipality located in Flanders, one of the three regions of Belgium, and in the Flemish province of West Flanders. The municipality comprises the city of Nieuwpoort proper and the towns of Ramskapelle and Sint-Joris. On January 1, 2008 Nieuwpoort had a total population of 11,062....
in Belgium
Belgium
Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...
and there they loaded a cargo for Antwerp. During that first year of trading, the Thalatta visited Hull again and also Dunkirk and Rotterdam
Rotterdam
Rotterdam is the second-largest city in the Netherlands and one of the largest ports in the world. Starting as a dam on the Rotte river, Rotterdam has grown into a major international commercial centre...
.
The spritsail
Spritsail
The spritsail is a form of three or four-sided, fore-aft sail and its rig. Unlike the gaff where the head hangs from a spar along its edge, this rig supports the leech of the sail by means of a spar or spars named a sprit...
rig isn't a good rig for the rough waters of the North Sea
North Sea
In the southwest, beyond the Straits of Dover, the North Sea becomes the English Channel connecting to the Atlantic Ocean. In the east, it connects to the Baltic Sea via the Skagerrak and Kattegat, narrow straits that separate Denmark from Norway and Sweden respectively...
, and at some point, early in her life, the Thalatta was re-rigged as a ketch
Ketch
A ketch is a sailing craft with two masts: a main mast, and a shorter mizzen mast abaft of the main mast, but forward of the rudder post. Both masts are rigged mainly fore-and-aft. From one to three jibs may be carried forward of the main mast when going to windward...
, with a boom and gaff mainsail
Between 1908 and 1914 the barge made frequent passages to the north of England, to Newcastle and Sunderland, and west to Appledore
Appledore
-Places in England:* Appledore, Mid Devon, near Tiverton* Appledore, Kent* Appledore railway station* Appledore, Torridge, Devon, near Bideford-Ships and shipbuilding:* Appledore II , schooner based in Camden, Maine...
in North Devon
Devon
Devon is a large county in southwestern England. The county is sometimes referred to as Devonshire, although the term is rarely used inside the county itself as the county has never been officially "shired", it often indicates a traditional or historical context.The county shares borders with...
, as well as Dublin, Wicklow
Wicklow
Wicklow) is the county town of County Wicklow in Ireland. Located south of Dublin on the east coast of the island, it has a population of 10,070 according to the 2006 census. The town is situated to the east of the N11 route between Dublin and Wexford. Wicklow is also connected to the rail...
, and Wexford
Wexford
Wexford is the county town of County Wexford, Ireland. It is situated near the southeastern corner of Ireland, close to Rosslare Europort. The town is connected to Dublin via the M11/N11 National Primary Route, and the national rail network...
in Ireland
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
with malt
Malt
Malt is germinated cereal grains that have been dried in a process known as "malting". The grains are made to germinate by soaking in water, and are then halted from germinating further by drying with hot air...
from Mistley and Ipswich. She also visited many ports on the European mainland.
On the 10th of November 1908, she was caught in a severe storm between Sunderland and the Thames and, three days later, was towed into Lowestoft with a broken main gaff and a split sail. A couple of months later, on the 15th of January 1909, under way in the Thames's Blackwall reach, and loaded with maize
Maize
Maize known in many English-speaking countries as corn or mielie/mealie, is a grain domesticated by indigenous peoples in Mesoamerica in prehistoric times. The leafy stalk produces ears which contain seeds called kernels. Though technically a grain, maize kernels are used in cooking as a vegetable...
, the Thalatta was in collision with a steamer, which did considerable damage to her starboard side. Such a collision was not an unusual occurrence in the Thames at that time.
In 1915, the first world war brought a change in the Thalatta's use and she was put to work as a lighter
Lighter (barge)
A lighter is a type of flat-bottomed barge used to transfer goods and passengers to and from moored ships. Lighters were traditionally unpowered and were moved and steered using long oars called "sweeps," with their motive power provided by water currents...
in the Thames for a year. The following year, she ran between Shoreham
Shoreham-by-Sea
Shoreham-by-Sea is a small town, port and seaside resort in West Sussex, England. Shoreham-by-Sea railway station is located less than a mile from the town centre and London Gatwick Airport is away...
and Dieppe
Dieppe, Seine-Maritime
Dieppe is a commune in the Seine-Maritime department in France. In 1999, the population of the whole Dieppe urban area was 81,419.A port on the English Channel, famous for its scallops, and with a regular ferry service from the Gare Maritime to Newhaven in England, Dieppe also has a popular pebbled...
, loaded with pig iron
Pig iron
Pig iron is the intermediate product of smelting iron ore with a high-carbon fuel such as coke, usually with limestone as a flux. Charcoal and anthracite have also been used as fuel...
to feed the French war machine.
In 1917 the barge was bought by the Wynnfield Shipping Company of Grimsby
Grimsby
Grimsby is a seaport on the Humber Estuary in Lincolnshire, England. It has been the administrative centre of the unitary authority area of North East Lincolnshire since 1996...
, who installed a 70 hp two-cycle vertical oil engine, built by Plenty & Sons of Newbury
Newbury, Berkshire
Newbury is a civil parish and the principal town in the west of the county of Berkshire in England. It is situated on the River Kennet and the Kennet and Avon Canal, and has a town centre containing many 17th century buildings. Newbury is best known for its racecourse and the adjoining former USAF...
. She was used as a supply vessel to the Humber
Humber
The Humber is a large tidal estuary on the east coast of Northern England. It is formed at Trent Falls, Faxfleet, by the confluence of the tidal River Ouse and the tidal River Trent. From here to the North Sea, it forms part of the boundary between the East Riding of Yorkshire on the north bank...
boom defences skippered by Percy Richmond (who had previously been mate).
At the end of the war, Herbert John Body of Southend took over as skipper and the Thalatta had a regular run into war-torn Flanders
Flanders
Flanders is the community of the Flemings but also one of the institutions in Belgium, and a geographical region located in parts of present-day Belgium, France and the Netherlands. "Flanders" can also refer to the northern part of Belgium that contains Brussels, Bruges, Ghent and Antwerp...
with materials for postwar rebuilding. Between 1919 and 1921 she also went to Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
, Antwerp, Brussels
Brussels
Brussels , officially the Brussels Region or Brussels-Capital Region , is the capital of Belgium and the de facto capital of the European Union...
, and Rotterdam
Rotterdam
Rotterdam is the second-largest city in the Netherlands and one of the largest ports in the world. Starting as a dam on the Rotte river, Rotterdam has grown into a major international commercial centre...
.
After that, she carried cement to Torquay
Torquay
Torquay is a town in the unitary authority area of Torbay and ceremonial county of Devon, England. It lies south of Exeter along the A380 on the north of Torbay, north-east of Plymouth and adjoins the neighbouring town of Paignton on the west of the bay. Torquay’s population of 63,998 during the...
, china clay from Fowey
Fowey
Fowey is a small town, civil parish and cargo port at the mouth of the River Fowey in south Cornwall, United Kingdom. According to the 2001 census it had a population of 2,273.-Early history:...
to Greenhithe
Greenhithe
Greenhithe is a town in Dartford District of Kent, England. It forms part of the civil parish of Swanscombe and Greenhithe.Greenhithe, as it is spelled today, is located where it was possible to build wharves for transshipping corn, wood and other commodities; its largest cargoes were of chalk and...
, and granite chippings from the Channel Islands
Channel Islands
The Channel Islands are an archipelago of British Crown Dependencies in the English Channel, off the French coast of Normandy. They include two separate bailiwicks: the Bailiwick of Guernsey and the Bailiwick of Jersey...
.
Then in 1923, she was sold to Captain Body and, for reasons now long forgotten, her engine was taken out. She was converted back to a spritsail rig and continued carrying cargoes between the north of England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
and the Channel, as well as to mainland Europe.
After ten years, Body sold her to malsters R & W Paul of Ipswich
Ipswich
Ipswich is a large town and a non-metropolitan district. It is the county town of Suffolk, England. Ipswich is located on the estuary of the River Orwell...
and her cargoes then were malt and occasionally flour to London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, barley or wheat to Ipswich, animal feed to Colchester and Faversham, and occasional runs across the North Sea. Her skipper was Bob Ruffles and, after him, there were Lucas, Wells, and Webb. Pauls looked after the barge well and she was found to be unusually sound and well-preserved when her last Board of Trade loadline inspection was carried out in 1964.
After the second world war, her skipper, Joe Lucas, sailed her to Lowestoft
Lowestoft
Lowestoft is a town in the English county of Suffolk. The town is on the North Sea coast and is the most easterly point of the United Kingdom. It is north-east of London, north-east of Ipswich and south-east of Norwich...
where she was again fitted with an auxiliary engine - a war surplus Ruston and Hornsby marine diesel - at Richards' yard.
In 1966 the Thalatta was sold to John Kemp
John Arthur Kemp
John Kemp, 1926–1987, created and ran the East Coast Sail Trust, a charitable institution devoted to both character building for young people through education at sea, and preservation of Thames sailing barges...
of Maldon
Maldon, Essex
Maldon is a town on the Blackwater estuary in Essex, England. It is the seat of the Maldon district and starting point of the Chelmer and Blackwater Navigation.Maldon is twinned with the Dutch town of Cuijk...
who converted her for use as a school ship. She was contracted to take school children from the London Borough of Redbridge
London Borough of Redbridge
The London Borough of Redbridge is a London borough in outer north-east London. Its administrative headquarters is at Redbridge Town Hall in Ilford. The local authority is Redbridge London Borough Council.-Etymology:...
sailing for five day trips between April and October.
The barge was later taken over by the East Coast Sail Trust and continued to work as a schoolship skippered by John Kemp with Jane Benham
Jane Benham
Jane Benham MBE was instrumental in the formation and operation of the East Coast Sail Trust , a charitable institution devoted to both character building for young people through sail training, and preservation of Thames sailing barges...
as the mate. John Kemp died at the wheel in September 1987, near Mersea Island
Mersea Island
Mersea Island is the most easterly inhabited island in the United Kingdom, located marginally off the coast of Essex, England, to the southeast of Colchester. It is situated in the estuary area of the Blackwater and Colne rivers and has an area of around...
in the Blackwater
River Blackwater, Essex
The River Blackwater is a river in England. It rises in the northwest of Essex as the River Pant and flows to Bocking, near Braintree, from where its name changes to the Blackwater. Its course takes it near Stisted, and then via Bradwell Juxta Coggeshall and Coggeshall and near Witham where it is...
estuary.
In 2006, the East Coast Sail Trust received a grant of £527,500 from the Heritage Lottery Fund for the restoration of the Thalatta. In March, skipper Gary Diddams and mate Roger Davies sailed to the St Osyth boatyard for refurbishment. The original intention was to just replace the outer planking and the worst of the frames, but it became apparent that most of the frames were rotted beyond repair and only the floors (the bottom sections of the frame) and the relatively new transom were fit to be retained. It was decided that the old barge should be rebuilt and East Coast Sail Trust began to raise funds to carry out this very expensive job.
The Thalatta is currently still in the process of being rebuilt.
Name
The name Thalatta is the anglicized version of the Greek word θάλαττα, meaning the sea. It is interesting to note that a yacht named Thalassa was built in Cowes in the same year as the Thalatta, 1906. Thalassa (θάλασσα) is an alternative form of the same Greek word. A possible explanation of this apparent case of synchronicitySynchronicity
Synchronicity is the experience of two or more events that are apparently causally unrelated or unlikely to occur together by chance and that are observed to occur together in a meaningful manner...
is the fact that Mrs Baillie Reynolds published a highly popular novel named Thalassa in the same year.
It seems unlikely that the conjunction of these three events is pure chance, although clear evidence of a link between them remains to be found.
Schoolship
In 1966 the Thalatta was entirely restored and re-rigged to take on a role as a schoolship under the flag of the East Coast Sail Trust. The barge's former cargo space was converted into communal living quarters where young people slept in hammocks and kept their belongings in big wooden sea chests.Over forty years, thousands of kids benefited from their experience of living and working as crew aboard the barge. During the five-day voyages, the young people assisted with the working of the ship, taking turns with cooking and cleaning, as well as winding up the anchor, setting the heavy red sails, and taking a turn at the wheel.
The ship carried two large ship's boats, each able to carry eight passengers. These could be rowed or propelled by outboard motors and were used to explore coastal inlets and creeks which were too shallow for the barge to navigate.
The Thalatta's educational cruises offered the opportunity for a varied programme of environmental studies and gave a glimpse into the vanished age of working timber sailing ships. They combined adventure with formal learning, covering such topics as estuary ecology, pollution, fisheries, waterside communities, sea defences, and rescue services.