Hero (pinnace)

Last updated
History
United Kingdom
NameHero
BuilderAndrews of Maidenhead
Launched1895
General characteristics
Type Pinnace
Installed power Steam

Hero is a steam-powered pinnace, [1] a small boat of the type used, for example, as a tender to larger vessels, believed to have been built as an electric launch, [1] by Andrews of Maidenhead, England in 1895, [1] with the name Avondale.

She is made from teak on steamed oak ribs laid in the carvel style, with a clipper bow, counter stern and a wooden canopy on 10 brass stanchions. [1] Her overall length is 35 feet (11 m), beam 5 feet 8 inches (1.73 m) and draft 2 feet (0.61 m). [1]

The vessel reportedly attended the Cookham regatta in 1901 [1] and was known to be electrically powered in 1912. [1] She was converted to run on petrol by the late 1960s, [1] after which, she was again converted, to run on steam, [1] with a Merryweather boiler. [1] It was in this state that she was acquired by John Player & Sons, [1] who used her for promotional purposes, and lent her [2] to the producers of the television series The Onedin Line , in which she was featured. [1] [2] She also appeared in the series Edward the Seventh .

Players also installed an oil fired scotch dry back boiler. [1] The vessel was acquired by its current owner Nigel Thomson in 1996, [1] who again replaced the boiler, with one built 1998 by D.& S. Steam Engineering Ltd of Raunds, Northamptonshire. [1]

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References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 "Hero". Steamboat Register. Steam Boat Association of Great Britain. April 2004. Archived from the original on 2011-09-28. Retrieved 2011-08-11.
  2. 1 2 The Onedin Line, Series 2, episode 1 credits