John Bowes (steamship)

Last updated

John Bowes model a.jpg
Model of John Bowes at the Tyne & Wear Archives and Museum.
History
Civil Ensign of the United Kingdom.svgUnited Kingdom
NameJohn Bowes
OwnerCharles Mark Palmer, Newcastle [1]
Port of registryUnited Kingdom
BuilderPalmer Brothers & Co, Jarrow
Yard number2
Launched30 June 1852 [2]
Christened30 June 1852
Completed22 July 1852
Maiden voyage27 July 1852
Out of service12 October 1933
Refit1853(?), 1864 and 1883
HomeportNewcastle [1]
Identification Official number 26276 [1]
FateFoundered
NotesFirst screw collier built on the River Tyne. [3]
General characteristics
TypeIron hulled steam screw & sail collier
Tonnage437  GRT [2]
Length149.0 ft (45.4 m) [2]
Beam25.7 ft (7.8 m) [2]
Depth of hold15.6 ft (4.8 m) [2]
PropulsionSteam, two cylinder by Robert Stephenson [2]
Sail planTopsail schooner
Speed9 knots (17 km/h; 10 mph)

John Bowes, built on the River Tyne in England in 1852, was one of the first steam colliers. She traded for over 81 years before sinking in a storm off Spain.

Contents

Development

The John Bowes was the first purpose-built steam collier, [4] [5] [6] [7] although the steamship Bedlington of 1841 carried coal before she did, but the Bedlington carried it in railway wagons as a railway ferry, not as a collier. [8]

Charles Mark Palmer was responsible for the design of the John Bowes which was just the second vessel of over a thousand ships eventually built by the Jarrow shipyard which he had founded with his brother George.

The vessel's novel features included an iron hull, the use of water ballast, and steam propulsion with a screw propeller. As was still common, an auxiliary sailing rig was also fitted.

Front of 1852 Lloyd's survey certificate for steam collier SS John Bowes. SS John Bowes Lloyds Survey front.jpg
Front of 1852 Lloyd's survey certificate for steam collier SS John Bowes.
Rear of 1852 Lloyd's survey certificate for steam collier SS John Bowes. SS John Bowes Lloyds Survey back.jpg
Rear of 1852 Lloyd's survey certificate for steam collier SS John Bowes.

Career

The steamer was launched on 30 June 1852 and named for John Bowes, a mine owner, business partner of Charles Palmer and the then High Sheriff of Durham. [9] Her steam engine was built by Messrs. R. Stephenson & Co., Newcastle upon Tyne. [3] Commercial service began on 27 July 1852, with coal from the Tyne to London. Within the week, it had moved more coal than two collier brigs could have moved in a month and its success resulted in the construction of many similar ships.

The ballast tanks could not initially be kept watertight, and Palmer tried a number of solutions before settling on longitudinal iron tanks beneath each hold as proposed by John McIntyre, the Jarrow shipyard manager. [2] [10] During a voyage from Rosedale, Yorkshire to the River Tyne on 16 July 1860, she was run aground on the Insand, off the coast of County Durham on the North Sea. [11]

Despite the mishap, a long and prosperous career followed. New engines were installed in 1864 and 1883 as the technology improved. [12]

A second grounding happened on the Heligoland on 9 June 1864, and although refloated, had to be beached for repairs before continuing to Hamburg. [13] [14] In 1873, John Bowes was sold to Benjamin Barnett and registered at London, [15] and in 1896, to James Mackenzie ('John Bowes' Steamship Co Ltd) of Dublin. In 1898, it was sold to Scandinavian owners as Spec and later Transit. In 1908, she was sold on to Spain, where she traded for a further twenty five years as the Carolina, Valentin Fierro and finally as the Villa Selgas. [16]

Loss

While carrying a cargo of iron ore from Bilbao to San Esteban de Pravia, Villa Selgas, [17] [18] now owned by Federico Fierro of San Sebastián, [16] encountered a storm in the Bay of Biscay, began taking on water, and foundered off Ribadesella, on 12 October 1933. [17] [19] All twelve of the crew abandoned ship and were rescued by the fishing vessel Aurora. [19]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jarrow</span> Town in England

Jarrow is a town in South Tyneside in the county of Tyne and Wear, England. Historically in County Durham, it is on the south bank of the River Tyne, about 3 miles (4.8 km) from the east coast. The 2011 census area classed Hebburn and The Boldons as part of the town, it had a population of 43,431. It is home to the southern portal of the Tyne Tunnel and 5 mi (8.0 km) east of Newcastle upon Tyne.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bowes Railway</span> British preserved standard gauge cable railway system (built 1826)

The Bowes Railway, built by George Stephenson in 1826, is the world's only operational preserved standard gauge cable railway system. It was built to transport coal from pits in Durham to boats on the River Tyne. The site is a scheduled monument. The railway is open every week on Thursday, Friday and Saturday as well as on a number of event days throughout the year.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sir Charles Palmer, 1st Baronet</span> English shipbuilder

Sir Charles Mark Palmer, 1st Baronet was an English shipbuilder born in South Shields, County Durham, England. He was also a Liberal Party politician and Member of Parliament. His father, originally the captain of a whaler, moved in 1828 to Newcastle upon Tyne, where he owned a ship owning and ship-broking business.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hebburn</span> Town in South Tyneside, Tyne and Wear, England

Hebburn is a town in the South Tyneside borough of Tyne and Wear, England. It was formerly in County Durham until 1974 with its own urban district from 1894 until 1974. It is on the south bank of the River Tyne between Gateshead and Jarrow and opposite Wallsend and Walker.

The Blyth and Tyne Railway was a railway company in Northumberland, England, incorporated by act of Parliament on 30 June 1852. It was created to unify the various private railways and waggonways built to carry coal from the Northumberland coalfield to Blyth and the River Tyne, which it took control of on 1 January 1853. Over time, the railway expanded its network to reach Morpeth (1857/8), North Seaton (1859), Tynemouth (1860/1), Newcastle upon Tyne (1864), and finally Newbiggin-by-the-Sea (1872). It became part of the much larger North Eastern Railway in 1874.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Palmers Shipbuilding and Iron Company</span> British shipbuilding company (1852–1933)

Palmers Shipbuilding and Iron Company Limited, often referred to simply as "Palmers", was a British shipbuilding company. The company was based in Jarrow, County Durham, in north-eastern England, and had operations in Hebburn and Willington Quay on the River Tyne.

The Keelmen of Tyne and Wear were a group of men who worked on the keels, large boats that carried the coal from the banks of both rivers to the waiting collier ships. Because of the shallowness of both rivers, it was difficult for ships of any significant draught to move up river and load with coal from the place where the coal reached the riverside. Thus the need for shallow-draught keels to transport the coal to the waiting ships. The keelmen formed a close-knit and colourful community on both rivers until their eventual demise late in the nineteenth century.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fenwick Lawson</span> English sculptor

Fenwick Justin John Lawson, ARCA is an English sculptor based in the north-east of England.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Collier (ship)</span> Bulk cargo ship to carry coal

A collier is a bulk cargo ship designed or used to carry coal. Early evidence of coal being transported by sea includes use of coal in London in 1306. In the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, coal was shipped from the River Tyne to London and other destinations. Other ports also exported coal – for instance the Old Quay in Whitehaven harbour was built in 1634 for the loading of coal. London became highly reliant on the delivery of coal by sea – Samuel Pepys expressed concern in the winter of 1666–67 that war with the Dutch would prevent a fleet of 200 colliers getting through. In 1795, 4,395 cargoes of coal were delivered to London. By 1824, this number had risen to about 7,000; by 1839, it was over 9,000. The trade continued to the end of the twentieth century, with the last cargo of coal leaving the Port of Tyne in February, 2021.

SS <i>Wandle</i> (1932) British coastal collier owned by Wandsworth gas works

SS Wandle was a British coastal collier owned and operated by the proprietors of Wandsworth gas works in south-west London. She was a flatiron, meaning that she had a low-profile superstructure, hinged funnel, hinged or telescopic mast and folding wheelhouse to enable her to pass under low bridges on the tidal River Thames upriver from the Pool of London. She was in service from 1932 to 1959 and survived a number of enemy attacks in the Second World War.

<i>Merksworth</i> (1874)

The Merksworth was an iron steamer screw built in 1874 at, Paisley, that was wrecked when it swamped whilst carrying coal between Newcastle and Sydney and was lost off Stockton Beach on 7 May 1898.

SS Vespasian was a steel-hulled cargo steamship that was built in Sunderland in 1887 as Eastern Prince, renamed Vespasian in 1908 and scrapped in Newcastle upon Tyne in 1914. In 1908 the Parsons Marine Steam Turbine Company converted her to steam turbine propulsion. She is notable as the first ship in the World whose turbines drove her propeller by reduction gearing instead of direct drive.

References

  1. 1 2 3 Mercantile Navy List. London: Board of Trade. 1870. p. 204. Retrieved 21 May 2020.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Clarke, Joe F (1997). Building Ships on the North East Coast. Whitley Bay: Bewick Press. pp. 120–121, 134–5. ISBN   1-898880-04-2.
  3. 1 2 "(untitled)". Liverpool Mercury. No. 10475. Liverpool. 6 August 1881. p. 6, col.4 via British Newspaper Archive.
  4. "John Bowes SS (1873~1889) Villa Selgas SS (+1933)". Wrecksite.eu. Retrieved 28 May 2022.
  5. "Collier who steamed into North legend". Chroniclelive.co.uk. 29 May 2004.
  6. "Palmer Tyne shipbuilder Jarrow Willington Quay". Tynetugs.co.uk.
  7. "Shipbuilding in North East England". Englandsnortheast.co.uk. Archived from the original on 17 August 2009.
  8. The Steam Colliers Fleets by Messrs MacRae & Waine, Waine Research, 1990, pp. 11–13
  9. "Launch of a Steam Collier on the Tyne". Newcastle Guardian. No. 335. The British Newspaper Archive (subscription). 3 July 1852. p. 5. Retrieved 22 May 2020.
  10. "North of England" (PDF). The Engineer: 239. 2 March 1900. Retrieved 26 April 2013.
  11. "Marine Intelligence". Newcastle Courant. No. 9682. Newcastle upon Tyne. 20 July 1860.
  12. The Steam Collier Fleets by Messrs MacRae & Waine, Waine Research 1990 page 13
  13. "Mercantile Ship News". The Standard. No. 12432. London. 14 June 1864. p. 7.
  14. "Marine Intelligence". Newcastle Courant. No. 9886. Newcastle upon Tyne. 17 June 1864.
  15. Mercantile Navy List. London: Board of Trade. 1880. p. 69.
  16. 1 2 Register of Ships (PDF). London: Lloyd's Register. 1933. Retrieved 26 April 2013.
  17. 1 2 "Very old Spanish steamer lost". The Times. No. 46575. London. 14 October 1933. col G, p. 4.
  18. Returns of Ships Totally Lost, Condemned &c – 1933, 4th Quarter. London: Lloyd's Register of Shipping. 1934. p. 5.
  19. 1 2 "Naufragio del Vapor "Villa Selgas"". Diario de la Mañana (in Spanish). Oviedo. 13 October 1933. Archived from the original on 21 May 2020. Retrieved 21 May 2020.