Sir Winston Churchill (schooner)

Last updated

Winston Churchill (8170071891).jpg
History
NameSir Winston Churchill
Namesake Winston Churchill
Owner
  • 1966–2000: Tall Ships Youth Trust
  • from 2000: privately owned
Port of registry
BuilderRichard Dunston Ltd, Hessle
Laid down24 November 1964
Launched5 February 1966
In service3 March 1966
Identification
StatusPrivate yacht
General characteristics
Class and typePrivate yacht
Tonnage218  GRT
Displacement333 tonnes (328 long tons)
Length134 ft 9 in (41.07 m) overall
Beam24 ft 9 in (7.54 m)
Draught16 ft 1 in (4.90 m)
Propulsion8,738 square feet (811.8 m2) sail, 2 × Iveco 360 horsepower (270 kW) diesel engines
Sail plan Schooner
Speed12 knots (22 km/h)
Crew9 crew, 13 passengers
Ship's bell Sir Winston Churchill bell.jpg
Ship's bell

Sir Winston Churchill was a sail training ship which was built in Hessle, Yorkshire by Richard Dunston Ltd. She was sold out of service in 2000 and currently serves as a private yacht.

Contents

History

Sir Winston Churchill was designed by Camper & Nicholson and built in 1966 to take boys on sail training trips. [1] The patron of the project was Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh. Public donations partly funded construction of the ship, [2] and the Sail Training Association raised about half the needed money. [3] The vessel was named after Winston Churchill, wartime leader and twice Prime Minister of the United Kingdom; Churchill had died the year before his namesake's construction. [2] Her rig was deliberately designed to incorporate all the main types of sail. [3] In November 1965, Sir Winston Churchill toppled over onto her starboard side whilst she was being fitted out. All three masts were broken. The accident happened a week before she was due to be launched by Princess Alexandra. [4]

On January 1, 1967, an open porthole near the waterline allowed the rising tide to flood the ship at her berth in Southampton, Hampshire. She was pumped out and refloated the same day. [5] [6] On 26 July 1967, she ran aground at Holyhead Harbour, Anglesey but was refloated after four hours. [4]

Sir Winston Churchill and Malcolm Miller 1986 in Bremerhaven Sir Winston Churchill and Malcom Miller IMO 1003968 S Bremerhaven 27-07-1986.jpg
Sir Winston Churchill and Malcolm Miller 1986 in Bremerhaven

In 1968 a sister ship, Malcolm Miller was launched. Sir Winston Churchill differed from Malcolm Miller in having round topped cabin doors as opposed to square topped doors. [7] A further difference was that the Sir Winston Churchill was trimmed slightly lower at the stern - because the concrete ballast had run aft slightly when it was poured during her construction. This difference in trim can be seen in most photographs of the two ships together.

Sir Winston Churchill entered the 1979 Tall Ships Race with an all-female crew. In 1976, the vessel took part in a transatlantic race to celebrate the Bicentenary of the United States Declaration of Independence. [3] On 27 July 1981, she ran aground 4 nautical miles (7.4 km) off Great Yarmouth, Norfolk with 39 female trainees on board. [8] In 2000, Sir Winston Churchill was replaced in service by Prince William and sold by her owners, the Tall Ships Youth Trust. [9] Her last voyage for the Tall Ships Youth Trust ended on 2 December 2000 at Portsmouth. [10]

Sir Winston Churchill was sold to a company based in the Isle of Man. Initially she was used as a sail training ship, with a reduced capacity of 20 trainees instead of the 39 (3 watches of 13, Fore, Main & Mizzen) that the Tall Ships Youth Trust carried. [7] She was totally refitted [11] and re-engined in 2002 with twin Iveco diesel engines [2] replacing her 270 horsepower (200 kW) Ford Mermaid engines. She was originally fitted with 2 off 654 Perkins engines for propulsion and 2 off 499 for power generation. [7]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tall ship</span> Large, traditionally rigged sailing vessel

A tall ship is a large, traditionally-rigged sailing vessel. Popular modern tall ship rigs include topsail schooners, brigantines, brigs and barques. "Tall ship" can also be defined more specifically by an organization, such as for a race or festival.

Stavros S Niarchos

Stavros S Niarchos is a British brig-rigged tall ship, now renamed "Sunset". She was previously owned and operated by the Tall Ships Youth Trust (TSYT). She was primarily designed to provide young people with the opportunity to undertake voyages as character-building exercises, rather than pure sail-training. She was also used for adult voyages and holidays, which helped subsidise the operation of the ship.

<i>Irving Johnson</i> (ship)

The twin brigantines Irving Johnson and Exy Johnson are the flagships of the Los Angeles Maritime Institute's (LAMI) TopSail Youth Program, a non-profit organization that helps at-risk youth learn discipline and teamwork through sailing. They join LAMI's topsail schooners the Swift of Ipswich and the Bill of Rights. The boats are named for sail training pioneers Irving and Electa "Exy" Johnson.

<i>RNOV Shabab Oman</i> (1977)

RNOV Shabab Oman is a barquentine which serves as a training ship for the Royal Navy of Oman.

<i>Eendracht</i> (1989 ship)

The Eendracht is a three-masted schooner from the Netherlands, built in 1989 at the Damen shipyard after a design by W. de Vries Lentsch.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tall Ships Youth Trust</span>

Tall Ships Youth Trust (TSYT) is a sail training organisation in the United Kingdom that currently owns and operates four 72ft Challenger yachts and a 55ft ketch.

<i>R. Tucker Thompson</i>

R. Tucker Thompson is a gaff-rigged topsail schooner based in Opua, Bay of Islands, New Zealand. She is operated as a non-for profit charitable trust and owned by the R. Tucker Thompson Sail Training Trust. The mission of the trust is “Learning for Life through the Sea”. The ship is used for tourism day sails in the Bay of Islands from October through April and for sail training activities between May and September. Youth sail training is particularly focused at youth from the Tai Tokerau Northland region of New Zealand. She is a member of the Australian Sail Training Association (AUSTA), and participated in the American Sail Training Association (ASTA) West Coast Tall Ships Challenge events in 2002 and 2005.

<i>KRI Arung Samudera</i>

KRI Arung Samudera, which means "Ocean Crossings", is an Indonesian tall ship. The sailing vessel is a class B schooner which measures 129 feet (39 m) in length. Notable features include arched windows on the aft deckhouse, three single-piece masts, and a boxy hull.

<i>American Eagle</i> (schooner) United States historic place

The American Eagle, originally Andrew and Rosalie, is a two-masted schooner serving the tourist trade out of Rockland, Maine. Launched in 1930 at Gloucester, Massachusetts, she was the last auxiliary schooner to be built in that port, and one of Gloucester's last sail-powered fishing vessels. A National Historic Landmark, she is also the oldest known surviving vessel of the type, which was supplanted not long afterward by modern trawlers.

Maria Asumpta Sailing ship

The Maria Asumpta was a brig that was wrecked in 1995 with the loss of three lives.

<i>Virginia</i> (schooner)

Virginia is a wooden schooner that is a modern replica of an early twentieth century pilot vessel of the same name. She conducts educational programs and passenger trips along the Eastern Seaboard of the United States and Canada, and in the Caribbean.

<i>Malcolm Miller</i> (schooner)

The Malcolm Miller is a sistership of the three-mast schooner Sir Winston Churchill designed by Camper & Nicholsons. She was built by John Lewis & Sons in Aberdeen and first served as a Sail training ship before being converted into a yacht.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tall Ships Races</span> Sail training ship races

The Tall Ships Races are races for sail training "tall ships". The races are designed to encourage international friendship and training for young people in the art of sailing. The races are held annually in European waters and consists of two racing legs of several hundred nautical miles, and a "cruise in company" between the legs. Over one half of the crew of each ship participating in the races must consist of young people.

Dorothea Weber was a 190 GRT three-masted Schooner that was built in 1922 as the barge Lucy by J Oelkers, Hamburg. She was later renamed Midgard I, Midgard IV and then Elisabeth before a sale in 1935 saw her fitted with a diesel engine and renamed Dorothea Weber. She was seized by the Allies in May 1945 at Guernsey, passed to the Ministry of War Transport (MoWT) and renamed Empire Cononley.

MV <i>Mi Amigo</i>

Mi Amigo was originally a three-masted cargo schooner, that later gained international recognition as an offshore radio station. She was built as the schooner Margarethe for German owners. A sale in 1927 saw her renamed Olga and she was lengthened in 1936. During the Second World War, she was requisitioned by the Kriegsmarine and served as an auxiliary ship between 1941 and 1943. In 1953, the ship was again lengthened to 133 feet 9 inches (40.77 m). In 1959, she was sold for conversion to a floating radio station and was renamed Bon Jour. Subsequently, she was renamed Magda Maria in 1961 and Mi Amigo in 1962. She served, intermittently, as a radio ship, until 1980, when she sank in a gale.

Spirit of New Zealand

The tall ship Spirit of New Zealand is a steel-hulled, three-masted barquentine from Auckland, New Zealand. It was purpose-built by the Spirit of Adventure Trust in 1986 for youth development. It is 42.5 m in total length and carries a maximum of 40 trainees and 14 crew on overnight voyages. The ship's home port is Auckland, and it spends most of its time sailing around the Hauraki Gulf. During the summer season, it often sails to the Marlborough Sounds and Nelson, at the top of the South Island.

<i>Regina Maris</i> (1908)

The sailing ship Regina Maris was originally built as the three-masted topsail schooner Regina in 1908. She was a 144-foot (44-meter), wooden, completely fore-and-aft–rigged sailing ship with three masts. She was re-rigged in 1963 as a 148-foot (45-meter) barquentine. Regina Maris could reach a speed of up to 12 knots, especially on a half-wind course or with a fresh back-stay breeze.

STV <i>Astrid</i> Tall ship

STV Astrid was a 41.90-metre long tall ship that was built in 1918 in the Netherlands as a lugger and originally named W.U.T.A., short for Wacht Uw Tijd Af meaning "Bide Your Time". She was later transferred to Swedish ownership, renamed Astrid and sailed on the Baltic Sea until 1975. She then sailed under a Lebanese flag and was allegedly used for drug smuggling. After being found burnt out on the coast of England in the early 1980s, she was overhauled and used as a sailing training vessel. She was based in Weymouth, Dorset, United Kingdom and was informally known as "Weymouth's vessel".

<i>Royal Albatross</i> (ship) Privately owned, four-masted Barquentine, luxury super yacht

The Royal Albatross is a privately owned, four-masted Barquentine, luxury super yacht. She operates from her home berth at Resorts World Sentosa on the island of Sentosa in Singapore. The Royal Albatross is a unique luxury tall ship with four masts, 22-sails, more than 200 ropes, three decks and is comparable with a luxury yacht; but unlike the typical super-yacht, it looks and operates like an old-world galleon. Her sails and rigging were designed by Jim Barry who designed the ship for the Pirates of the Caribbean movies. After a 5.5 year reconstruction, the Royal Albatross is one of Singapore's premier hospitality venues with a passenger capacity of 200 (alongside) and 149 (sailing) all of which can be accommodated on a continuous upper deck.

<i>Harvey Gamage</i> (schooner) Gaff rigged schooner launched in 1973

The Harvey Gamage is a 131' gaff rigged schooner launched in 1973 from the Harvey F. Gamage Shipyard in South Bristol, Maine. She was designed by McCurdy & Rhodes, Naval Architects in Cold Spring Harbor, New York and Frederick W. Bates of Damariscotta, Maine. She is a USCG inspected vessel both as a passenger vessel and a sail training vessel. As governments of maritime countries recognise Sail Training as an essential component of developing and maintaining an essential merchant marine force, the US Congress created a special service category of vessel for Sail Training and the Harvey Gamage is one of a handful of vessels licensed for this service. She has been educating students at sea along the east coast of North American almost continuously since her launch. She has 14 staterooms accommodating 39 people, including 9 professional crew, 22 youth sail trainees and up to 4 adult chaperones. As a training vessel, she takes crews of students along the eastern seaboard, from her home port in Maine to various destinations ranging from The Maritimes to the Caribbean

References

  1. "Appeal for Sail Training Ship". Torbay Express and South Devon Echo. Retrieved 7 November 2021.
  2. 1 2 3 ""Sir Winston Churchill", 3-Masted Topsail Schooner, lying Greece". EasternYachts.com. Archived from the original on 9 January 2009. Retrieved 24 October 2008.
  3. 1 2 3 "The Sir Winston Churchill". tallshipprints.com. Archived from the original on 10 January 2006. Retrieved 24 October 2008.
  4. 1 2 "Schooner is refloated". The Times. No. 57004. London. 27 July 1967. col D-F, p. 2.
  5. "The Schooner Sir Winston Churchill Is Flooded. by Retro Images Archive". Fine Art America. Retrieved 31 July 2018.
  6. "Stock Photo - Jan. 01, 1967 - The Schooner Sir Winston Churchill is flooded; The sail training school Sir WInston Churchill, was flooded by the rising tide at her berth in". Alamy. Retrieved 31 July 2018.
  7. 1 2 3 "Tall Ships Youth Trust History". Scott Kennedy. Archived from the original on 22 February 2013. Retrieved 26 October 2008.
  8. "Training ship stuck". The Times. No. 60991. London. 28 July 1981. col E, p. 4.
  9. "Sir Winston Churchill". sailing-ships.oktett.net. Archived from the original on 16 June 2009. Retrieved 24 October 2008.
  10. "The Sir Winston Churchill". Cliff Moppett. Archived from the original on 25 October 2009. Retrieved 24 October 2008.
  11. "Sir Winston Churchill". seafarer.gr. Archived from the original on 3 March 2009. Retrieved 24 October 2008.