LIGHTSHIP CORMORANT / LADY DIXON - Chapter 26

I have just returned from spending two days with Simon aboard Cormorant / Lady Dixon / The Beast / The Lightship. I suppose the official name is ‘The Lightship’ as it is now registered with that name at National Historic Ships UK. A few days before I left home Simon reported that the kitchen ceiling was bugging him, as it had been rather badly plaster-boarded and bulged in waves down the length of the kitchen. So he took it all down again (Photo). 

He discovered large areas under there which had no insulating boards fitted.  I wonder if that graffiti is original!

By the time I arrived all was well again and the plasterer has been booked to finish the job (Photo).

Wearing my historical research hat (one way of avoiding too much labouring!), I went over the ship with arc-lights and camera. My first investigation was the mast and the light operating mechanism I reported in an earlier post. I wanted to confirm the positioning of the shaft through the mast and sure enough it all lined up (Photo). 

In addition, where that shaft emerged on the far side of  the bulkhead on the left, the blueprints showed a pulley wheel with two wires going aloft through the roof / ceiling / overhead and sure enough there are two holes in exactly the expected spot (Photo).

I was rather saddened to find the remains of the mizzen mast, but at least it was being put to good use – keeping the ship away from the causeway (Photo). A neighbouring boat owner remembers it being cut down years ago because it was becoming dangerously rotten.

At least the riding lamp (is that the right terminology?) which is about 3ft in diameter, used to fit around the mizzen and be hauled up and down, is still aboard and reasonably intact. That and the other artefacts deserve a blog of their own, so watch this space.

David

LIGHTSHIP CORMORANT / LADY DIXON - Chapter 25

A Happy New Year to all our readers!

Things have slowed down somewhat over the Christmas period – not helped by the appalling weather. The ship has travelled a great deal during these few weeks, albeit in a vertical direction. One high tide got within a few inches of the log store on the causeway.

 Getting Molly the dog up onto the elevated gangplank and then down the steep slope onto the causeway, takes quite an effort. The gangplank normally slopes gently upwards from the ship.

Once on the causeway Molly has to be ‘transported’ to dry land because the causeway is made of metal grid – sore on the paws. Still, she is quite used to the journey now!

On the historic front, Simon has unearthed the remains of a short ladder, which we suspect was one of those used by the crew to get to the upper bunks. It is in reasonable condition, apart from missing rungs.

The condensation down below continues to be a problem.

  I fear it will have to remain so until the Spring brings warmer and drier weather. Then the deck can be insulated and finished. The combination of better weather and insulation should allow things to dry out below, then everything down there can be foam sprayed and shuttered, allowing the major structural work to begin.

Meanwhile I have found a wonderfully evocative and appropriate oil painting by Andrew Kennedy which depicts a cutter in full sail passing the South Goodwin Lightship, which must look a lot like Simon’s ship in her prime.

 

David

Addendum to Chapter 24

Well done Harry Gibbon, who directed me to the Merchant Shipping Act of 1894. I have extracted the relevant bits from what is a huge tome....

Deductions for ascertaining tonnage.
In measuring or re-measuring a ship for the purpose of ascertaining her register tonnage, the following deductions shall be made from the space included in the measurement of the tonnage, namely:—
(i) any space used exclusively for the accommodation of the master; and any space occupied by seamen or apprentices and appropriated to their use, which is certified under the regulations scheduled to this Act with regard thereto.
(ii) any space used exclusively for the working of the helm, the capstan, and the anchor gear, or for keeping the chart, signals, and other instruments of navigation, and boatswains stores;

There must be permanently marked in or over every such space a notice stating the purpose to which it is to be applied, and that whilst so applied it is to be deducted from the tonnage of the ship:

The 66/60 therefore refers to the allowed deduction, not the actual.

LIGHTSHIP CORMORANT / LADY DIXON - Chapter 24

Now come on all you naval types, solve a couple of puzzles for this landlubber.

1.      We found in the Bosun’s Store (identified on the blueprints) the caption “Certified boatswains storeis 66/60 tons’.   Ignoring the odd ‘storeis’, which might be something else because that area is rather corroded, the ‘66/60 tons’ is puzzling. It cannot refer to weight surely? That is a lot of stores!  The maritime translation is, I gather, one ton equals 100 cu ft. But this would mean the Bosun had some 6,600 cu ft of space down there at the stern, which is half the total space!  From the blueprints the floor area is about 20 sq ft and the height is about 7.5 ft – some 150 cu ft. This is outlined in the photo. So, what is the answer?

2.      Printed on the floor/deck on the lower deck is the legend “BEAM END 11  (if I read it correctly). This is in the middle area of the ship, (Photo)  but I thought ‘beam end’ referred to the outside shell of the ship – hence the term ‘on your beam end’.  Any ideas?

And to end with good news, the second picture window in the new kitchen is now installed. (Photo)  It does need painting. This definitely improves the temperature in there. The plastering and finishing can soon commence – probably in the New Year – and those 250 tiles can go down.

 David

LIGHTSHIP CORMORANT / LADY DIXON - Chapter 23

Hoping to save myself a December crossing to Belfast, I asked a friend over there if he would be prepared to do some preliminary research at the Public Records Office (Northern Ireland) – known for short as PRONI. Within a very few days he visited PRONI, but unfortunately chose the week they were in update mode and had only a skeleton staff working! However he did elicit some information about Lady Dixon and, following up these leads, I now know that PRONI does indeed have some Lady D records. The first group are the Master’s Log Books from 1943 to 1956. Each volume covers 3 or 4 years and contains 455 pages!  As an example:-

 Log Book of the Pilot Masters A. P. Kennedy and J. Owens, Deputy Pilot Master D. Hunt, on duty in the Lt. V. Lady Dixon, with folio entries under the headings of Date, Name of Pilots, Vessels Boarded, Tons, Time, Weather and Remarks and Watches (ie names of men on duty on each watch).

The second group are records of wireless traffic between the Harbour Office and Lady D from 1947 to 1957. There are 80 pages. This is titled as follows:-

Wireless Messages Sent and Received Between the Pilot Light Vessel Lady Dixon and the Harbour Office. Record of messages under headings of  Date, Time, No., From, To, Message and Charge. Messages usually queries as regards time of arrival, weather conditions, docking instructions.

Now I cannot see myself copying three log book volumes of 455 pages each, nor 80 pages of wireless traffic. However, I think a few pages of each, bound in a posh cover, would be nice to have. Simon has also suggested we (i.e. I) should go through the log books and make a list of every man who served aboard from 1943 to 1956. My friend in NI has offered to accommodate me if I want to do any research over there, but I don’t think he realises how long Simon’s idea would take!

Meanwhile, back to mundane matters. The whole deck is now sealed with a combination of bitumen and rust proofing. The small area of teak decking at the bow, which we hoped to preserve, was too far gone and had to be removed.

This of course exposed bolt holes etc and these needed filling before the primer went on.

The primer, applied with a dustpan and brush type of brush, needed a dry deck and some parts were obstinately damp. They had to be dried with a blow-torch (it is not the time of year to be waiting for a run of fine days!) and this took some time.   

The deck is now ready for the full process I described in Chapter 11 and meanwhile it is at least rain proof.

David