Newly digitised technical drawings
Our volunteers have been busy making digital copies of original general arrangement plans of vessels built by Cook, Welton & Gemmell at the Grovehill shipyard in Beverley, East Yorkshire.
You can see a number of the images on our ‘Vessels’ gallery but here are a few examples below of the excellent work they’ve been doing for us at East Riding Archives:
‘Lord Heneage’ / ‘SS Sir James Reckitt’ (1909) – steam trawlers
‘Lord Heneage’: Launched 10th March 1909
Requisitioned by Royal Navy as a minesweeper/bomb thrower in February 1915
Intercepted a large cargo of weapons being sent from Germany to the Army of the Irish Republic in April 1916.
‘SS Sir James Reckitt’:
Requisitioned by Royal Navy as a minesweeper with hydrophonic listening equipment in September 1915
‘Bardolph’ / ‘Caliban’ (1911) – steam trawlers
‘Bardolph’: Launched 29th June 1911
Captured by German U-Boat and sunk by gunfire 115 miles southwest of Sumburgh Head, Shetlands on 5th June 1915 during the First World War.
‘Caliban’: Launched 15th July 1911
Captured by German U-Boat and sunk by gunfire 45 miles northeast of Rattray Head, Scotland on 12th April 1917 during the First World War.
Both vessels were among the first trawlers to be fitted with wireless radio.
‘Varanga’ (1929) – steam trawler
‘Varanga’: Launched 14th March 1929
Requisitioned by Royal Navy as a minesweeper in August 1939 and served during the Second World War.
Re-named ‘RED CRUSADER’ in 1946.
Scrapped in 1957.
‘Kingston Cornelian’ (1934) – steam trawler
‘Kingston Cornelian’: Launched 12th June 1934
Sold to Royal Navy as an anti-submarine vessel in 1939 during the Second World War.
Sank following a collision east of Gibraltar on 5th January 1940. Her depth charges exploded as she sank, and all crew were lost.
‘Yorkshire Belle’ (1938) – passenger pleasure ship
‘Yorkshire Belle’: Launched 7th May 1938
Originally intended to serve as a pleasure cruiser at the seaside resort of Bridlington, East Yorkshire.
Requisitioned by Royal Navy for patrol duties during the Second World War and sunk by a mine near Haile Sand Fort, River Humber. All crew were killed.
A new ‘YORKSHIRE BELLE’ was built in 1947 and remains in service at Bridlington.
‘Westella’ (1959) – motor trawler
‘Westella’: Launched 18th November 1959
First trawler to be powered by Mirrlees ‘Monarch’ turbo-charged direct reversing diesel engine.
Re-named ‘SEA SHEPHERD’ in 1978 and used as a scientific vessel for the study and protection of marine creatures.
Rammed the pirate whaler ‘SIERRA’ off the Portuguese coast in an attempt to put her out of action in 1979 ( the ‘SIERRA’ had reportedly killed an estimated 25,000 whales). Due to the damage inflicted on the ‘SIERRA’ she was put into port for repairs and then sunk by saboteurs with a limpet mine.
‘Arctic Cavalier’ / ‘Arctic Corsair (1960) – motor trawlers
‘Arctic Cavalier’: Launched 18th January 1960
First Diesel-engine trawler to be built for the Boyd Line. Despite taking its name from the North Pole region, it fished in the South Pacific and Costa Rica. As of 1999 it was still in service.
‘Arctic Corsair’: Launched 12th February 1960
Severely damaged by collision with a collier vessel in 1967 off Duncansby Head, Scotland whilst homeward bound from Greenland.
Vessel sold to Hull City Council in 1993 and opened to the public as a museum on 9th May 1999. It remains a highly popular museum for maritime heritage in Hull, East Yorkshire.
Trawling Through Time 
Hello,
I live in Germany and I build model ships as a hobby. Recently I read about the discovery missions and enjoyed it so much that I decided to build a model of the RRS William Scoresby.
To be as accurate as possible to the original vessel I searched the internet for old pictures and construction plans/drawings and stumbled across your site.
As the Williams Scroseby was built by Cook, Welton & Gemmell in Beverley in 1926 (Yard number: 477) I was wondering whether you could assist me in obtaining copies of the ship plans (general arrangement, line plans etc.)
Thank you very much for your consideration and a short reply.
Kind regards,
Michael Fuhrmann
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Thanks Michael,
We’re currently working on the cataloguing and digitisation of the Cook, Welton & Gemmell archive, and will be in a position to say exactly what plans are available when the work is completed next summer (2019).
However, early indications are that the plans for the ‘William Scoresby’ are sadly not present in this archive collection. If that’s the case, then my hope is that they have survived elsewhere, perhaps in the hands of a private collector.
Kind regards
Sam Bartle
(Digital Archivist & Project Co-ordinator)
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Hello Sam,
thanks for the reply. I have found the general arrangements of the RRS William Scoresby in “Cook, Welton and Gemmell: Shipbuilders of Hull and Beverley 1883-1963” by Michael Thompson (https://www.amazon.co.uk/Cook-Welton-Gemmell-Shipbuilders-1883-1963/dp/1902709020).
This book includes several general arrangements of ships built by Cook, Welton and Gemmell.
I am looking for the line plans though which are not included in the book.
According to the web the should be at the Hull Martime museum (http://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/N13808086) but they have told me that they do no longer have the records. Thus I thought they might be within your project.
Anyway thanks for the support and everything.
regards,
Michael
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Hi Michael,
Indeed, this is a very useful book. Our volunteers have found it invaluable during the cataloguing process. We are currently working on a lot of lines plans, but as I say, there’s currently no indication that the ‘William Scoresby’ has survived into our collection, which would be a great shame because the book does indicate that the general arrangement at least was in existence somewhere at the time of writing. I hope the Scoresby plans will emerge during the course of the project, but obviously I’m unable to guarantee this.
Kind regards
Sam Bartle
(Digital Archivist & Project Co-ordinator)
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I’d love a ships plan of a hull trawler my grandad was skipper of in 1905 and 1908,the ships name is a hellier trawler named Angelo h 890
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Michael, It is possible that plans of the William Scoresby are amongst those held by the Scott Polar Research Institute in Cambridge—– she was actively involved between the wars in the Discovery whale research in Antarctica, and immediately after WW 2 was used by the Falkland Island Dependencies Survey ( now the British Antarctic Survey)
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Dear Gentlemen, dear Mr Bartle
I wish to, first of all, express my deep regards and gratitude for the noble undertaking of digitalizing those precious pieces of heritage. As a french modeler, I am also looking for drawings of the rrs William Scoresby with building a model in mind.
Not only did this remarkable ship lead an eventful life in peace and war time, she was depicted as the “Aurora” , leading a scientific expedition in “the Shooting Star” a comic book from Hergé. This reminds me of my long gone youth, when I read the adventure for the first time at 7. Looking for the chance of having a nice model of this great little ship , I would be grateful for any hint. Do you have a Paypal address for small donations ?
Yours faithfully
Valery CHIU
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Dear Valery,
Many thanks for your compliment of our project. I was also unaware that the William Scoresby had featured in the “Shooting Star” comic book. Unfortunately, we do not have any record of this vessel within our archive for Cook, Welton and Gemmell, which is very sad. As you probably know, it’s a ship that has caused controversy in the history of this company, so it’s certainly one that we would have wanted to have well documented by the archive, however, sadly the records don’t appear to have survived.
It may be possible that the ship’s owners retained some plans that may have been preserved in a private archive somewhere, such as the Scott Polar Research Institute in Cambridge, but it may be a long shot. I’m very sorry that we’ve not been able to help you more on this occasion.
Best wishes
Sam Bartle
Project coordinator
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Good evening, i have just purchased the St Nectan Model from Moutfleet models,
i have no intention of putting her in water, but to open her up to show internal details, but to achieve this i am looking for some internal arrangement plans
This information is taken of the model site
This is a model of a classic Steam Trawler. Launched in 1937, St Nectan ended her thirty year career in 1967. Built by Cook, Welton and Gemell at Beverley in Yorkshire, under Yard Number 619, she was launched at their works on 2nd November 1936, and registered as H411 on 11th January 1937, working under the ownership of Thomas Hamling & Co. Ltd of Hull for all her working life.
would you be able to point me in the direction for a set of internal plans
Link to the site
http://www.mountfleetmodels.co.uk/st-nectan.html
Kind regards
Kevin
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Dear Kevin,
This sounds like an interesting project, I hope we can be of some assistance. We appear to hold a very limited number of plans relating to the St Nectan, but at this stage, our volunteers are still in the process of cataloguing all the plans in our Cook, Welton & Gemmell archive. By the end of the project term in June 2019, we should be in a better position to provide you with full access and you’ll be able to find out exactly what we hold using the completed catalogue.
May I also suggest that you keep a lookout on the Galleries page of this blog (https://trawlingthroughtime.org/galleries ) for newly added images of general arrangement plans as the project progresses.
Kind regards
Sam Bartle
(Digital Archivist & Project Co-ordinator)
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Hello,
I was wondering if you had plans for the cat class of trawler – like the Ross Tiger that is moored in Grimsby?
Kind regards,
Oliver
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Thanks Oliver, as far as we’re aware this class was built by Cochrane & Sons at Selby. There is an archive collection held at North Yorkshire Record Office ( https://www.northyorks.gov.uk/county-record-office ), which will hopefully contain these particular plans. Hope this helps.
Kind regards
Sam Bartle
(Digital Archivist & Project Co-ordinator)
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This is a great project. I am really interested in any plans for the St Nectan and other trawlers but in particular bulkhead lines for the Saint class tugs in order to get the hull shape correct.
Thank you.
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Thanks Michael,
Glad you like the project! We’re currently working towards publication of the catalogue online this summer, at which stage we’ll be in a better position to confirm whether we can help you with lines drawings for any Saint class tugs. You’ll also be able to peruse the catalogue for yourself to identify which plans may be of interest to you.
In the meantime, please do bear with us and we’ll hopefully be able to give you more detailed assistance soon.
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Great. I meant trawlers, not tugs.
Thanks.
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Wonder if there is any drawings for Defiance FR385 originally built as andree with a sister ship troilus.
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Hi Nickey, Early indications are that plans for these vessels are not in our collection at East Riding Archives. However, watch this space for when the catalogue becomes available, and you’ll be able to search for it there.
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I wonder if you have any plans or info for the trawler St Christopher (later renamed Oratava) built in 1958 please? (my Uncle was her skipper for a good time)
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Thanks Andy, I don’t think that we do unfortunately, but you’re very welcome to double-check our online catalogue just in case. Please see our latest blog post for more details: https://trawlingthroughtime.org/2020/01/09/ships-log/
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Would it be possible to find plans of hull trawler,angelo h890 my grandad was skipper of her twice,in 1905&1908.
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Aporte inestimable al arte de la pesca de arrastre, al mendelismo naval, arquitectura naval.
Gracias, Saludos Pedro Aguilera M.
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Hi there, can I ask if you have GA drawings for the 1902 Trawler Elk please?
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Hi Colin, unfortunately we don’t appear to hold ant records for this particular vessel. You’re welcome to search our catalogue for items of interest (the Cook, Welton and Gemmell reference is DDCO) https://www.eastriding.gov.uk/CalmView/advanced.aspx , however I’m sorry we couldn’t be of more assistance on this occasion.
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Thank you for taking the time to look, I appreciate the help with the additional link, very much appreciated thanks guys!
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Sir where can i find plans of the ill fated trawler ross cleveland have been asked to build a model
for Hull fishing heritage centre regards Mr F Waudby
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Dear Mr Waudby, many thanks for your query. The Ross Cleveland was built by an Aberdeen Company called ‘John Lewis and Sons Ltd’ in 1949. I believe the records of this company are held at the Aberdeen Art Gallery and Museums (please see this directory entry from The National Archives https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/N13838319 ). I think if you get in touch with the staff in Aberdeen, they may be able to shed more light on this for you. I hope this helps. Best of luck with your project!
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