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Trinity House Pilotage

6K views 21 replies 17 participants last post by  Barrie Youde 
#1 ·
(Whaaa) To any of you old salts out there who’s memories are better than mine. Would you remember the Trinity House pilot cutters that were stationed off Dungeness and Harwich in the mid 40's. Maybe you would have put the pilot ladder over at one of these places? I have tried to look them up on the internet without success. I was a boy on the PV Prudence in 1945. There were four such vessels. Prudence, Pioneer, Pathfinder and one other with a name beginning with “P” that I cannot recall. They were sisters along with one of a different design, the PV Lionheart. Any information on these vessels would be greatly appreciated. Cheers Eric
 
#5 ·
The Viga was built as a drifter and I believe was purchased by Trinity Pilotage Service whilst still on the stocks. Capt. Frank Charrington was master of her all the time she was at Harwich. She was never used for boarding duties, but as a tender taking pilots out to the Sunk Pilot Station.
When the Viga went for annual refit the Woodbridge was use as the relief ship.
The Viga was as far as I can remember stationed at Harwich during the late 40s. Unfortunately I cannot remember the ship preceding the Viga, I do know Capt. Frank Charrington commanded a tender based at Harwich during the War years.

Regards Robert
 
#6 ·
The Trinity House pilot vessels circa 1956/57 were, Bembridge, Penlee, and Pelorus. The tender was the converted maharajah's yacht, Kihna. The Pioneer had gone by then but the older pilots all remembered her (she was steam). Later came the Pathfinder, and the Patrol succeeded the Kihna.
I was the last pilot to ship from the Dungeness cutter-can't just recall the date at the moment but I can look it up if it's of interest to anyone.
 
#8 · (Edited)
Trinity House pilotage

Click HERE for some pictures taken on board the Bembridge stationed off Dungeness about 1960.

If you then "click" on one of the pictures you will bring up others, one of which has four pilots going off to the tender in Dover Harbour to be transported down to Dungeness. Of those pilots the one 2nd from left and another 4th from left have died. The one pictured smiling, in his bunk, has also recently died.
 
#18 ·
Click HERE for some pictures taken on board the Bembridge stationed off Dungeness about 1960.

If you then "click" on one of the pictures you will bring up others, one of which has four pilots going off to the tender in Dover Harbour to be transported down to Dungeness. Of those pilots the one 2nd from left and another 4th from left have died. The one pictured smiling, in his bunk, has also recently died.
Some more photos from the same era, mostly little black and white ones taken on a Box Brownie by my brother-in-law when he was deck boy and spent half his princely wages on the film for it!

http://shipsintheportofdover.fotopic.net/c1214505.html
 
#12 ·
Thank you Hugh. Yes, Patrol seems to ring a bell. To think that in the following years to my being cabin boy and saloon boy on the PV Prudence, I would have been on ships that picked up or dropped off pilots at these stations but did not take a lot of notice. Thanks Eric
 
#19 ·
THPV Bembridge and THV Patricia

I am just searching all thread and I found this one. Thank to all for some interesting sentences.

Bembridge 1938 is here: www.bembridge.pl

Patricia was a very luxury vessel - you can admire her beauty here:

http://www.bembridge.pl/cms.php?lid=pl&gid=39930

It is an old book - catalog - from 1947 where there are a really pictures placed inside handy. Greeting from Bembridge Rafal
 
#20 ·
I see this was last visited years ago.
I have just bought a 23 foot wooden boat which the previous owner suggests was used as a pilot boat in Harwich harbour around the time of the second war.
It seems to me its too small given all the pilot boats I can see in the various online picture search engines are much larger vessels.
Our boat was built around 1930 it is described as seaworthy and carries around a tonne of loose lead ballast.
Id be interested if anyone thinks there could be any fact in this suggestion.
 
#22 ·
#20

I'd confirm that 23 feet in length sounds about right for a boarding-boat, to be used from a sea-keeping pilot cutter, whether at sea or in harbour.

Tell-tale signs to look for would be the placement of lifting-hooks, fore & aft - probably with quick-release gear for the fall-blocks ; and probably some form of stout fendering. She would need to be a tough boat, in every sense. Our boarding boats at Liverpool were built like maritime tanks. Accidents were very rare. It was occasionally said that, given enough fuel, one of our boarding boats could cross the Atlantic on its own keel, even in mid-winter. (Never put to that test, obviously!)
 
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