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The Biggest Dredger in the World

24K views 47 replies 22 participants last post by  5036 
#1 ·
I have it on very good authority that the S.D. Leviathan ( picture below ) built in 1909 by Cammell Laird & Co. Ltd, Birkenhead and owned by the Mersey Docks and Harbour Board, was the biggest dredger in the world at that time.

She had accommodation for a crew of 44, was twin screw and her dimensions were, length 487 ft., beam 69 ft., and depth 30 ft. 7 in. with a gross tonnage of 8590 tons. A big ship in more ways than one.

I saw her laid up in Birkenhead and she looked huge. I sailed regularly to South America in a smaller ship.


Santos.
 

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#4 ·
danube4

hi santos,i was a crew member on the s.p.d.leviathan and s.p.d.hoyle in the 1950s. deck and engine crew lived in forecastle, officers and catering staff lived aft
leviathan had two suction pipes on each side.
hoyle and hilbre iseland had one pipe each side.
i hope this is of interest to you.
danube4.
p.s i have never done this before.just learning to use a computer
this is an exellent site. thank you.
 
#5 ·
The biggest dredger in the world

Hi Danube4, (Wave)

Very glad you like the site, it is great isn't it.

Thanks for the info on the Leviathan, very interesting. A ship, the likes of, we will never see again I am afraid. Hope to see more of your posts in the future and perhaps you could tell us of your times on the Leviathan.

Kind regards,

Chris.
 
#6 ·
hello and welcome Danube, I remember the levi well from my times on the shb Delta, Remember her? she used to dump the refuse from Liverpool household bins out past the Bar, think was though ,in order to get an early night instead of starting the dump at the NW lightship we started at the bar, consequently people from southport etc were complaining of the rubbish washing up on the beaches, we couldn't argue too much as they had medicine bottles and such with Liverpool adresses on them, I think it was a dying practise though with the Environement people starting up,She was sold to the westminster Dredging Co soon after .Tell
 
#13 ·
tell said:
hello and welcome Danube, I remember the levi well from my times on the shb Delta, Remember her? she used to dump the refuse from Liverpool household bins out past the Bar, think was though ,in order to get an early night instead of starting the dump at the NW lightship we started at the bar, consequently people from southport etc were complaining of the rubbish washing up on the beaches, we couldn't argue too much as they had medicine bottles and such with Liverpool adresses on them, I think it was a dying practise though with the Environement people starting up,She was sold to the westminster Dredging Co soon after .Tell

Hi Tell,and any one interested. The leviathan, Hoyle,and Hilbre Iseland work patten was, join ship monday-morning , and spend 11 days dredging in the river and Queens Channel near Crosby and Formby buoys. Dock on friday after-noon. 11 days later. Week end off then back on monday for another 11 days. The week end the Hoyle & Hilbre where in dock, Leviathan worked. Week end Leviathan dock other two worked. One day dredging near Formby buoy the Delta came passed heading inward. One of the lads said, There she goes trying to get back before the rubbish, she will never make it. Our dumping ground was Jordens spit if i remember rightly. That will do for now. Cheers. Barney Danube 4
 
#18 · (Edited)
Correct Ruud.
When I discussed this topic with Boskalis, they told me the Vasco da Gama (Belgian flag - perhaps now Luxemburg flag?) was the biggest and the recent modification of WD Fairway (Dutch flag) would be more or less identical.

So how do we compare these two?
By DWT or Hopper capacity as the latter seems to be the norm.

Jan de Nul owns the Vasco and Boskalis the WD F.


Vasco da Gama WD Fairway
Built Thyssen Emden 2000 Verolme Heusden/Sembawang
1997/2003


length in metres 201 m. 232.35 m.
breadth 36.2 m. 32
draft loaded 14.6 m. 13.68
DWT 60,000 59,798

Hopper capacity 33,000 cub.m. 35,508
Kw Engine Power 37,060 27,550

Going by the hopper capacity, then it would be the WD Fairway which is the largest, so my initial posting was perhaps not right.
Prior to the conversion the WD Fairway had a hopper capacity of around 23,000.

http://www.boskalis.com/index.php?l=2&page_id=00235

http://www.jandenul.com/jdn.html

Jan
 
#20 ·
Hey danube,
My dad served on Leviathan for a couple of years, maybe you remember him, Otto Johannessen? He also served on the Hoyle for a while.Ther is an excellent builders model of Leviathan in Merseyside Maritime Museum, which was of course aquired from the Dock board buildings on the strand on it's closure.
 
#21 ·
Hi Andy, sorry I can't remember any of the crews names except one of the cooks on the Hoyle, George Deacon, he lived a couple of streets away from me in the Dingle. Was your dad on the Hoyle in the early 50s when one of the crew saw a mans body in the water. We where either dredging near Formby buoy, or comming back from dumping site early one morning. We launched a boat and picked the body up. After notifying the authoritys, they cleared the landing stage at Liverpool. The body was taken off at the I.O.M. birth on the landing stage. It was reported in the Liverpool Echo. They said he had been in the water for about four or five hours. he had no identy on him. I don't think they found out who he was.
All the best .
Barney.
 
#22 ·
Hi Barney,
I do remember my dad coming out with allsorts of stories similar to the one you mention, unfortunateley he isn't around to ask anymore.However he served also on "Mammoth" until his retirement in 1974. It was just nice to hear from someone who had been on the same ships my dad had served in.I spent a lot of time onboard "Mammoth", during my school holidays as a kid and the experience and memories are some of my most treasured.

Take care,
Kind wishes
Andy.
 
#24 ·
I Am A Very Recent Member Of Sn And Only Cathe Across This Thread So A Little Behind Times.i Was One Of The Last Crew Of The Levi When She Was Hauled Off The River I Would Say Feb/march 1961 I Also Suffered The Same Fate On The Hilbre Island A Few Weeks Previous They Were Both Laid Up For Disposal.i Was A D/boy At That Time I Am Pretty Sure Levi Carried A Crew Of About 90 Hilbre Island Half As Much.also Recall Working On The Mamouth At Various Times As Well As Other Floating Cranes Until I Went Deep Sea. Dont Recall What Finally Happened To Them But Have Very Happy Memories Of The 2 Years I Spent In The Mdhb Floating Plant.
 
#25 ·
When I was a young lad about 12 years old, my dad had a mate called George Convin, a Cornishman living in Wallasey who was a crew member of the Leviathan, I think he was a leading seaman.
He took me and my brother aboard Leviathan, Hoyle and Hilbre at various times during the early fifties, and on one occasion we sailed from Birkenhead to Langton dock on the Hoyle. A first taste of the sea which I'm sure led to me joining the MN. My brother Jimmy was later an apprentice fitter for the MDHC and sailed on all the floating plant.
Regards,
Pat
 
#35 ·
I remember a George Convin he lived just across the road from us in Wallasey and was at the time the watchman aboard the BURBO in Morpeth Dock, he moved to the MERSEY No 33, and later the CENTAUR. I used to go down to the docks and spend many hours aboard with him, a great old seaman.
 
#26 ·
Hi Pat Glad To See Your Observations On The Mdhb Floating Plant.its Incredible To Recall That It Consisted Of About 100 Vessels Of Varying Types Dredgers,hoppers,f/cranes,grabs,b/dredgers,survey Boats,even Had The Largest Tug On The River At That Time The Attendant Which Was Used To Tranfer Relief Crews To The Dredgers On A Weekly Basis When I Served On Them.i Did My Time In The F/plant Before Going D/sea A Lot Of The Lads Did This At That Time We Did Not Have To Go To Training Schools We Were Accepted Into The Mn As A Jos.i Have To Say I Got A Good Grounding In Seamenship Off The Men Who Invariably Were Ex Mn.when I Joined My First Ship D/sea Good To Say Most Of The Lads Thought I Had A Lot More Expeirence Thanks To The Excellent Schooling Of The Men In The Mdhb I Was Always Proud To Have Worked With These Men Many Who Were Veterans Of Ww2 And Had Sailed On Every Shipping Line Out Of The Mersey Including Bf Who I Believe You Spent A Lot Of Your Sea Carreer With I Cant Say For Sure I Recall Your Brother There Was So Many Staff Best Wishes Kypros
 
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