 George Smeed inMaldon in 2005 | |
| History | |
|---|---|
| United Kingdom | |
| Name | George Smeed |
| Builder | Smeed-Dean Co Ltd (Murston) |
| Yard number | 83340 |
| Commissioned | 1882 |
| Status | Private use and private charter ship |
| General characteristics | |
| Tonnage | 59 rebuilt 64 |
| Propulsion | Sails and auxiliary diesel engine |
| Crew | 2 |
| Notes | Wood |
George Smeed is aThames barge built in 1882 by Smeed Dean & Co. Ltd. inMurston.
The barge is named after theSittingbourne entrepreneur, George Smeed (1812–1881) who began business in 1846 in Murston. The building of Victorian London created a vast demand for bricks. The yellowKent Stock Brick which was cheaper to make than the more traditional red brick; Sittingbourne had thebrickearth needed to make them, and easy access to theSwale and theLondon River. By 1860 he owned expanding brickfields, shipyards along the creek and barges. The business traded as Smeed-Dean Co Ltd until 1926 when it was sold.[1]
Based at Maldon owned by Carol Greenhalgh.
She was built in 1881 [registered in 1882] inMurston Sittingbourne by Smeed Dean for their personal use. This meant she was a brick barge destined to take bricks fromSittingbourne orSnodland toLondon, and towns along theKent andEssex coast. She was rated at 58tons, and would carry a cargo of 110 GRT tons (the unit of volume). She was deep and did not have raised hatches or a raised cabin. She was steered with a tiller. Her compass was kept under the glass cabin hatch, so it could be seen from within and without.In 1922 she was rebuilt as a 64-ton vessel that could carry a 150 GRT tons cargo. However, she kept her originalrigging and was under-canvased for this size of vessel, and very light headed, in that small corrections on the helm could cause large and unpredictable changes of course. By 1949 she was sailing with a crew of two, but earlier she had a skipper, a mate and a boy who acted as cook and tended the lamps. Her cabin was entered directly down a vertical ladder, though in later times, a wall was added to act as a vestible where the wet oilskins could be left. With a three-man crew, the cooking was done in thefo'castle where the boy had his berth.[3]She wasspritsail rigged and had abowsprit that would be topped in the harbours or along the quays.[3]
Although normally employed in the Thames, its estuary and adjoining rivers, she did venture further afield on occasions. Hedley Farrington recalls one voyage in the mid 1920s from Sittingbourne to Devonport in company with SBGertrude May. They were loaded with cement. It was winter time and the voyage lasted three months.[4]
Hervey Benham describes a typical passage on board theGeorge Smeed in 1949 fromColchester toGravesend. The passage is reliant on the speed and direction of the wind, and the depth and flow of the tidal river.[3]He leaves Colchester on a Saturday afternoon, and the barge is pulled into theRiver Colne by a small motor launch. The hatches are fixed and first sail to be raised is thetopsail then their boat is attached to thedavits; this is the difference between a coastal barge and an inland barge. This is all done before passingWivenhoe. Themainsail is dropped and set by theAlresford Woods. The launch casts off and seeks another tow. About 4.00 pm, the sails are set for a starboard tack- then the bowsprit with the jib attached to the stay is dropped and secured, the jib topsail is now set. The stays have to trimmed to re-establish balance, and the foresail, jib and jib-topsail sheeted. It is approaching high water whenGeorge Smeed edges out of the Colne, under the lee ofEast Mersea Point with theBradwell shore to windward, and heads for the Bench Head Buoy[a] [51°44.61′N01°01.50′E / 51.74350°N 1.02500°E /51.74350; 1.02500[5][b]].[6] As the wind was SSW, and they took the unmarked channel between the Knoll and the Whitaker- this was known as the West Spitway [51°42.50′N01°08.05′E / 51.70833°N 1.13417°E /51.70833; 1.13417[7][c]] in 1801, they lowered theleeboard to act as a watchdog as they sailed over this shallow water, if it had bumped the bottom a chain would create some noise. They passed into the darker water and thus deeper water of theWhitaker Channel.[8] They prepared themselves for the night, by rounding her into the wind, brailed her mainsail and the foresail slid down the mast, fifteen fathoms of chain was paid out and the anchor bit into the sand. Close by was the Whitaker buoy[51°44.15′N01°10.55′E / 51.73583°N 1.17583°E /51.73583; 1.17583[7]] and to the south was theSwin and the Barrow Deep. The topsail sheet was let go, clewlines secured and the vang falls hardened on thequartercrab winches. The ebb flow finished and the rain arrived. All secured it was down to the cabin and the cooking stove.[9]
In the morning, time was spent tidying up the rigging which had been displaced for the previous cargo of timber. The chains spanning the hold had to be shackled up- as they had been released; these prevent the hull from splaying Barges are designed to have a long hold which is a structural weakness if the hold is not kept intension. In that time it had moved a full inch. Rather later than was wise, the anchor was raised; it was slack water and theGeorge Smeed did not get the advantage of the ebb tide to pull her to windward so she was put on a starboard tack to get onto theMaplins to get away from the full tide in the main channel. She went over theMiddle Deep, to within a couple ofcables length from the Barrow [beacon at51°37.15′N01°07.15′E / 51.61917°N 1.11917°E /51.61917; 1.11917[10]]. Round she came, as jib, jib topsail, and foresail were let fly; the moment is used to trim the jib topsail sheet and she set off south-westerly to the Sheers, (the point on the Maplin [Bank] where theSheers lighthouse had stood [near51°35.50′N01°04.60′E / 51.59167°N 1.07667°E /51.59167; 1.07667[10]]). She tacked three times by the Blacktail Spit [51°31.45′N00°56.78′E / 51.52417°N 0.94633°E /51.52417; 0.94633[10]] before joining the [Yantlet] channel.[d] She passed theNore, where the lightship had stood before being replaced by the forts.Medway was to windward and Southend to leeward. As the breeze strengthened, the topmast became whippy so the Jib topsail was dropped and stowed at the end of the bowsprit. She sailed all ofSea Reach, and a mile into theGravesend Reach before anchoring for the night.[11]
The Monday, the start was at 5 am, the anchor didn't come up easily, and the sails were set. This time the bowsprit was topped and the jib-topsail was rehanked to the stemhead becoming astaysail. There was still little wind. To come up to thetier, aboomie would anchor up wind and drift in, but the George Smeed came in under sail from the leeward and crept to the tier. The anchor is lowered. Then 'Down foresail', 'Down tops'l', whichmust be lowered before it issheeted. The voyage was over and theGeorge Smeed loaded its next cargo ofpotash.[12]
