The Last Voyage of the Tilbury |
||
"At anchor between St-Esprit and Fourchu. Sunday 23rd at about 3 a.m., the wind rose and grew to a violent east south-easterly storm"
From the Ship's Log of Captain Holmes, HMS Grafton |
The most documented Tilbury is the sailing warship of the 18th Century which ran aground in a storm in 1757 and sank. Third of her name, she was the last grand square-rigger of the Old Navy to bear that name. Her successors were all 'mechanicals'.
|
||
Tilbury the first: 54 guns, 4th rate [1 row of guns]; laid down in Chatham in 1699 |
||
May 1700: Tilbury was commissioned by Captain George Delaval who had returned from the Barbary States after negotiating the release of English slaves held in Turkish Africa; he sailed the Tilbury back to Africa, taking with him a large merchant ship in which to embark the prisoners.
August 1701: "On the 16th of August 1701 (old style) about eight at night, we set out from London for Gravesend by the Tilt-boat, amidst a strange medley of the sea fry; who were singing, talking obscenity and low language, smoaking, and telling stories, amidst a most confused babbling. About 20 songs were tuning, alltogether, of the same or nearly the same notes as those of the Three Children in the Wood, and about as long, mostly in praise of jolly sailors, until we came off Woolwich; and here we were boarded by a pressgang belonging to the Tilbury, a fourth-rate man-of-war bound for Algiers and other places on the Barbary shore, and which was to carry over the Morocco Ambassador, and bring back English slaves. On a sudden all was hushed, and a dead silence continued until we arrived at Gravesend at one in the morning." 12 December 1701: on board HMS Tilbury in the Bay of Bulls. Captain Delavall wrote to Vernon concerning his negotiations with the Alcaid of Tangier for the release of French Protestant captives. Reported sickness amongst the crew.
February 1702: Tilbury and her convoy of released prisoners reached England and the Downs. 1702-1703: Tilbury was in the squadron patrolling the Downs, the Nore and the North Sea. HMS Tilbury in Captain Beaumont's Squadron - charts 3 July 1703: Nicholas Sheppard of Stepney, Middlesex, had been Master of HMS Tilbury; his Will received probate on this date (NA:PROB 4/25364). August 1704: the Battle of Malaga. Tilbury: 280 men, 50 cannon. After the Anglo-Dutch force had taken Gibraltar, a French fleet came to assist the Spanish in their attempt to oust the English and Dutch. Admiral Sir John Rooke commanded the Anglo-Dutch fleet, in which Captain Delaval sailed Tilbury and distinguished himself in the sea battle (as one of Sir Cloudesley Shovel's squadron); on board Tilbury 20 were killed and 25 wounded. During the night the French withdrew although French historians write that the English were out of munitions.
March 1705: the sea-battle in which 5 French ships were sunk by the English, bringing to an end the Franco-Spanish siege of Gibraltar. August 1706: Tilbury was still in Sir Cloudesley's fleet, and was ordered to transfer a Lieutenant and 30 marines to Milford. May 1707: Act of Union with Scotland. Change of Royal Navy ensign flags. July-August 1707: Sir Cloudesley Shovel's fleet took part in the bombardment of Toulon; the French scuppered 15 ships in the approaches, being unable to sail out lacking the materials to do so. October 1707: the French defeated an English squadron and captured merchantmen in the convoy. Sir Cloudesley Shovel: divided his fleet, leaving 13 ships under the command of Sir Thomas Dilkes at Gibraltar. The rest of the fleet (in which was perhaps Tilbury since no 4th-rater was left at Gibraltar) set sail for England. In 1744 John Campbell related how, after pausing in the afternoon to ascertain their position, the fleet set sail again in the evening believing a light from the Scilly Isles to have been sighted. Sir Cloudesley Shovel's ship ran onto the Gilstone; the St George reported that the ship hit with great force and sank within four minutes; several other ships sank and there was heavy loss of life (over 2,000). Sir Cloudesley's body was recovered and taken to England where he was given a great funeral and a monument erected to him in Westminster Abbey at the direction of the Queen. The insciption:
After this terrible event a method of determining true longitude was strenuously sought. When it became feasible, a lighthouse was built to protect other mariners (Bishop Rock). 1708: The Wills of Thomas Cotton and of Samuel Deal (alias Dalzell) of HMS Tilbury received probate (NA:PROB 5/282; NA:PROB 5/882). 1709: James Adlington was Captain of Tilbury; he died 15th October. "Adlington, James, is known only as having been appointed captain of the Folkstone on the 7th of January 1706; he is supposed to have been appointed acting captain of the Winchelsea on the 18th of December, in which station he probably continued till his promotion. He died in England on the 15th of October 1709, being, as it is said, captain of the Tilbury." "Thursday, 16 June - The Tilbury man of war is sailed to join the squadron under sir John Norris before Dunkirk, who blocks up count Fourbins there." "Deale, Oct. 23. Her Majesty's Ships the Tilbury and Falkland are sail'd to the Westward, and the Arundel to the Northward." 1710: James Littleton (of Teddesley and Hatherton, Barons Hatherton) served on board Tilbury. [date unknown]: "... before the Queen [Anne] in Council and move her Majesty for orders to transfer the soldiers in the Rochester, Tilbury and Charles galley into the transport ships bound to the West Indies (to which the soldiers were going), as all the men-of-war are under orders to sail from Spithead ..."
1726: this Tilbury was broken up.
Tuesday, October 31st, 1727: At Spithead are his Majesty's Ships the Victory, Princess Caroline, Amelia, Shrewsbury, Buckingham, Lenox, Orford, Centurion, Tilbury, Defiance, York, Gloucester, St. Albans, Chatham, Rumney, Pearl, South-sea-castle, Firebrand, Aena, Blaze and Phaeton; some of which are under Sailing Orders. Wind at N.E. (Daily Journal, London) 1731: Thomas Mayfield of Lambeth, Waterman, requested admission as a pensioner of the County of Surrey, having lost an arm while serving on board Tilbury. Captain George Delaval: May 1693, appointed third Lietenant of Lennox; February 1698/9, authorised to treat with the Alcaid Alli Ben Abdata for redemption of prisoners of war; 1706 was with Lord Peterborough in Spain; May 1707, went to Lisbon with despatches for the Courts of Spain and Portugal, then as Envoy to the Emperor of Morocco carrying rich presents; October 1710, appointed Envoy Extraordinary to the King of Portugal; dined in England with Jonathan Swift and Lord Halifax near Hampton Court; 1716, appointed Deputy Lieutenant of Northumberland; 1718, appointed Rear Admiral, bought Bavington Hall and his cousin's estate at Seaton-Delaval: had the old house demolished and a new one built by Sir John Vanburgh; appointed Vice Admiral in 1722; died in 1723 aged 55 before Vanburgh's masterpiece was complete after falling from his horse and being dragged; left Bavington Hall to his sister's son George Shafto, and the remainder of his estates to his brother's son (Captain) Francis Blake Delaval, who then had to finance completion of the new Seaton-Delaval Hall. Mr. Shafto's horse called "Tilbury" ran at: |
||
|
Tilbury the second: 60 guns, 4th rate; launched at Chatham 2nd June 1733 |
||
From contemporary sources:
23rd August 1738: Robert Long, with 38 of his men, transferred from the Portland to the Tilbury; he requested the men be entered for victuals and wages; and requested painted canvas for the floor of his cabin. (doc. ref: ADM.106/901/73) 1st September 1738: the Chatham Officers requested stone ground glass for the Buckingham, Burford, Defyance, Tilbury, Charles.. 29th September 1738: Robert Long, Tilbury, at Blackstakes, requested surgeon's necessaries. (doc. ref: ADM.106/901/81) 6th October 1738: Mr. Jackson, Tilbury, at Chatham, requested the receipt of surplus beds at Chatham or Sheerness. (doc. ref: ADM.106/901/15) 10th August 1739: 'A List of His Majesty's Ships in Commission' ... Tilbury, 60 guns, Captain Robert Long, 400 men on board. Saturday, October 20th, 1739: His Majesty's Ships the Defiance, Capt. John Trevor, and the Tilbury, Capt. Robert Long, are order'd for the West-Indies. (Common Sense or The Englishman's Journal, London) 14th November 1739: Thomas Mathews, Chatham Dock - receipt of warrant ... to fit the Tilbury and the Fly Sloop for the West Indies (doc. ref. ADM 106/907/181). Saturday, April 19th, 1740 We hear that his Majesty's Ship the Centurion, Capt. George Hanson, and the Tilbury, Capt. Robert Long, of sixty Guns each, are ordered to be got ready in order to sail with the utmost Expedition for West-indies, to join the Squadrons in those Parts. (General Evening Post, London)Tuesday, May 13th, 1740: The Lords of the Admiralty have appointed his Majesty's Ships the Tilbury, Capt. Robert Long, and the Defiance, Capt. John Trevor, of sixty Guns each, to convoy from Spithead the Nottingham, Capt. Brown, the Caesar, Capt. Cummins, the Halifax, Capt. Blake, the Edgbaston, Capt. Cobham, bound for India, with several Ships in the Merchants Service, which Ships, with their Convoy, will sail from thence on Monday next, the India Ships being repair'd of the Damages they receiv'd in the late bad Weather. (General Evening Post, London) September 1740: Vice-Admiral Vernon was joined at Jamaica by a squadron of store ships from England, under convoy of his Majesty's ships Defiance and Tilbury; when the fleet and transports of soldiers were united, Vernon proceeded to Carthagena: Tuesday, October 7th, 1740: On Thursday came Advice that the Edgbaston, Capt. Cobham; the Nottingham, Capt. Brown; the Caesar, Capt. Comyns; and the Hallifax, Capt. Blake, who sail'd from Spithead the 16th of June, for the East-Indies, under Convoy of the Romney, Capt. Henry Medley, bound for Newfoundland, the Defiance, Capt. John Trevor, and the Tilbury, Capt. Robert Long, with 150 Sail of Merchant-Ships, arriv'd off the Madeiras the 6th of July last, having had fine Weather and pleasant Gales since they left Spithead: That off that Island their Convoy was about parting from them, the one being bound as above, and the other two for the Madeira Islands and the West-Indies; and that the said India Ships kept their Course for the respective Ports where they are bound. The Captains and Crews of the said Ships were all well. The Tilbury Man of War chas'd several Ships in their Passage to the said Island, but could not overtake them. (London and Country Journal) 1741: according to the Navy List of 1741, the Captain in Jamaica was Mr. Long, there were 400 men on board and Tilbury was armed with 60 cannon. (Digby Dent took over as Captain later in the year.) 7th January 1740/41: Robert Long on board Tilbury in Port Royal Harbour. Sent his books and tickets by the Norwich and a copy of his letter by the Dawkins. (doc. refs. ADM.106/940 /103, /104) 9th June 1741: Digby Dent on board Tilbury in Port Royal, Jamaica informed [Admiralty representatives in England] that he would send Books and Tickets. (doc. ref. ADM.106/935/47) June 1741: soldiers of Colonel Gooch's Regiment: Lieutenant Whitford, 1 Sergeant, 1 Corporal and 19 privates who entered on 16th February 1740 were discharged on 14th June 1741 into Tilbury. Vice-Admiral Vernon's fleet was depleted of men due to poor rations and illness, death; American soldiers were requisitioned to serve on board the Royal Navy ships. An English sailor wrote to his brother in London: We are in a Mesirable condition for want of fresh provision, our meet is salt as brine, our bread as it lays on the table swarms with Maggots, and the water here fluxes us all.... We are well one day and Dead the next. In "The Oxford Illustrated History of the Royal Navy" Daniel A. Baugh, writing about health, victuals and other matters (page 140), comments that during the Seven Years War about ten times as many sailors died of illness as were killed fighting. He cites typhus ('ship fever') as the principle cause, and refers to the worst epidemic as being in 1739-40 when 25,000 men fell ill. At this time the Admiralty requested specific naval hospitals, which were granted several years later, and began functioning in the mid 1750s. Mr. Baugh states that once a ship was at sea, conditions could improve since "bedding could be aired, and decks washed with vinegar". He adds that onwards from the 1750s, below-deck areas were better ventilated. 3rd September 1741: Digby Dent on board Tilbury in Cumberland Harbour (formerly 'Walthenam') informed [Admiralty representatives in England] that he would send 5 Pay Tickets of men reported by the Surgeon of Port Royal Hospital to be incurable in Jamaica. (doc. ref. ADM.106/935/74) 1741-1742: logbooks from Tilbury for these years are held at the William L. Clements Library, University of Michigan, amongst the papers of Sir James Douglas, British Admiral. 1742 Josiah Burchett and Thomas Corbett* * Thomas Corbett is listed in other, contemporary, Admiralty documents as of Chatham Dockyard. From "Naval & Military Memoirs" by Robert Beatson, (published 1804) - Prizes Taken in North America and the West Indies, 1742: The Tilbury, Captain Dent, took a schooner, having a very rich cargo, and some money. 22nd September: an account from "An Impartial Representation of the Conduct of the Several Powers of Europe..." by Richard Rolt, 1749 (page 240): The Tilbury man of war, of sixty guns, commanded by Capt. [Peter] Lawrence, together with the island sloop belonging to Jamaica, were ordered, on the 7th of September, on a cruize to the leeward of Navassa, for intercepting any ships or vessels going from St. Jago for Carthagena; where they arrived: and, soon after, the Tilbury met with a melancholy incident, on the 22d, occasioned by a marine snatching a bottle of rum, the purser's boy had in his hand in the cockpit, together with a candle, saying, he would have a dram out of it; which the other refusing, and the marine struggling to force it from him, the bottle fell down and broke: the candle, falling into the rum, set fire to it, which, communicating to other rum in the purser's cabin, began so terrible a fire, that all the diligence of the crew could not extinguish; though they threw over all the gunpowder for preventing her blowing up, and continued their endeavours till the ship was sinking: the captain, and the greatest part of the officers and men were taken up, by the island sloop, and another man of war on the same station; but the master, boatswain, gunner, a marine officer, and above 100 men, sunk with the ship." Thomas Corbett 1743
Thomas Corbett Notes: January 1849: printed in 'Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine' (from 'Johnston's Physical Geography'), "When the wind has been long from the west, a branch of the Gulf Stream runs with considerable force in a north-easterly direction towards the coasts of Europe. By this the fruit of trees belonging to the torrid zone of America is annually cast ashore on the western coasts of Ireland and Norway. Pennant observes, that the seeds of plants which grow in Jamaica, Cuba, and the adjacent countries, are collected on the shores of the Hebrides. Thither also barrels of French wine, the remains of vessels wrecked in the West Indian seas, have been carried. |
||
|
||
Tilbury the third: 58 guns, 4th rate, 1,124 tons displacement, 147ft., beam 42ft.; built at Portsmouth, launched 20th July 1745 |
||
10 July 1745: From Thomas Corbett
The Portsmouth Officers report the ship being built to replace the Tilbury can only be launched with an extraordinary tide. The next will be a perigean* on the 19th or 20th and ask for approval (doc. ref. ADM 354/129/192). * Perigean: a high tide occuring when the Moon is closest to the Earth. From contemporary sources:
March 1746 - end 1747: Captain Robert Harland. August 1746: it's being discovered that a large French convoy of merchant ships would set sail for the West Indies, a British fleet, in which Tilbury sailed, left Plymouth under the command of Rear-Admiral Hawke, with the purpose of intercepting them. On 14th October at about midday the British encountered the French. Tonnant engaged Devonshire whose lower deck gun breechings all broke, while Tonnant endeavoured to dismast the British ship. Captain Harland sailed Tilbury between the two ships, thus drawing fire on Tilbury and her men but protecting Devonshire. Before nightfall six of the French had surrendered. Since the British could not pursue the rest of the French convoy, Weazel was despatched with all speed to inform the British squadron in the Leeward Islands of the iminent arrival of the French. Rear-Admiral Hawke's account of the Battle November 1746: Alexander [OGILVY] [posthumous son of George, fourth lord] succeeded him as sixth Lord Banff. He had the rank of captain in the royal navy 13th February 1741, and was commander of the Hastings man of-war in 1742 and 1743, when he captured a valuable outward bound Spanish register hip, a Spanish privateer of twenty guns, and a French polacre with a rich cargo, and other vessels. In 1745 he was appointed to the command of the Tilbury, and died, unmarried, at Lisbon in November 1746, in the 29th year of his age, unmarried.
Thursday, May 21st, 1747: This Day, arrived a Mail from Lisbon, with an Account, that the following Privateers and Men of War were in the Tagus the 13th Inst. N:S:
15th June 1747: Richard Eason, mariner of H.M.S. Tilbury, married Frances Hern, spinster of Alverstoke, at A[lverstoke?] (ref. Hampshire Allegations for Marriage Licences Granted by the Bishop of Winchester: 1689-1837). October 1748: Charles Powlet was Captain of Tilbury under the command of Charles Knowles, as part of the Jamaica Squadron (Canterbury, Cornwall, Lennox, Oxford, Strafford, Tilbury and Warwick). They sailed from Port Royal in search of Spanish treasure convoys. The Spanish Havana Squadron, under the orders of Don Andres Reggio, left Havana in order to protect Spain's ships from attack by the British. There ensued the Battle of Havana, or "Knowles' Action". The squadrons engaged in line formation, Tilbury being the leading British ship. During the preliminary manoeuvres, on two occasions first Tilbury then other ships, misinterpreted Knowles' signals; they also opened fire at long range on the Spanish, disobeying Knowles' order to hold their fire. Reggio's squadron was not much better organised, and the engagement ended in a running battle with the British pursuing the French through the night. Only four of the seven Spanish ships returned to harbour, one having been captured, the flagship burned next day, and a third too badly damaged. End 1748: Captain Robert Hughes, (transferred to Deptford in 1751). 1749: arrived at Halifax, Nova Scotia:
July 1751: A List of the Royal Navy of England ... FOURTH RATES ... Tilbury, 60 guns. From contemporary sources:
In 1755 disputes between the French at Louisburg and English settlers in Nova Scotia continued; Halifax was a centre for Boscawen's fleet, the defense of the North American colonies and the Crown's interests. News, Ships, People, in the American colonies, Summer, 1755 1756
Early 1757: Tilbury apparently was, or was to be, one of a number of ships under the direction of the East India Company: Captain Roger Mainwaring requested permission to seize pirates. (See below: "Tilbury the fourth: an Indiaman".) March 1757: Tilbury was listed in the "State and Condition of His Majesty's Ships and Vessels under the Command of Vice-admiral Holburne". Due to the actions of the French against British settlements in North America, and particularly Nova Scotia, in 1757 the British government decided to send a fleet to Halifax where they should join Lord Howe's army, with the purpose of attacking Louisburg, fortified by the French. May 1757: the fleet set sail from Corke: Francis Holburne, Vice Admiral of the Blue, was the Commander-in-Chief; with him were Sir Charles Hardy, Rear Admiral of the White and Charles Holmes, Commodore. After a nine-week passage from England, fifteen warships sailed into Halifax Harbour, including Tilbury. Another five joined them shortly afterwards. Lord Howe awaited them with his land army. September 1757: by the time the whole force was assembled it had been learned that Louisburg had been reinforced both by soldiers and ships; the season being advanced it was decided to put off the attack. However, Holburne desired to reconnoitre, and coming before the entrance to Louisburg, according to some historians, tried to tempt out the French fleet: their commander was mindful of his instructions to protect Louisburg, and did not respond to the British provocation. 24th September: at night the fleet anchored between St-Esprit and Fuchett. At about 3 a.m., the wind strengthened and grew to a violent east south-easterly storm. Between 8 and 9 hours the wind veered to the south and rose to a hurricane, great waves towering in from the east, which continued until about 11 a.m., when the wind moved round to the north. This probably saved most of the fleet, since they had been driven in towards the hard granite of the shoreline, and but for the veering wind must all have been smashed onto the rocks. The storm: during that night the seamen battled against the storm to prevent the ships being overcome. As pulleys, rope, canvas and masts fell upon them, as the decks rolled and plunged, as the chill sea washed over them and the wind tore at their bodies, these hardy, determined men continued to try to save their ships through all those long hours of cold, roaring darkness. Many of the fleet jettisoned cannon and anchors to remain afloat, a heavy and dangerous task in itself. During the night the small fourteen-gun brig Ferret (Captain Arthur Upton) sank. Later Grafton struck a rock, before the wind turned, but was lucky and forged off again. Tilbury also struck close in to the coast (a rock or a sandbank) but was not as lucky as Grafton. Held fast, the sea and the wind pounded her and she broke. Of the 400 on board 280 were saved with the help of the French from Louisburg, where they were then held prisoner, but well treated; Captain Barnsley perished; his second, Mr Thane, survived. The Family Tree of Captain Henry Barnsley Aftermath: of twenty ships, nine still had their masts standing: Windsor, Kingston (60 guns), Northumberland (68 guns), Newark (80 guns, Admiral Holburne), Orford (68 guns), Terrible (74 guns), Somerset, Bedford (64 guns), and Defiance (60 guns). The first seven were in company. Holburne noted:
The Commander of the Grenadiers was also drowned. The Acadian helped some of the wrecked sailors. Epitaph: at a lecture** in March 1884 S. D. Macdonald stated that Tilbury "was one of the finest of the fleet". Resurrection: During the summers of 1981 to 1986 a French-Canadian team of divers from Quebec searched for Tilbury - and found her. They dived on the wreck in 1986 and 1987, finding 44 of the 60 cannon, together with a great deal of musket shot, various artefacts, 23 pieces of the ship's bell, the main anchor, cast-iron ballast, cannon balls, and also - pieces of gold and silver: 16 pieces of gold and 430 of silver. These divers thought therefore that Tilbury had carried treasure, some of which may have been recovered at the time or spread across the ocean floor, and that the pieces of gold and silver came from the 1757 sinking. A Canadian's account of his attempt to find the wreck of HMS Tilbury, photo of "Tilbury Rocks"
Frederick Rogers, Plymouth 1839 & 1850 accounts of the 1757 Siege of Louisburg
Frigate Tilbury payship to Edward Boscawen's 1758 fleet, wrecked off Louisburg? 8th June - 26th July 1758, siege of Louisburg: Edward Boscawen was appointed Admiral of the Blue, Commander-in-chief of the expedition to Cape Breton; his fleet is recorded as 21 battleships and 14 frigates. According to two sources one of the frigates was named Tilbury and was a payship, wrecked (during the siege): 'on a reef near Louisburg' (note 12, ISBN.048625514X); 'on the southern shore of Cape Breton' (pg. 54, note 415, ISBN.0802087124). However, the only published lists available online do not give the names of the smaller vessels, eg such a frigate. (The combined forces of Boscawen's fleet and sailors, General Amherst's army, took the fortress of Louisburg and the island of Cape Breton.) The Battle of Louisburg: paintings of the harbour, fleet Notes: 7th March 2006: In a report published online, February 2006, a commercial company (Sovereign Exploration) described their intention to dive on the wreck of Tilbury, which they believed to be the 1757 vessel; they added:"A major focus of the exploration will be the large cargo of Spanish Pillar Dollars known to be on the pay ship. These coins were the principal coins found and used as currency in the Colonial years of America." 9th March 2006: Well-known Canadian wreck-hunter and specialist Terry Dwyer confirmed "yes it [1757 Tilbury] was carrying part of the payroll for the entire fleet ... the main section ... carried the treasure ... The bow section and mid section have in fact been found, but the stern section, which carried all the valuables has never been found." His new book 'Wreck Hunter' mentions Tilbury. 16th October 2006: Read the complete article by Michael Friscolanti Comment by Caroline, siteholder 'Tilberia' ** S. D. Macdonald |
||
|
||
Invincible |
||
An exceptional ship, unique at the time of building, used as a model for subsequent ships of the line (built by the French and captured by the English). The fact that even Invincible was partially demasted and had to be towed is witness to the terrible force of the storm which so widely damaged Holburne's fleet, despite the great experience of captains and sailors. Her importance to the Old Navy was such that she has a site dedicated to her - and to her rediscovery and excavation (link below). | ||
|
Tilbury the fifth |
||
1810-1814: HMS Chatham was renamed Tilbury for the last four years of her life; she was then broken up at Chatham. (50 guns when launched from Portsmouth Dockyard in 1758; after fighting loyally until 1793 Chatham went into harbour service, and in 1805 became a powder hulk until 1810.) | ||
|
||
Tilbury (1) paddle-steamer, ferry |
||
The Tilbury-Gravesend Ferry Company
1855: A steam ferry service replaced the sail and rowed ferries between Tilbury and Gravesend in 1855. The London, Tilbury & Southend Railway operated the Tilbury-Gravesend ferry service from 1862. Tilbury (1) was taken out of service in 1905.
Further information from http://www.simplonpc.co.uk/TilburyGravesend.html |
||
|
||
Tilbury the sixth; launched 29th March 1856; wooden, steam, gunboat of the Albacore class |
||
1856-1865: built too late for the Crimean war and was never involved in fighting.
1862: Navy List List of Screw Steam Gun-Boats (From 209 to 270 Tons.) |
||
|
||
Tilbury (2) paddle-steamer, ferry |
||
The National Archives, Kew
1883: Ship Tilbury built; official number: 87163 Board of Trade, Registry of Shipping and Seamen: Transcripts and Transactions, Series IV, Closed Registries (this Registry closed 1922); Ships' names TIB-TIT Built by the London, Tilbury & Southend Railway Co., the second of its name, and employed on the Tilbury to Gravesend Ferry route until 1922; scrapped. This detail reproduced here by the generosity and courtesy of The National Archives, Kew, UK, their image reference RAIL437/37 - my thanks (Caroline, March 2011) |
||
|
Tilbury the seventh; launched 3rd June 1918; F79, destroyer, R or S class |
||
1918: W. Ewart G., RN: late 1916, joined the battleship Temeraire at Rosythe. At Constantinople, General Allenby boarded Temeraire for passage to Palestine; with a fellow midshipman Ewart accompanied Allenby to Jerusalem, returned to Constantinople for the signing of the peace treaty; was in Sevastopol at the time Czar Nicholas and family were murdered (July 1918). Ewart "transferred to HMS Tilbury and went to Yalta", where he met Prince Cyril Orlof who was trying to make contact with the Dowager Empress Maria Feodorovna and attempt to persuade her to take passage out of Russia on a Royal Navy vessel. (From the family website of Ewart G: no longer online.)
William James BINGHAM RN also served on board this Tilbury during WW1; his grandson Bryan BADHAM has generously forwarded a photo of his grandfather together with copies of two drawings of F79: February 1931: F79, HMS Tilbury, sold for scrap. |
||
|
Tilbury the Phantom! |
||
Not HMS Tilbury: minesweeper Blyth Class (Bangor Class II), built by Lobnitz, launched 18th February 1942; when laid down she was intended to be HMS Tilbury, but in October 1941, while being built, was transferred to the Royal Indian Navy and renamed Konkan. | ||
|
Trawler MS Tilbury Ness; launched 1918, 279t Commissioned by the Admiralty September 1939: HMS Tilbury Ness |
||
1st November 1940: sunk by German aircraft, in the Thames Estuary. The Royal Naval Patrol Service, (pre-war Royal Naval Reserve Trawler Section), September 1939 to May 1945: approximately 260 trawlers lost in action. | ||
|
Empire Tilbury, built by Wm. Doxford & Sons Ltd, Sunderland; 7312t gr, length 429ft, beam 56ft |
||
World War II 'Empire' ships covered a wide range of vessels: tugs, coasters, tankers, cargo ships ... passenger liners, (both wartime-built and requisitioned); and some post-war reparations ships. A few ships were renamed 'Empire' during the Suez crisis.
1945: Ministry Of War Transport: managed by Walter Runciman & Co. Ltd., shipowners of Glasgow, Strathclyde (1886-1979). 1946-1962: from the Hain Steamship Co. history: "A standard 'Empire' type (ex-'Empire Tilbury') was acquired in March 1946 as Trevean" [Trevean (4)]; 1957 - P. & O. S.N. Co. London; 1958 - Hain SS Co. 1963: renamed East Lion, Willow Shipping Co. Hong Kong. 1964: renamed Kawana, continuing for Willow Shipping Co. 1966: Coral Shipping Co. Hong Kong - 4th June 1966 beached near Chittagong after a cargo fire: total loss. Marine News - World Ship Society, 1965: Kawana, (East Lion - 64, Trevean - 63, Empire Tilbury - 46). 7308/45-mv (ref MN XX 7) is for sale "as is, where is" at Chittagong. |
||
|
The Tilbury Dredger; built by Messrs. Hunter & English |
||
190[?]: was able to dredge to a depth of 45 ft. below the surface of the water (one of the early 'ladder' dredgers?). The dredger Diver, built by Hunter & English for Mr Samuel Williams of London, was capable of working in 60 ft. of water:
|
||
The Tilbury II Dredger; built by Ferguson Shipbuilders; Yard no. 304 |
||
1932: launched for and owned by the Port of London Authority. | ||
|
Australian Tilbury R.B.II |
||
New South Wales: In the State Records is a box containing Ships' certificates and documents for the years 1894-1946, (ref. CGS 9858 - Kingswood 8/2060) mainly relating to the registration, survey insurance and sale of vessels in the service of the Sydney Harbour Trust and Maritime Services Board. | ||
|
The Tilbury Barge |
||
Last, but very far from least: on 2nd October, 1874, at 4.55 in the morning, under Macclesfield Bridge on the Regent's Canal, an enormous explosion took place. Not until World War I was there another such happening in London.
STOP PRESS
|
||
|
My particular thanks to Michael Phillips who generously shared with me his own notes (for his next book),
to Samuel E. Kimpton who allowed me to quote from his article on "Knowles' Action",
to Tim in London who delighted me with news of Indiaman Tilbury,
and to both John Tilbury & Mike Stevens for the barge.
From more recent wars there are many Memorials and Rolls of Honour. Of those individuals who served in the wooden sailing ships of the Old Navy fighting the enemy, defending settlers and merchants, taking 'prizes', exploring the world's oceans and unknown lands, whether of their free will or as pressed men, there is little trace except in remaining ship's logs and crew lists. A few died on land and had burial (some registers and MIs for these are now being published on the web), most were buried at sea. Cramped living space, few ships which were 'dry', poor food and many deaths from sickness and debilitation as well as injury; hard work and hard discipline, often fearful conditions, rarely did an entire ship's crew return home... sometimes only one ship returned to port with the few survivors of a whole fleet.
If your Internet connection allows, please click on the image above and take the time to read through the names of some of those sailors who served on board HMS Tilbury - and copies of whose Wills are now available from the National Archives (ex-PRO), at Kew, UK. | |||
|
|||
NB:
| |||
Unfortunately Mike Phillip's CRONAB web pages seem to be offline |
|||
Memoirs of Sir Cloudesley Shovel - 1 |
Memoirs of Sir Cloudesley Shovel - 2 The Hellweathers (The Wreck of the Fleet) by N. T. Carrington |
||
Knowles' Action, including battle line diagrams Project Gutenberg's "Thrilling Stories Of The Ocean", by Marmaduke Park (illustrated)
|
|||
Flags of the Honourable Company |
Site Map | Links Page | Guestbook | ||
E-Mail me |
Update: 15 December 2008