SB Centaur
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SB ''Centaur'' is a wooden
Thames sailing barge A Thames sailing barge is a type of commercial sailing boat once common on the River Thames in London. The flat-bottomed barges, with a shallow draught and leeboards, were perfectly adapted to the Thames Estuary, with its shallow waters and na ...
, built in
Harwich Harwich is a town in Essex, England, and one of the Haven ports on the North Sea coast. It is in the Tendring district. Nearby places include Felixstowe to the north-east, Ipswich to the north-west, Colchester to the south-west and Clacton-o ...
, Essex, England in 1895. She was used to carry various cargoes, mainly grain, for the next 60 years. During the First World War she carried food and coal to the French Channel ports. During the Second World War Centaur was damaged when sailing to assist with the Dunkirk Evacuation. She did war work for the duration of the conflict. In 1945 she returned to the
grain trade The grain trade refers to the local and international trade in cereals such as wheat, barley, maize, rice, and other food grains. Grain is an important trade item because it is easily stored and transported with limited spoilage, unlike other agri ...
until 1955, when she was derigged. Between 1955 and 1966 she was used as a
lighter A lighter is a portable device which uses mechanical or electrical means to create a controlled flame, and can be used to ignite a variety of flammable items, such as cigarettes, butane gas, fireworks, candles, or campfires. A lighter typic ...
until bought in 1966 by Richard Duke to re-rig as a charter barge. She was sold in 1973 to the charity Thames Barge Sailing Club (now the Thames Sailing Barge Trust). Restored between 1984 and 1993, and further in 2013, she now berths at Hythe Quay,
Maldon Maldon (, locally ) is a town and civil parish on the Blackwater Estuary in Essex, England. It is the seat of the Maldon District and starting point of the Chelmer and Blackwater Navigation. It is known for Maldon Sea Salt which is prod ...
.


Description

Thames sailing barge A Thames sailing barge is a type of commercial sailing boat once common on the River Thames in London. The flat-bottomed barges, with a shallow draught and leeboards, were perfectly adapted to the Thames Estuary, with its shallow waters and na ...
s were commercial sailing vessels once common on the
River Thames The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the The Isis, River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the Longest rivers of the United Kingdom, s ...
in
London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...
. The flat-bottomed barges with a shallow draught and
leeboard A leeboard is a form of pivoting keel used largely by sailboats, very often in lieu of a fixed keel. Typically mounted in pairs on each side of a hull, leeboards function much like a centreboard, allowing shallow-draft craft to ply waters ...
s, were well adapted to the shallow, narrow waters of the
Thames Estuary The Thames Estuary is where the River Thames meets the waters of the North Sea, in the south-east of Great Britain. Limits An estuary can be defined according to different criteria (e.g. tidal, geographical, navigational or in terms of salinit ...
and
East Anglia East Anglia is an area of the East of England, often defined as including the counties of Norfolk, Suffolk and Cambridgeshire, with parts of Essex sometimes also included. The name derives from the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of the East Angles, ...
. The larger barges were seaworthy vessels, and were the largest sailing vessel to be handled by just two men. The average size was about 120 tons and they carried from of canvas sail in six working sails. The
mainsail A mainsail is a sail rigged on the main mast (sailing), mast of a sailing vessel. * On a square rigged vessel, it is the lowest and largest sail on the main mast. * On a fore-and-aft rigged vessel, it is the sail rigged aft of the main mast. T ...
was loose-footed and set up with a
sprit The spritsail is a four-sided, fore-and-aft sail that is supported at its highest points by the mast and a diagonally running spar known as the sprit. The foot of the sail can be stretched by a boom or held loose-footed just by its sheets. A sp ...
, and was
brail Brails, in a sailing ship, are small lines used to haul in or up the edges ( leeches) or corners of sail A sail is a tensile structure, which is made from fabric or other membrane materials, that uses wind power to propel sailing craft, i ...
ed to the mast when not needed. It was sheeted to a
horse The horse (''Equus ferus caballus'') is a domesticated, one-toed, hoofed mammal. It belongs to the taxonomic family Equidae and is one of two extant subspecies of ''Equus ferus''. The horse has evolved over the past 45 to 55 mi ...
, as were the
foresail A foresail is one of a few different types of sail set on the foremost mast (''foremast'') of a sailing vessel: * A fore-and-aft sail set on the foremast of a schooner or similar vessel. * The lowest square sail on the foremast of a full-rigged ...
s, so needed no attention when going about (except that the foresail is held back by the mate when tacking to help the vessel come about). The
topsail A topsail ("tops'l") is a sail set above another sail; on square-rigged vessels further sails may be set above topsails. Square rig On a square rigged vessel, a topsail is a typically trapezoidal shaped sail rigged above the course sail and ...
was usually the first sail on and last sail off, being fixed to the
topmast The masts of traditional sailing ships were not single spars, but were constructed of separate sections or masts, each with its own rigging. The topmast is one of these. The topmast is semi-permanently attached to the upper front of the lower m ...
by hoops. In the upper reaches of the rivers and constricted harbours it reached into clear air, to catch wind when the air was still at water level. When approaching a berth casting off the
halliard In sailing, a halyard or halliard is a line (rope) that is used to hoist a ladder, sail, flag or yard. The term "halyard" derives from the Middle English ''halier'' ("rope to haul with"), with the last syllable altered by association with the E ...
would drop the topsail immediately, killing any forward motion. The mizzen boom was sheeted down to the long shallow
rudder A rudder is a primary control surface used to steer a ship, boat, submarine, hovercraft, airship, or other vehicle that moves through a fluid medium (usually air or water). On an airplane, the rudder is used primarily to counter adverse yaw ...
, which helped the vessels through the wind when tacking. The sails were made of
flax Flax, also known as common flax or linseed, is a flowering plant, ''Linum usitatissimum'', in the family Linaceae. It is cultivated as a food and fiber crop in regions of the world with temperate climates. In 2022, France produced 75% of t ...
; their rust colour came from the traditional waterproofing solution; a mixture of ochre, fish oil and urine. The masts were mounted in tabernacles so they could be lowered to pass under bridges without losing headway, with the
anchor windlass A windlass is a machine used on ships that is used to let-out and heave-up equipment such as a ship's anchor or a fishing trawl. On some ships, it may be located in a specific room called the windlass room. An anchor windlass is a machine tha ...
used to lower and raise the gear via triple blocks. This took considerable effort and to aid in the process "hufflers" were often used; they would come on board to help with raising the gear (for a fee). The
bowsprit The bowsprit of a sailing vessel is a spar (sailing), spar extending forward from the vessel's prow. The bowsprit is typically held down by a bobstay that counteracts the forces from the forestay, forestays. The bowsprit’s purpose is to create ...
, where fitted, could be "topped" – raised – where space was limited. The barges were wooden
hulled Husk (or hull) in botany is the outer shell or coating of a seed. In the United States, the term husk often refers to the leafy outer covering of an ear of maize (corn) as it grows on the plant. Literally, a husk or hull includes the protective ...
, between long with a beam of around . The hull form was flat-bottomed with a degree of flare to the sides and plumb ends. To prevent unwanted (sideways) passage to the lee, there was a massive pivoted, retractable, winch operated
leeboard A leeboard is a form of pivoting keel used largely by sailboats, very often in lieu of a fixed keel. Typically mounted in pairs on each side of a hull, leeboards function much like a centreboard, allowing shallow-draft craft to ply waters ...
on each side. On the ''Centaur'' each weighed . The stern was a transom, fitted with a large rudder. The hull was mainly a hold with two small living areas in the bow and stern, and access was through two large hatchways, the smaller before the main mast and a much larger aperture behind. These barges required no
ballast Ballast is dense material used as a weight to provide stability to a vehicle or structure. Ballast, other than cargo, may be placed in a vehicle, often a ship or the gondola of a balloon or airship, to provide stability. A compartment within ...
. No auxiliary power was used originally but many barges were fitted with engines in later years. When no wharf was available, the barge could use the ebbing tide to stand on the mud close to shore, and offload its cargo into carts. A barge with no topsail – or top
mast Mast, MAST or MASt may refer to: Engineering * Mast (sailing), a vertical spar on a sailing ship * Flagmast, a pole for flying a flag * Guyed mast, a structure supported by guy-wires * Mooring mast, a structure for docking an airship * Radio mas ...
– sailing ''stumpy-rigged'' required a smaller crew. With a shallow draught, they could penetrate deep into the back waters. Not needing ballast reduced their turn-round time. They could be berthed on a flat mud bank, against a camp-shed, on a barge bed or in a held tide dock. In good conditions, sailing barges could attain speeds of over , and their
leeboard A leeboard is a form of pivoting keel used largely by sailboats, very often in lieu of a fixed keel. Typically mounted in pairs on each side of a hull, leeboards function much like a centreboard, allowing shallow-draft craft to ply waters ...
s allowed them to be highly effective windward performers. The unusual
spritsail The spritsail is a four-sided, fore-and-aft sail that is supported at its highest points by the mast and a diagonally running spar known as the sprit. The foot of the sail can be stretched by a boom or held loose-footed just by its sheets. A ...
rig Rig or RIG may refer to: Objects and structures * Rig (fishing), an arrangement of items used for fishing * Drilling rig, a structure housing equipment used to drill or extract oil from underground * Rig (stage lighting) * rig, a horse-drawn c ...
allowed any combination of sails to be set: even the topsail on its own could be effective in some conditions.


Uses

Thames sailing barge A Thames sailing barge is a type of commercial sailing boat once common on the River Thames in London. The flat-bottomed barges, with a shallow draught and leeboards, were perfectly adapted to the Thames Estuary, with its shallow waters and na ...
s were the
heavy goods vehicle A large goods vehicle (LGV), or heavy goods vehicle (HGV), in the European Union (EU) is any lorry with a gross combination mass (GCM) of over . Sub-category N2 is used for vehicles between 3,500 kg and and N3 for all goods vehicles over ...
s of their time, moving of loose cargo at a time from outside the capital to the city. They brought in coal for the furnaces, bricks to construct mills and houses, and hay for the horses. Barges were used to transport rubbish from various cities out to the brickfields where it was used as fuel; it was only for the last mile of the trip to the brickfields that road transport had to be used. In 1900 there were over 2,000 privately owned
Thames sailing barge A Thames sailing barge is a type of commercial sailing boat once common on the River Thames in London. The flat-bottomed barges, with a shallow draught and leeboards, were perfectly adapted to the Thames Estuary, with its shallow waters and na ...
s in operation.


History


Early life

SB ''Centaur'', wood built, probably
pitch pine ''Pinus rigida'', the pitch pine, is a small-to-medium-sized pine. It is native to eastern North America, primarily from central Maine south to Georgia and as far west as Kentucky. It is found in environments which other species would find unsuit ...
on
oak An oak is a hardwood tree or shrub in the genus ''Quercus'' of the beech family. They have spirally arranged leaves, often with lobed edges, and a nut called an acorn, borne within a cup. The genus is widely distributed in the Northern Hemisp ...
, was constructed for Charles Stone of Mistley to be used for the coastal trade. She was large compared with the average sailing barge and had a "generous sheer and shapely transom" making her more seaworthy. She was long, with a beam of and a draught of . Her capacity was . When loaded she could have as little as freeboard, and hurried loading meant that she frequently listed. Construction took six weeks and she was launched on 15February 1895 by John and Herbert Cann at the Bathside yard, Gashouse Creek,
Harwich Harwich is a town in Essex, England, and one of the Haven ports on the North Sea coast. It is in the Tendring district. Nearby places include Felixstowe to the north-east, Ipswich to the north-west, Colchester to the south-west and Clacton-o ...
. Her first master was James Stone, and she had a crew of two: a mate and a boy. There was another Thames sailing barge named ''Centaur'', based in Rochester and built in 1899. She sank in 1930 after colliding with ''Aspbodel''. Records referring to "SB ''Centaur''" are not always clear as to which is meant. In 1898 ''Centaur'' won the Harwich Barge Race. In 1899 an "SB ''Centaur''", probably her Rochester-based namesake, won the Medway Barge Race, passing over the finishing line at Upnor minutes ahead of second placed SB ''Giralda''. The Mistley barges worked the ports of north east France, Belgium and the Netherlands, from most of the English ports between Southampton and Goole. There are records of her carrying wheat,
hydrochloric acid Hydrochloric acid, also known as muriatic acid or spirits of salt, is an aqueous solution of hydrogen chloride (HCl). It is a colorless solution with a distinctive pungency, pungent smell. It is classified as a acid strength, strong acid. It is ...
, sugar,
linseed oil Linseed oil, also known as flaxseed oil or flax oil (in its edible form), is a colorless to yellowish oil obtained from the dried, ripened seeds of the flax plant (''Linum usitatissimum''). The oil is obtained by pressing, sometimes followed by ...
and raw linseed. In April 1902 her steering gear was damaged while sailing from Shoreham and she was towed into Newhaven. In January 1905 she had to be towed into Portland. Both anchors were lost off the Netherlands in December 1906. Her sailing qualities have been described as:


World War I

In the
First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
, SB ''Centaur'' joined her sister barges taking foodstuffs and large quantities of coal, coke, and pitch to the French ports of Le Treport,
Calais Calais ( , , traditionally , ) is a French port city in the Pas-de-Calais department, of which it is a subprefecture. Calais is the largest city in Pas-de-Calais. The population of the city proper is 67,544; that of the urban area is 144,6 ...
and
Boulogne-sur-Mer Boulogne-sur-Mer (; ; ; or ''Bononia''), often called just Boulogne (, ), is a coastal city in Hauts-de-France, Northern France. It is a Subprefectures in France, sub-prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Pas-de-Calais. Boul ...
. Commonly there were 180 barges discharging at Le Treport. They sailed over enemy mines due to their shallow draught, and were too small to attract enemy
U-boats U-boats are naval submarines operated by Germany, including during the First and Second World Wars. The term is an anglicized form of the German word , a shortening of (), though the German term refers to any submarine. Austro-Hungarian Na ...
. These were profitable runs as carriage was charged at £6 a ton. On one crossing, the date is not recorded, in thick fog, the ''Centaur'' was struck amidships by a coastal motor boat (CMB), a small, motorised, military vessel, which mounted her deck and settled on her main hatch. Both boats were undamaged and the Centaur returned home and safely unloaded both the CMB and her cargo.


Inter-war years

After the war, ''Centaur'' resumed the coastal trade. She made a number of voyages to France and Belgium carrying pitch and coal. Ephraim Cripps was her skipper for twenty years and kept records of each voyage.
Colchester Colchester ( ) is a city in northeastern Essex, England. It is the second-largest settlement in the county, with a population of 130,245 at the 2021 United Kingdom census, 2021 Census. The demonym is ''Colcestrian''. Colchester occupies the ...
was her main port from 1928 to 1930, and she worked the East Anglian coast. In 1933 she joined Francis and Gilders Ltd which managed a large fleet of sailing barges out of Colchester, transporting grain from Norfolk, Suffolk and Essex into London.


World War II

The first major civilian maritime event of the
Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
was the
Dunkirk evacuation The Dunkirk evacuation, codenamed Operation Dynamo and also known as the Miracle of Dunkirk, or just Dunkirk, was the evacuation of more than 338,000 Allied soldiers during the Second World War from the beaches and harbour of Dunkirk, in the ...
where hundreds of small ships rescued allied soldiers from the beaches. Like many of the sailing barge fleet ''Centaur'' sailed down to the assembly point at Dover, where she collided with a tug and so was unable to make the crossing. The rest of the conflict was spent under government charter, carrying much the same cargos as she always had around the south and east coasts of England.


Post-war

After the war ''Centaur'' returned to working the grain trade. In January 1952, in force 6–7 winds with seas breaking across her hatches, her rudder broke and she was towed into
Colne Colne () is a market town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in the Borough of Pendle in Lancashire, England. The town is northeast of Nelson, Lancashire, Nelson, northeast of Burnley and east of Preston, Lancashire, Preston. The ...
by the SB ''Saxon''. Francis and Gilders Ltd were the last "seeker barges", barges that sought any cargo; the London and Rochester Trading Company merged with them in 1951. The new owners were intent on selling on these barges, and ''Centaur'' took her last cargo in 1955. During her last year in the carrying trade, as well as grain she transported timber, sugar beet, ballast, cement and oil drums. ''Centaur'' and the other three remaining working sailing barges, ''George Smeed'', ''Kitty'' and ''Mirosa'' were deregistered and disposed of to Brown & Son of Chelmsford. There they were de-masted, de-registered and used as timber lighters. Between 1955 and 1966 she was used as a lighter to tranship timber from ships in the Blackwater estuary to canal lighters headed for Chelmsford. In 1966 she was purchased by Richard Duke and re-rigged as a charter barge with four four-berth cabins. In 1968 she was class winner at the Blackwater Sailing Barge Match. She was sold in 1973 to the Thames Barge Sailing Club (now the Thames Sailing Barge Trust), a
registered charity A charitable organization or charity is an organization whose primary objectives are philanthropy and social well-being (e.g. educational, Religion, religious or other activities serving the public interest or common good). The legal definitio ...
. She was restored between 1974 and 1993, with most frames and planks replaced and a new auxiliary motor, a Bedford six-cylinder truck engine fitted with a marine gearbox, installed. In 1993 she won the Inter-match Trophy. In 1995 the sacrificial planking was replaced in
iroko Iroko (Yoruba language, Yoruba: Ìrókò) is a large hardwood tree from the west coast of tropical Africa that can live up to 500 years. This is the common name for the genus ''Milicia'', in which there are two recognized species, which are close ...
and opeipi. In 2013 a
Heritage Lottery Fund The National Lottery Heritage Fund, formerly the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF), distributes a share of National Lottery funding, supporting a wide range of heritage projects across the United Kingdom. History The fund's predecessor bodies were ...
grant of £100,000 was obtained which contributed to further restoration work, including redoubling the bottom timbers. She now berths at Hythe Quay, Maldon and is available for charter during the summer months. She is still traditionally rigged, as she was in 1895, currently with of sail.


Owners

* 1895 Charles Stone. * 1900 Dolly Rogers. * 1911 Ted Hibbs. * 1915 John Sawyer. * 1933 Francis & Gilders. * 1951 London and Rochester Trading Company. * 1955 Brown & Co. Derigged for use as a timber lighter. * 1965 Richard Duke Used as a charter barge. * 1973 Thames Barge Sailing Club, now th
Thames Sailing Barge Trust
The dates are when ''Centaur'' came into ownership of its various owners.


See also

* SB ''Pudge''


Notes


Footnotes


References

* * * * * * * * * * * * This article incorporates text taken from the article
Thames sailing barge A Thames sailing barge is a type of commercial sailing boat once common on the River Thames in London. The flat-bottomed barges, with a shallow draught and leeboards, were perfectly adapted to the Thames Estuary, with its shallow waters and na ...
.


External links


Centaur's page on the Thames Sailing Barge Trust's site (current owners)

Centaur's entry
in the
National Historic Ships National Historic Ships UK is a government-funded independent organisation that advises UK governments and others on matters relating to historic ships.
register {{DEFAULTSORT:Centaur Thames sailing barges 1895 ships Individual sailing vessels Ships built in Harwich Transport on the River Thames Sailing ships of the United Kingdom Ships and vessels of the National Historic Fleet Little Ships of Dunkirk