The Hemlington Nautical History Society

Most people know I originated in a place called Scarborough in what was then the East riding. But further down the coast in a small fishing village (now a seaside town) Bridlington, many pleasure craft where introduced.

The following is the story of a little known ship called the “Bridlington Queen”.

The Bridlington Queen built by a Company in East Molesley, Surry back in 1947.  In the same year she was put into service by her owners in the same year as a pleasure craft sailing from the harbor round Flamborough and local areas of interest.

The Bridlington Queen had a livery of pure wood until later years as so many other pleasure ships she was painted white, this was around 1980.  It was at this time the Bridlington Queen moved from the harbor at Bridlington to its new home on the Tay. Along with this move she also became known as the Tay Queen.

This was a short lived move and very soon afterwards she was again moved to Boscombe on the South Coast and later to Newcastle where she was now under the new ownership of one Mr. Chris Eborall who lived and worked in Nottingham.

The ship was taken from Newcastle after the sale to Nottingham by its Captain Mr. Garner to its new home in Nottingham. Here she was given a full new re-fit, at a said cost of £18,000. Included in the re-fit and overhaul was her engines and of course her by now mandatory white paintwork.  After the work was complete Mr.  Eborall put her in service as yet again a pleasure craft now sailing from Trent Bridge in Nottingham to Gunthorpe Lock. On the sailing she would serve drinks for around 80 fair paying passengers. It was not uncommon for her to have a barbecue for its guests on the run.

Mr. Garner her still skipper once remarked about his love for the ship and said to a local newspaper interview “She was a powerful boat, Could turn in her own length and stop on a sixpence” Unfortunately as so many great little crafts of there time she finally started to be laid up more than sailing, after a long spell of tied up in Cromwell Dock Nottingham she was finally taken to Goole Ironically not far from her first home in Bridlington and eventually scrapped in 1995.

The Bridlington Queen was only a small ship, she had a length of 19.6 Meters and weighed in at 26 tones, and Powered by twin Dorman engines (originally) and later by Twin Blackstones in her major re-fit. And was quiet happy to carry around 146 fair paying folk.

From accounts of Bridlington local papers it was reported that on the 17^th July 1966 The Bridlington Queen left the safe harbor for her first trip of the day.  Unfortunately the Bridlington Queen struck an underwater un-charted rock on a stretch known as the Canch. The little ship soon went down by her stern.  As she settled her stern came to rest on the bottom in around 5 feet of water.  Ferryboats where soon on a course out of the harbor to rescue its passengers, The people on board calmly stepped from the Queen to the ferryboats without getting wet in any way.

One Mr. Arthur Jenkins who was a Co Owner of the speed boat 007 (still in service today) was responsible for towing the large fleet of ferry boats to her aid.

After all the passengers where safe and crew taken off divers where sent down to inspect the damage, they found a large hole in her hull which they managed to close using seat cushions from the 007 speed boat. They soon had pumps on the scene and pumped her out and began the short tow back into the safety of the harbor by a ship called Boy’s Own. (I will give a detailed account of this ship later)

The rock unto which the Bridlington Queen hit was later marked by harbor authority and very soon towed off into deeper water by a local fishing trawler.  After the event the locals and ship owners realized that many of the ships sailing in and out of Bridlington harbor had been operating with only a few inches clearance of the same rock. Its owner at the time was said to of said he was relieved it was only a small ship such as his that had hit the rock. The owner at the time was a Mr. Alf Wright