1st September 1950

Company dissolved

 For any tugs not listed see Ship Towage (London) Ltd fleet list.

 

ALLIANCE

 

Built 1856 by R Stobbs, Coble Dene, N. Shields. Wood paddle tug. L81.2'. B16.4'. D8.3'. 66grt. 15nrt. 30nhp 1cyl side lever steam engine by James Conley, North Shields. ON16150.

 

It all began when a contract was signed between Messrs Dick & Page tug owners and the Shell Oil Coy. to tow the tanker "Kelletia" from Falmouth to the River Tyne by three tugs. At that time the Tug owners D & P had only 2 tugs in service & so the tug "Watercock"was taken on to make up the complement mainly because of her 90 ton bunker capacity. We were to sail, together with the tugs "Contest" & "Security", on Monday am on the 3rd October 1946 & accordingly bunkers were topped up and general stores taken on board and the tug made ready for a sea passage. A minor fault showed up on Watercock in consequence, we did not depart until 1400hrs some 2 hours after the other tugs had sailed. On arrival off Southend the  Contest & Security  were found to be at anchor near the South Shoebury Buoy & on enquiry we learned that they were going to get under way the next morning, our E.T.A. Falmouth was Thursday am, so "Watercock" was anchored close to then we could all go in convoy the next morning.

On Tuesday at 5.30 all tugs got going & passed thru' Princes Channel, & on thru  the Downs. During the passage it was seen that the bar. was falling rapidly & by the time we arrived off Dungeness, the light Wly winds had backed to SSW & had fast increased in strength. The Contest being somewhat faster than the Watercock & Security had by now disappeared to the Westward & we unable to make contact with her, neither tug having a transmitter on board, on Watercock there was a Radio receiver for B.B.C. relays plus an Aldis lamp. We closed the Pilot cutter on station in the West bay of the Ness & asked verbally for a weather report, & it was that a SW gale was imminent & a warning had been issued by the Met. Office over the B.B.C. & warning to shipping in the Portland area, & as it was running towards us the master of the Security agreed with me that we should return to Dover for shelter & by the time we passed Folkstone the sea was making up & was quite high for small vessels bound Westly. We entered the E entrance at 1450 & made our way to the Prince of Wales  Pier.
Security was ahead of Watercock & as she approached the pierhead instead of turning to starb. To go alongside P of W pier she went straight on & Capt. Pattison was seen to leave the wheelhouse to attend the steering gear & subsequently was asked what happened.  He said that the steering engine had jammed & the way to get it going again was to give it a kick & sure enough it did. Watercock went to help if needed & Capt. Pattison said it was O.K., so I put the Watercock alongside the Prince of Wales pier, port side to & head towards the sea. Security later came alongside Watercock & made fast. By this time the wind had increased to 6-7 force & the gale cone had been hoisted on the Harbour lookout station on the W pier breakwater, it was overcast with squalls. During the night our deck watch had called out all hands & put extra fend off tyres over side near the quay owing to the way both tugs were surging and bumping together & the weather remained, SW seas quickly following  one after the other & we daily went outside the harbour to dump ashes & other refuse & we were then able to judge the weight of the weather clear of the harbour shelter we then returned to the same berth on the Prince of Wales pier. It was uncomfortable lying there  we were able to get ash clear  & attend to ships business as usual. Unfortunately, some of the rubbing band woodwork on the port section of the Security was broken & parts [ fell?] in the water mainly due to the bumping & boring in the surge & swell, temporary repairs were carried out by her own crew, because of the damage to Security the fact that the weather forecast was bad we asked permission to enter the Granville Dock. which we did on the next rising tide, we had been sheltering in Dover Hrbr for 5 days & there still no sign of a let up in the weather consisting of gale force W to SW winds & squally . However on the 9th day the weather abated enough for us to be away on our passage West & down channel and we made good progress and afternoon [?] when once again I got a signal in morse code from the Security that a SW gale was approaching fast & in consequence we agreed to enter Newhaven, and shelter there. We had to wait wait until the tide rose before we could enter the harbour but we eventually went in and made fast on the quay, again alongside each other starboard side to with Security on the quay berth & head in. At the head of the harbour the S cone was up and the weather really became bad as forecast next morning.

I made a tour of inspection on the Watercock to be sure all was secure & it was during this time I saw water running out the Security 's port quarter rubbing band thru' some missing bolt holes, the Security was listing to port as she was sitting on the mud of the river bed & listing to port & the water running from the holes was boiler water from the stowage tank aft. I pointed it out to Capt. Pattison & he knew that the bolts were missing in fact it was the same in the bows & it was well known that anyone using the toilet which was right forward would get a shower of sea water in a head sea as the sea sprayed in thru rust holes in the hull, in fact the whole matter was generally treated as something funny & quite acceptable. I voiced my disbelief & wondered how the tug ever got an Al at Lloyd's considering her condition, I was however glad I was not on board of her. We could not leave port because the weather remained foul. In fact it was 5 days later that we were able to resume our trip & we agreed to pass S of the Isle of Wight & make board [course?] direct to Falmouth, however it did not turn out like that because soon after passing the Owers L.V. my cook reported to me that there was salt water in our only fresh water tank & on examination I found that there was a fair sized hole in our fresh water tank air-vent gooseneck situated in the port bulwark outside the galley & apparently sea-water was going into the tank as  the sea came aboard & ran down the decks on each side of the deck house & so I decided to go to Spithead & anchor off Cpllick[?] Pt.[ Gilkicker Point?] to empty, repair the broken gooseneck air- vent & again fill our galley tank at Portsmouth.

 At 1200 received another gale warning Swly., approaching Plymouth area. The tug Security was with us & we entered Portsmouth Harbour & made fast on the Vernon buoys & after the galley tank had been repaired freshwater was taken on board. The weather deteriorated to a SW gale by 1600 & so we were obliged to stay in harbour. After 3 1/2 days it got better & we got away at last & made a good run to Falmouth where we arrived [ ?] 19 days after leaving Gravesend. The Contest had arrived the previous day and Capt. C Parker told me that he had sheltered at Cowes I of W & again off Brixham after a very bad passage down channel. We reported to our agents Cox & Coy at Falmouth & then planning our tow to the Tyne .

 A conference was held between the pilots, Superers [ Skippers?] & Captain of the " Kelletia" on board the tanker & a departure time & other details were discussed & agreed. The "Kelletia" was a Shell tanker of some [?] tons, in ballast, she had no main engines, but her boiler had steam for auxiliary purposes & steam on deck for anchor & winches etc.. All tugs stored up & filled up with coal & made ready for the coming voyage to Newcastle. The next day 4th November 1946, assisted by 2 local tugs, we set sail at 10.30hrs, the Contest was centrally ahead with the Security on the port bow & Watercock to starboard, our tow gear was streamed out & when we had taken the strain the 2 local tugs cast off & we passed out of the harbour & round St Anthony's Head. The wind was light SWiy at this time but increasing & it was seen that the cone had been hoisted at the lighthouse look-out on the Head.

 As we were going up Channel we were not unduly worried about the weather, a following wind & sea was just what we [?] wanted to help us along  indeed we made good progress as the SW wind freshened,
Watercock had out 60 fathoms of 12" Manila rope shackled to 4 1/2" wire & we were about 100ft astern & abeam of the Contest the leading tug. The Security was on our port side level with the Watercock. We passed Portland Bill about 15 miles South the next day around llOOhrs & by 1200 the weather had got worse all morning, & after a brief lull the wind backed to SE & blew up to gale 8-9 & it appeared we were in the centre of a violent depression, with a large SW swell running from previous gales & the wave tops were blown back with flying spume with visibility a quarter of a  mile. By now we were being driven backwards & no headway was being made at all in fact it was difficult to hold position; the waves were so high that when we, on the Watercock were at the bottom of the trough I could just see the funnels & the masts of the other tugs on our port beam. I finished my watch at 1300 & went below to rest leaving Mr. Love, mate & 1 deckhand on the bridge.

At about 16.40 our towrope parted & I went on the bridge to take over & I found that the mate had stopped engines because the tow-rope stopper aft had also parted, in fact, the bollards aft had broken in two and the rope had to kept clear of our own propeller. The mate informed me that all was clear aft & I attempted to run round the rope by turning to starboard ; my crew were all on deck & the tow-rope was just beginning to stream out astern  & come up over the stern of the tug to a position from where we could heave it in. At this time I saw the Security beginning to list to starb. & each time she came into view in the high seas at a distance of about a quarter mile on our port quarter it was obvious that she was not coming back up to an even keel and in 5 to lO mins. she lay on her beam ends & finally sank altogether .

I took a bearing of her position when last I saw her & immediately ordered my crew to abandon the attempt to retrieve our towing gear & cut loose. As soon as I was told "all clear" I ran down wind to where I had seen Security last turning in very heavy sea and shipping a lot of water. Arriving near her last position we found an upturned lifeboat with one man sitting on top & waving his hand. I shouted  to him to sit tight and hold on the keel while we searched around for the others. I stationed the mate  Mr. Love back of the funnel after end of the boat deck & passed word to me so so that I could get the tug close enough to haul them inboard over the bulwark rail as they came level with it as we rolled back & forth, in fact after was full up most of the time & lines & lifebuoys were thrown & each one more or less floated inboard. The man on the upturned boat was last to be picked up, Mr Connolly, & in all 5 survivors & although we searched back & forth as best we could regretfully we could not find the other four crew members which included the Master, 1 deckhand 1 fireman and 1 boy cook. We had used our Aldis lamp to search around because it[was] by now dark & could hear nothing & at last forced to abandon the search & give up hope for the 4 men. I signalled to "Kelletia" and was told that the Contest had also broken adrift & she was obliged to drop her anchors & also that I might find shelter under lea of the tanker but I replied in morse code that I would run to Portland harbour & put the survivors ashore & would he, the Captn. of the "Kelletia", radio to the Coastguards & inform them of my intended arrival there & ask for ambulances and first aid to be waiting for us. The ESE gale had by now veered to NNWIy had not diminished but slightly to force 6-7 & the waves were very confused , all the rescued men were in the warmest place they could find i.e. in the engine- room top round the engines . We had been unable to open the after cabin hatch because of the weather conditions & it was kept closed until it was safe enough to open up again.

 We arrived off Portland Harbour 2300 & received a morse message from the RN Piers to say that the ambulance was waiting to take the survivors to hospital. We made fast to the quay & had some hot food & tea on the after cabin fire, all hands were wet through & really exhausted & utterly miserable through the loss of our tugmaster & shipmates but also thankful for our own preservation. I personally had no doubts about the ability & seaworthiness of the "Watercock" & the thought that anything would happen to us never crossed my mind , I am very proud of my crew & the way they acted together to save at least some of the crew of the Security, especially my engineer Vic Betts who kept the Watercock dry and our bilges pumped out.

 

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