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1857 Delivered to Watkins. 7-1870 New boilers and major engine room overhaul at Wigrams, £4000. 1876 Overhaul and new boilers £3000. Coal consumption 19 tons per day. Old boiler overhauled and installed in Renown.17-7-1880 Whilst towing sailing vessel Hydaspes off Dungeness in fog, Hydaspes collided with SS Centurion and sank. Hydaspes crew rescued by tug and steamer. 3-12-1880 Refloated Araby Maid aground off Kingsdown and towed to London. 14-10-1881 Assisting sailing vessel Allanshaw in distress in hurricane force storm off North Foreland was overwhelmed and sank with loss of Captain W Houghton and eight crew. One victim, James William Carter, aged 28, is remembered on the headstone of the Carter family grave in Chalk Churchyard, near Gravesend, although no record of his burial here can be found in the parish records.

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NESTOR

(Chartered 1915 - 1918)

Built 1883 by Sir W G Armstrong, Mitchell and Co. Ltd., Low Walker. YN452. Iron Screw Tug. L100'. B19.8'. D10.1'. 122grt. 600ihp 2cyl 21"x38"x24" compound steam engine by Ross and Duncan, Glasgow. Official No. 84878.

PoR 1883 N. Shields. 1891 Swansea. 1906 S. Shields.

01-1883 Completed as Africa for C Dyble, N. Shields, used as trawler. 1891 Sold to C Hooper, Swansea. 1896 Sold to African Tug Co. Ltd., Swansea. 1903 Sold to Lawson Steam Tug Co., Newcastle. 1906 renamed Nestor. 1915 Chartered by Watkins due to wartime shortage of tugs on Thames. 2-1918 Req by RN renamed Velmar. 12-1918 Returned to Lawson's renamed Nestor. 6-1920 Transferred to Lawson-Batey Tugs Ltd. 6-1937 Sold for £460 to Clayton and Davey Ltd, Dunston for demolition.

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NUBIA

Photo A. Duncan

Built 1890 by Westwood Baillie Ltd., Poplar. Steel Screw Tug. L87.6'. B18.6'. D10.7'. 102grt. 350ihp 3cylTE 12.5"x19"x32" 20" stroke 135psi steam engine by Stewart. Coal consumption two pounds per HP per hour. Acquired 1890. Disposed 1935. Scrapped 1935. Official No. 98149. Call sign MQGP.

1890 Delivered to Watkins. 1894 Repaired boiler ex Mustang fitted. 17-11-1897 £300 salvage award for towing Gulf of Akaba off Girdler Sand. 1902 Reboilered. 1920 Reboilered and hull and engine repairs. 193? Laid up at Ramsgate. 5-1935 Sold for £140 to G Cohen and Sons, Canning Town, for demolition.

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OCEANA

Photo A. Hughes Colln.

Built 1889 by Gourlay and Co., Dundee. YN136. Twin Screw Tug. L110.5'. B19.5'. D10.9'. 311grt. (1902 337grt). 160nhp 900ehp 2 x 2cyl compound steam engines by builder. Coal consumption one pound per HP per hour. Acquired 1889. Lost 1918. Official No. 95549.

1889 Delivered to Watkins. 1891 Sunk by steamer off Shoeburyness. Salved and repaired. 1902 Whilst connecting tow to the clipper Orontes near the Goodwin Sands port propeller came into contact with the tow, sinking Orontes and stripping prop blades of tug. 1905 Towed oil hulk Tancarville from Portland to Sumatra, 8,200 miles in 45 days at average speed of 7 knots. This was the longest tow undertaken by any tug at this time. 1908 Reboilered and alterations to bridge at Eltringhams. 1908 Towed MM liner Esmeralda from Bordeaux to La Spezia for scrapping. 11-6-1908 Departed Castellamare towing paddle steamer Lady Rowena for Newhaven. 8-1908 Departed Barrow towing grain elevator for Montreal. Towline parted 400 miles NW of Tory Island and fouled prop. Twelve days spent searching for elevator which meanwhile had been found by two trawlers and towed into Stornaway. Tow later completed without further problems. 23-12-1909 Whilst being transferred to German liner Salatis aground off Dungeness, tugs master Captain Fred Rennings was washed out of the tugs boat and drowned. 25-1-1910 Towed collision damaged SS Frascati from off Lundy into Barry. 20-4-1910 Arrived Aden towing SS Sir Trevredyn Wynne. 17-3-1913 Arrived St Vincent CV on passage Port Talbot to Simonstown. 3-8-1914 Req by RN renamed HMS Cerebus. Initially served examination service but being twin screw was unsuited. Then used for coastal towing and finally attached to Grand Fleet at Scapa Flow. 1917 Renamed HMS Oceana. 18-10-1918 Run down and sunk by Tug Stobo Castle, C102, W73, 1917/80grt (with reinforced icebreaking bow), whilst at anchor in Scapa Flow. 31-1-1919 Declated total loss.

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OERO

Sailing Vessel. Acquired 1883. Disposed 1902.

1883 Acquired by Watkins and converted to stores hulk, moored off Blackwall. 1902 Sold to Dutch breakers but foundered off Sunk light vessel, whilst under tow to Holland.

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PALENCIA

PALENCIA in Shell colours. Photo RGR Colln.

Built 1916 by I J Abdela and Mitchel Ltd., Queensferry. Steel Screw Tug. L76.6'. B18.1'. D10.2'. 95grt. 350ihp 2cyl 15"x31.5" 24" stroke 180psi compound steam engine by A Dodman and Co., Kings Lynn. Acquired 1920. Disposed 1939. Scrapped 1960's. Official No. 137528.

1916 Built as Sloyne for Alexandra Towing Co. Ltd., Liverpool. 1920 Acquired by Watkins, renamed Palencia. 1923 Gill shrouded prop fitted (forerunner of Kort nozzle), giving 9.5 knots, 305ihp at 119rpm. 1939 Sold to James Towing Company, Southampton. 9-1939 Req by RN. 1-1946 Returned to owner. 1946 acquired by Shell Oil Co. Ltd., Gibraltar and towed to Gibraltar by tug Superman. 1949 Replacement boiler fitted from tug Welshman. 1950 Converted to oil fired boiler. 1955 Sold to Spanish owners. 196? Scrapped.

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PAUL PRY

Built 1847 at Millwall Docks and Eng. Works, Millwall. Wooden Paddle Tug, clench built. L80'. B15'6''. D?. 83grt. 39nrt. Acquired 1847. Disposed 1866.

1847 Delivered to Watkins. 1858 New boilers and patent paddles fitted. 1865 Repairs £408. 1866 Sold to Hockley, Gill and Co. (Commercial Towing Co.) for £500.

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PERSIA (1)

Photo B. Hunt Colln.

Built 1902 by Cochrane and Sons, Selby. YN293. Steel Screw Tug. L94'. B19.6'. D11.0'. 146grt. 9nrt. 450ihp 99nhp 3cylTE steam engine by J Stewart and Son, Blackwall. Acquired 1902. Lost 1908.

1902 Delivered to Watkins. 1906 Sunk by screw of P and O liner Marmora. Salved and repaired. 1907 New high pressure cylinder. 9-12-1907 Towed collision damaged barque Forfarshire Folkestone to London. 4-1908 Sunk by SS Hugenot near Sunk light ship.

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PERSIA (2)

Photo B. Hunt Colln.

Built 1932 by Cochrane and Sons, Selby. YN1106. Steel Screw Tug. L95'. B24.1'. D11.2'. 165grt. 750ihp 3cylTE 15.5"x25"x40" 27" stroke 180psi steam engine by Earles, Hull. Acquired 1937. Disposed 1967. Scrapped 1967. Official No. 162684. Call sign MLNF.

1932 Built as Dongara for Gravesend United Tug Co. 1937 Acquired by Watkins. 1938 renamed Persia. 29-5-1940 Towed sailing barges Glenway and Lark laden with food and ammunition to Dunkirk from Dover under Master A Aldrich. 30-5-1940 Returned from Dunkirk with 27 soldiers. 1-6-1940 Towed destroyer Ivanhoe from Dunkirk to Dover. 9-4-1941 Gutted by fire when Shell tanker Lunula exploded a mine at Thames Haven Refinery, covering tug tanker and jetty in blazing oil. Over 60 lives lost in the incident including the whole crew of the tug. 1943 Returned to service after overhaul at Ramsgate. 1946 Renamed Muria. 1-2-1950 Transferred to Ship Towage [London] Ltd. 11-4-1967 Scrapped by Scrappingco SA, Antwerp.

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PILOT

Built 1858 at South Shields. Wooden Paddle Tug, clench built. 71grt. 30ihp steam engine. Acquired 1875. Disposed 1883. Scrapped 1883. ON27228?

1-1875 Acquired by Watkins. 1864 New engines and boilers. 1875 Modernised £1900

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PUNCH [1]

Built 1846. Acquired 1846. Disposed 1851?

Sold to Constantinople owners. 13-9-1851 Reported by Lloyds leaving Malta for Constantinople.

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PUNCH [2]

Built 1854 by Money Wigram, Blackwall. Iron Paddle Tug. D6'6''. 115grt. 60hp grasshopper disconnecting engine by Stewart ex Lord Warden. Bunkers 30 tons. Acquired 1854. Disposed 1895. Scrapped 1911. ON12756.

1854 Delivered to Watkins. 1857 Chartered to Victoria Dock Co. 1858 Lengthened and modernised. 11-3-1861 Reported arrived Gravesend from Havre. 1868 New boilers and lengthened again? 1886 New steel boilers, new engine and hull repairs, £2500. 11-1895 Sold to J R Thompson, North Shields for £1600. 10-1911 Sunk in collision off Shields, salved but scrapped.

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RACIA [1]

Model and Photo by George Boyd.

Built 1894 by L Smit and Zoon, Kinderdijk, Holland. YN578. Steel Screw Tug. L149.2'. B28.3'. D13.6'. 388grt. 165nhp 1200ihp 3cylTE steam engine by De Schelde Vlissingen. Twin funnels fore and aft. Acquired 1915. Disposed 1916. Scrapped 22-3-1983. ON139116.

4-1895 Delivered to L Smit and Co., Alblasserdam, Holland. Named Oceaan. 1915 Acquired by Watkins, renamed Racia. 1916 Purchased by Admiralty. 1920 Acquired by Crichton, Thompson and Co., London. 1922 Owners Kyle Transport Co., Liverpool. 1924 Acquired by W H Ackermans and H van Haaren, Gorinchem, Holland. 1925 Acquired by SA de Dragage, Dechorage et Transports, Port de Bouc, France. 1925 Acquired by E Benezeth et Matriques, Port de Bouc. 1930 Owners G Viglienoni, Genoa, Italy. 1932 Declassed from sea going status. 1943 Rebuilt as tanker, 598grt, reengined with Deutz 8cyl diesel. 1946 Owners Carlo Cameli, Genoa, renamed Portovechio. 1955 Owner Ottavio Novella, Genoa, renamed Montegualdone, reengined with 6cyl Fiat diesel. 1962 Acquired by CIANE Compagnia de Navigazione, Syracuse, Italy, renamed Conus Bunker. 196? Owner Ottavio Novella, Genoa. 197? Owner Ciane-Anapo, Comp. di Nav. e Bunkeraggia, Genoa. 22-3-1983 Arrived at La Spezia for demolition by Cantieri Naval del Golfo.

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RACIA (2)

Photo A. Hughes colln.

Built 1930 by Cochrane and Sons, Selby. Steel Screw Tug. L95'. B24.1'. D11.2'. 163grt. 750ihp 3cylTE 15.5"x25"x40" 27" stroke 180psi steam engine by Earles, Hull. Acquired 1937. Disposed 1967. Scrapped 1967. Official No. 162492. Call sign MDLX

1930 Built as Dilwara for Gravesend United Tug Co. 1935 Renamed Dendera. 6-1937 Acquired by Watkins. 6-1938 Renamed Racia. 1939 Transferred to River Clyde under RN control. 31-5-1940 Under Master C Addison towed 12 ships lifeboats to Dunkirk. 3-6-1940 To Dunkirk again and returned with 423 troops on board. 1945 Returned to Watkins. 1-2-1950 Transferred to Ship Towage [London] Ltd. 1967 Sold to Ven Den Bossche and Co., Belgium. 8-1967 Scrapped at Boom. The last coal burning tug in the Ship Towage fleet

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