Foundation Franklin
{{Short description|Tug of the British Royal Navy}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2016}}
{{Use British English|date=December 2016}}
| {{Infobox ship begin |infobox caption=Foundation Franklin |display title=ital}}
{{Infobox ship image |Ship image=franklin125446t3.jpg |Ship caption=Foundation Franklin before World War II. Two "F"s are clearly visible on the twin funnels. }} {{Infobox ship career |Hide header= |Ship country= United Kingdom |Ship flag= {{shipboxflag|UK|naval}} |Ship name= Frisky |Ship namesake= |Ship ordered= |Ship awarded= |Ship builder= John Lewis and Sons Shipbuilding, Aberdeen |Ship original cost= |Ship yard number=67 |Ship way number= |Ship laid down=1918 |Ship launched=August 1918 |Ship sponsor= |Ship christened= |Ship completed=August 1918 |Ship acquired= |Ship commissioned=1919 |Ship recommissioned= |Ship decommissioned= |Ship maiden voyage= |Ship in service= |Ship out of service= |Ship renamed= |Ship reclassified= |Ship refit= |Ship struck= |Ship reinstated= |Ship homeport= |Ship identification= |Ship motto= |Ship nickname= |Ship honours= |Ship honors= |Ship captured= |Ship fate=Sold for commercial service 1924 |Ship notes= |Ship badge= }} {{Infobox ship career |Hide header= |Ship name= * Frisky (1924–1927)
|Ship namesake= |Ship owner= * Ipland family |Ship operator= |Ship registry=
|Ship route= |Ship acquired=1924 |Ship maiden voyage= |Ship in service=1924 |Ship out of service=1948 |Ship renamed= |Ship reclassified= |Ship refit= |Ship struck= |Ship reinstated= |Ship homeport= |Ship identification= |Ship motto= |Ship nickname= |Ship captured= |Ship fate=Broken up for scrap 14 April 1949 |Ship notes= |Ship badge= }} {{Infobox ship characteristics |Hide header= |Header caption= as built |Ship type= Tugboat |Ship tonnage= {{GRT|613}} |Ship length= {{convert|47.3|m|ftin|abbr=on}} pp |Ship beam= {{convert|9.5|m|ftin|abbr=on}} |Ship height= |Ship draught={{convert|14|ft|m|abbr=on|order=flip|1}} |Ship depth= |Ship power= |Ship propulsion=Triple expansion steam engine, {{convert|1200|hp|abbr=on}} |Ship speed={{convert|15|kn|lk=in}} max |Ship range= |Ship endurance= |Ship crew= |Ship sensors= |Ship notes= }} |
SS Foundation Franklin was a seagoing salvage tug built for the Royal Navy as HMS Frisky in 1918. In 1924, the tugboat was sold and renamed Gustavo Ipland before being acquired in 1930 by Foundation Maritime and renamed Foundation Franklin. The tugboat became famous for many daring salvage operations and rescues between 1930 and 1949. Her many rescues and salvage triumphs were celebrated in Farley Mowat's book The Grey Seas Under. In 1948, the ship was damaged in a hurricane and not considered repairable. The tug was broken up for scrap in 1949 at Halifax, Nova Scotia.
Description
As built, the tugboat measured {{GRT|613|disp=long}}, was {{convert|47.3|m|ftin|abbr=on}} long between perpendiculars with a beam of {{convert|9.5|m|ftin|abbr=on}}.Miramar Ship Index The vessel had a draught of {{convert|14|ft|m|abbr=on|order=flip|1}}.{{citation needed|date=May 2019}} Foundation Franklin was powered by a triple expansion steam engine driving one propeller, rated at {{convert|1200|hp|lk=in}}. The tugboat had a maximum speed of {{convert|15|kn|lk=in}}.{{citation needed|date=May 2019}}
History
Foundation Franklin was built as HMS Frisky by John Lewis and Sons Shipbuilding at their yard in Aberdeen, Scotland, in 1918. Given the yard number 67, Frisky was launched and completed in August 1918. She was designed to move capital ships, and operate in rough weather. The ship was commissioned in early 1919, but the end of World War I removed the need for Frisky by the Royal Navy. She was used to tow warships to Scapa Flow until being laid up. In 1924, the ship was sold and retaining her named, performed towing work on the Rhine River and in the Baltic Sea. Frisky was later purchased by a German project in 1927 intending to tow barges across the Atlantic Ocean to Argentina and renamed SS Gustavo Ipland, but the project fell through. Gustavo Ipland then was laid up until 1930.Mowat, p. 14.
The ship was purchased in January 1930 at Hamburg, Germany by Foundation Maritime representative Captain James Sutherland. Brought to Southampton for further refit and inspection, she was registered under the Canadian Red Ensign and given the name Foundation Franklin. Brought to Foundation Maritime headquarters in Montreal, Quebec, Canada in 1931, the tug was further refitted by Halifax Shipyards for Atlantic salvage service.
After a few salvage jobs based along the Saint Lawrence River, Foundation Franklin established a homeport at Halifax, Nova Scotia for the rest of her career.Mowat, p. 16. One of the most successful and hard-working vessels of her type, Foundation Franklin carried out many remarkable rescue and salvage exploits.{{cite web |url=http://www.hazegray.org/navhist/canada/fm/salvage/ |title=Foundation Maritime: Salvage on the Grey Seas |website=hazegray.org |access-date=18 May 2019}} She continued to operate in the salvage role until 1948, when, during the tow of the vessel Arosa a hurricane damaged the ship beyond economical repair.{{citation needed|date=May 2019}} The ship was broken up for scrap at Halifax which was completed on 4 April 1949.
Her bell, bearing her original Royal Navy name Frisky, was saved from the scrapyard and used at the Foundation Wharf to summon crews to successor rescue tugs when vessels were in distress. The bell has continued to reside at offices beside the company's wharf through successive ownership changes. Today it is owned by Svitzer Canada Limited which continues to operate tugs from Foundation Franklin{{'}}s old wharf. A plaque beside the wharf on the Halifax Waterfront Boardwalk commemorates her many rescues. The Maritime Museum of the Atlantic preserved Foundation Franklin{{'}}s bridge and engine room clocks as well as several models and the tug's heavy salvage tackle. Foundation Franklin was the centrepiece of a special tug exhibit which opened at the museum in 2009 displaying many pieces of her original equipment and her original bell on loan from Svitzer Canada.{{cite press release |url=http://www.gov.ns.ca/news/details.asp?id=20090313007 |title=TUGS! Highlights March Break at the Maritime Museum |publisher=Government of Nova Scotia |date=13 March 2009 |access-date=18 May 2019}}
Citations
{{reflist}}
References
- {{csr|register=MSI|id=1142615|shipname=Frisky|accessdate=18 May 2019}}
- {{cite book |last=Mowat |first=Farley |author-link=Farley Mowat |title=The Grey Seas Under |date=May 1964 }}
External links
- [http://www.hazegray.org/navhist/canada/fm/tugs/ hazegray.org specifications and photographs of Foundation Franklin and sister tugs]
- [https://www.hmdb.org/marker.asp?marker=77598/ plaque location and picture]
Category:Tugboats of the United Kingdom