SB Xylonite
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2020}}
| {{Infobox ship begin
|infobox caption= |display title= SB Xylonite }} {{Infobox ship image |Ship image=File:SB Xylonite 3822.jpg |Ship caption= Xylonite at Maldon, 2017 }} {{Infobox ship career |Hide header= |Ship country=United Kingdom |Ship flag={{Shipboxflag|United Kingdom|civil}} |Ship name=*Proposed name BX (1926-26)
|Ship owner=*F W Horlock, Mistley |Ship builder=Mistley Shipping Company{{cite web|title=Specifications - XYLONITE|url=http://xylonite.co.uk/information/specifications/|website=XYLONITE|access-date=22 March 2018}} |original cost= |Ship laid down= |Ship launched=1926 |Ship identification=
|Ship fate= |Ship status=Sailing |Ship notes= }} {{Infobox ship characteristics |Hide header= |Header caption= |Ship class=Thames barge |Ship tonnage={{GRT|68}} |Ship length={{convert|86.95|ft|m|2}} |Ship beam={{convert|18.49|ft|m|2}} |Ship draught={{convert|2.98|ft|m|2}} |Ship propulsion=Sails (Gardner 85hp 5 cylinder (5LW) aux.) |Ship sail plan=Spritsail with bowsprit |Ship notes= * Website: [http://www.sbxylonite.co.uk] }} |
Xylonite is one of seven Thames barges built between 1925 and 1930 for F W Horlock, Mistley. She was sold by the Horlocks in 1958 and cut down to a motor barge in 1958. Xylonite was re-rigged in the 1970s by Tim Eliff and replated on the 1980s. She has been used for sail training since 1983.
Description
Xylonite is {{convert|86.95|ft|m|2}} long, with a beam of {{convert|18.49|ft|m|2}} and a draught of {{convert|2.98|ft|m|2}}. She is assessed at {{GRT|68}}. She is built of steel, and while lacking the romance of a wooden ship, she has a greater cargo carrying capacity, and is lighter and cheaper to operate.
The name Xylonite derives from the original 1869 name for celluloid.
History
In 1924 the Horlocks commissioned seven new steel Thames barges, of which Xylonite was the third. Six of these ‘seven sisters’ are still afloat: Blue Mermaid was lost to a mine in World War 2. {{sfn|Benham|1986|p=99}} They were built at Mistley.
| class=wikitable
|+The Horlocks steel barges- the seven sisters !Name !!Active !!Built !!Tons !!Official no. !!Current owner | |||||
| |Repertor | Yes | 1924 | 69 | 145404 | David Pollock |
| |Portlight | No | 1925 | 68 | 145405 | Landbreach Ltd |
| |Xylonite | Yes | 1926 | 68 | 145408 | Chris Palmer |
| Reminder | Yes | 1929 | 79 | 161033 | Topsail Charters Ltd |
| |Adieu | Yes | 1929 | 79 | 161035 | Iolo Brooks |
| |Blue Mermaid | No | 1930 | 79 | 161038 | (destroyed) |
| |Resourceful | No | 1930 | 77 | 161039 | I & R Stubbs |
| Ref{{cite web|last1=Kent|first1=Tim|title=Xylonite and her sisters - XYLONITE|url=http://xylonite.co.uk/information/xylonite-and-her-sisters/|website=XYLONITE|access-date=22 March 2018}} Ref: | As of 2016 |
|---|
Xylonite was built in 1926 and delivered to Frederick William Horlock,(F.W. Horlock) who owned her for the first ten years. On 30 October 1936 Xylonite was sold to Marcus Frederick Horlock and Walter Richard Horlock. And on 31 October 1938 she was registered to M.F. Horlock and Company Ltd. Horlocks barges sailed under a blue burgee blazoned with a white maltese cross.{{Cite web|url=http://www.nationalhistoricships.org.uk/register/236/xylonite|title = Name Xylonite | National Historic Ships}}{{sfn|Benham|1986|pp=96, 99, 100}}{{cite web|title=Timeline - XYLONITE|url=http://xylonite.co.uk/gallery/timeline/|website=XYLONITE|access-date=23 March 2018}}
She was sold in August 1958 to The Greenhithe Lighterage Company Ltd and the Tester family. She was cut down to a motor barge, with all rigging removed and a new wheelhouse. The rear hold was modified to take a diesel engine. She carried cargo until June 1977.
From 1977 to 1984 she was owned by Tim and Brigid Eliff. They restored her to sail and rerigged her and she was run as a charter barge from the alongside the Prospect of Whitby pub in Wapping. She was chartered to Hoseasons, and carried purple coloured Duradon sails. The topmast was made from steel and would often buckle.
For the next twenty-two years, from 1984 to 2007 she was run by the Cirdan Trust, who used her to give sailing experiences to underprivileged children. This trust was run by Bill Broad, an Anglican churchman, his wife Daphne and John Corder Belfrage. The barge skipper Rebecca Polden and her partner bought her next, and did some serious restoration work and sold her on in summer 2011. They used her as a houseboat at Maylandsea.
Tim Kent, a London-based photographer operated her between 2011 and 2016 on the Medway and the London River.
She is currently owned by Chris Palmer and based in Pin Mill
The United Kingdom Official Number was 145408
A replica of the Blue Mermaid is being constructed, and she was launched 28 May 2016 for the Sea-Change Sailing Trust.{{cite web|title=Thames Barge - C Toms & Son Ltd|url=http://www.ctomsandson.co.uk/current-projects/blue-mermaid-thames-barge/|website=C Toms & Son Ltd|access-date=22 March 2018}}{{cite web|title=C Toms & Son|url=https://www.facebook.com/pg/ctomsandson/photos/?tab=album&album_id=1636187963313765|website=www.facebook.com|access-date=22 March 2018|language=en}} She will operate out of the Heybridge Basin.
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Media
References
=Citations=
{{reflist}}
=Bibliography=
- {{cite book |last1=Benham|first1=Hervey|last2=Kershaw|first2=Philip|last3=Finch|first3=Roger|title=Down tops'l : the story of the East Coast sailing-barges|date=1986|publisher=Harrap|location=London|isbn=0-245-54487-9|edition=3rd|ref={{sfnRef|Benham|1986}} }}
- {{cite book|last1=Carr|first1=Frank|title=Sailing Barges|date=1951|publisher=Peter Davies Ltd|edition=Revised}}
- {{cite book|last = March|first = Edgar|title = "Spritsail barges of Thames and Medway"|publisher = Percival Marshal| location = London| year = 1948}}
External links
- [http://cirdantrust.org/ Cirdan Trust]
- [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bOIrroTGW9o 2013 Medway Match]
{{commonscat|SB Xylonite (ship, 1926)}}
{{Thames barges}}
{{National Historic Ships}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Xylonite, SB}}
Category:Individual sailing vessels
Category:Ships built in Mistley
Category:Transport on the River Thames