|
The ''Empire Sandy'' is a tall ship providing chartered tours for the public from Toronto, Canada. She was built as an Englishman/Larch Deep Sea class tugboat for war service by the British Government in 1943.〔Mitchell and Sawyer (1990) p304〕 After the war she was renamed to ''Ashford'' and then ''Chris M'', before reverting to the original name of ''Empire Sandy'' and being converted to a schooner. ==Tugboat history== The ''Empire Sandy'' was one of 1,464 ''Empire'' ships built or acquired for war service by the British Government.〔 Built in England in 1943 as a deep sea tugboat,〔 she was tasked with Royal Navy work and salvaging merchant ships damaged in the Battle of the Atlantic and other naval engagements during the Second World War. She served in the North Atlantic Ocean from Iceland to Sierra Leone, Mediterranean Sea, Indian Ocean and the Bay of Bengal during World War II. The ''Empire Sandy's'' WWII 'Official Log-Books' documenting all her WWII voyages are now available for viewing on www.empiresandy.com click on WWII History . Of notable interest are the complete particulars of the crew, names, addresses, ages, next of kin etc. The oldest is the Master, E Thomas, 63 and the youngest is the Cabin Boy, Kenneth Lewis 15. These are in 'Log Book 014'. Another interesting entry is in TNA-25-5-05-094 describing the storm while towing, with His Majesty’s Rescue Tug ''Hesperia'', AFD24 (Admiralty Floating Drydock 24) off the coast of Libya on February 8, 1945. The tug ''Hesperia'' and AFD24 were both blown ashore and lost. In 1948 she was bare-boat chartered by Risdon Beazley who renamed her ''Ashford'',〔 together with their Bustler class tug ''Twyford'' ''Ashford'' entered the rescue towage market.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Brook House Book - Home Page )〕 The ''Ashford'' is listed, in 'Part of the Acorn Archive - Hearts of Oak' as part of the salvage team attending HMS ''Warspite'' after the ''Warspite'' went aground in 23 April 1947. The ''Ashford'' is incorrectly identified as tug ''Englishman'',〔The tug Englishman was bombed and sunk 21 Jan 1941〕 however all other particulars are of the ''Ashford'' (''Empire Sandy'')〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Hearts of Oak - Mount's Bay Visitors - HMS Warspite )〕 ''Ashford'' was handed back to the Admialty in 1952. She was then sold to a Canadian firm, Great Lakes Paper Company, renamed ''Chris M''〔 (after Chris Michels, a senior employee of Great Lakes Paper) and came to the Canadian Great Lakes where she spent fifteen years towing timber rafts for Lake Superior logging companies. In the early 1970s the aged ship was to be sold for scrap, but the steel hull was still in very good condition and she was bought by Nautical Adventures Co. for a possible conversion. They completely rebuilt the ''Chris M'' as a three masted schooner in the style of the 1880s and she assumed her original name the '' Empire Sandy ''. See http://www.tynetugs.co.uk/empiresandy1943.html for historical pictures. Thanks to David Waller webmaster Tyne Tugs 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Empire Sandy」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
|