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Waterwitch

Build
Waterwitch was built by Thomas Meadus, the largest shipbuilder in Poole in the latter part of the 19th century. She was designed as an ocean-trading brig. Her frames, deck and hold beams and the stem and sternpost were all of English oak; the oral tradition of the Ash family (her first owners) was that some of this oak was bought from the naval dockyard at Portsmouth as surplus stock. The keel was English and American elm. She was planked with pitch pine and English elm below the waterline and pitch pine above. The minimum planking thickness was 3+1/2 in, rising to 4+1/2 in at the wales. The fastenings in the lower part of the hull were wooden tree-nails and yellow metal bolts.

Building started in the summer of 1870 and was finished in January 1872. (Lloyd's Register give her year of build as 1871.) She was 112 feet from stem to sternpost, 25.8 feet maximum beam, with a depth of hold of 12.8 feet. Her tonnage calculated at 206.26 GRT and 194.25 NRT. Whilst her build quality was high, her hull's after-body showed some bad kinks in the buttock lines - this lack of fairness in the hull shape arises from not using buttock lines when setting out the design in the mould loft.

Rig
Waterwitch was rigged as a brig when first built. She had double topsails, single topgallants and royals on both masts. She also has studding sails for use in lighter weather. In 1884 she was re-rigged as a barquentine. This was done by moving the yards from the mainmast to the foremast and getting new masts to step as main and mizzen. The new rig needed less crew and had lower maintenance cost. While the change of rig was being carried out,Waterwitch made one or two voyages without the mizzen. This resulted in her being incorrectly listed in Lloyd's Register as a brigantine.

Early years
Waterwitch spent the first 16 months of her working life carrying coal - mostly from Sunderland or Seaham Harbour to Cowes or Portsmouth. In June 1873 she took a cargo of wheat from Montreal to Galway, and then returned to home trade. Most of her work was between the coal ports of the North East and Portsmouth. Under Captain Harry Gardiner (from 1885) she gained a reputation for making very regular trips, to the extent that she was compared to the steam colliers in the same trade. She was not, as such, an unusually fast vessel, but her power and strength made her capable of being driven hard.

New owners
In 1905 Waterwitch was sold on the winding up of the Ash family firm, being bought by Lt. Colonel A.E.Flowers. She continued in the coal trade as before. In 1910 she was sold again - to Mr W.J.D. Mutton of Fowey for use in the general home trade, with his brother and business partner Thomas Mutton as captain. Cargoes often included china clay from Cornwall to the Mersea. This work continued through the First World War, and Waterwitch had one narrow escape from a torpedo fired from a German submarine near Liverpool - it was fired from too great a range and missed. (Many other similar coasting sailing vessels did not survive these wartime encounters. ) Her career was nearly finished in 1917 by more ordinary maritime hazards. Carrying coal from the Mersea to Fowey, she encountered a south-easterly gale on passing Longships lighthouse and sought shelter by anchoring in Mullion Roads in the shelter of land to the northwest of the Lizard. Both anchor cables parted in the heavy swell, and she was forced to run for shelter in Newlyn. There was 12 feet in the harbour entrance. This was not enough for the heavily laden Waterwitch and she struck the bottom hard, tearing off the rudder and 30 feet of her keel. After attempts to salvage her, she ended up sunk and abandoned in the harbour entrance. Eventually she was moved to a berth inside the harbour to clear the entrance. Without the shipping shortage caused by the First World War, no-one would have taken her on to repair and get back into service. She was offered for sale to be broken up. Edward Stephens of Fowey bought her and her cargo and started salvage work. By May 1918, the cargo had been offloaded and sold, the hull patched up and pumped out - and she was towed to Par and put into dry-dock for repair.