TWINKLING STAR KY347

MERCHANT VENTURER M49

 

As TWINKLING STAR

John Stevenson Collection

Official No:  140845    Port Number and Year:  18th in Peterhead,1920 (PD ? )

                                                                               1st in Kirkaldy,1932 (KY347)

                                                                               3rd in Milford, 1956

Description: Admiralty Steel Drifter; steam screw, coal burning. Ketch rigged: mizzen.

Crew: 10 men

Registered in Milford: 10 May 1956

Built: 1920, by Browns Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Co., Hull

Tonnage: 95.24 grt 40.16 net.

Length / breadth / depth (feet):  86.2 / 18.5 / 9.2

Engine: T 3-Cyl. 42.4  nhp. 9.5 kts. Engine by Pollitz & Wigzell, Sowerby Bridge; boiler by Clayton Sons & Co., Leeds

Owners:

 

Renamed TWINKLING STAR PD ?

1920: Owner unknown

 

As  KY347

1932: Adam Steam Fishing Co., Kirkaldy

 

Mar 1949: A. C. Mitchell Bros., Docks, Milford

 

Renamed MERCHANT VENTURER M49

10 May 1956: Merchants (Milford Haven), Docks, Milford

Manager: Frederick Walter Goffin, 93 Observatory Ave., Hakin

 

Landed at Milford: As TWINKLING STAR: 8 Mar 1949 - 27 May 1955

As MERCHANT VENTURER: 22 Jun 1956 - 19 Apr 1959

Skippers:

Notes: 16 Jul 1920: Completed as Admiralty steel drifter CHIMERA (Admy.no. 4146).

21 Sep1920: Sold to Fishery Board of Scotland, and renamed J. R. MITCHELL

Sep 1939: Requisitioned as TWINKLING STAR and converted to a boom defence vessel

Oct 1945: Returned to owners.

Cert. Cancelled & Milford Registry Closed: 23 Feb 1960.  Vessel broken up at Newport.

Accidents and Incidents

From the West Wales Guardian of Friday 6th January 1956:

 

    Within the next three weeks two more tied-up trawlers will be at sea again.  They are the Merchants Ltd. vessels Genius and Twinkling Star, and both are now undergoing a refit by the Dry Dock Company.  Through the good offices of the Milford Docks Company, capital has been found to revive the company, and it is hoped that these two sailings will be a milestone on the way to more important development.

 

 

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From the West Wales Guardian of Friday 22nd August 1958:

 

    FELL INTO DOCK

PROMPT MILFORD RESCUE

 

    Prompt action by a member of the crew of a Milford trawler probably saved the life of a fisherman who fell into Milford Docks last Thursday night.

    At about 9.30 Deckhand James Bowie, of the trawler Dicketta, was trying to get aboard what he thought was his ship alongside the "coaling" wall.

    His boat had been moved, however, and the ship he was trying to board was the Merchant Venturer, which is similar in appearance.

    Unluckily he plunged some distance into the dark waters of the dock.

    Luckily Mr. R. H. Wilson, trimmer on the Merchant Venturer, heard his cry and the splash and rushed on deck.  He was able to get Mr. Bowie aboard and made him comfortable for the night.

    Mr. Bowie was little the worse for his immersion.  Fortunately he did not strike the side of the ship in falling.

   

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From the West Wales Guardian of Friday 19th January 1960:

 

    Three Milford trawlers left this week for the breaker's yard.  Last Friday the Cleopatra (Westward) left for breaking up at Cork, in charge of Skipper Tom Salter.  On Tuesday the Milford King (Milford Fisheries) was taken by Skipper Reggie High to Newport, and on Wednesday the Merchant Venturer (Merchants Ltd.) left in charge of Skipper Tom Bartlett on her way to Newport.

 

 

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