SEAGULL M4 / M112

 

Courtesy of Robert Kettle

Official No:    104113  Port Number and Year: 4th in Milford, 1894.

Description:  Steel side / beam trawler; steam screw; coal burner. Ketch rigged: foresail, mainsail and mizzen

Crew: 9 men

Registered at Milford: 26 Sep 1894

Built: Castle Pill Steel Works, Milford (T.R. Oswald),1894.  (Yard no. 267)

Tonnage: 146.65 gross 52.23 net

Length / breadth / depth (feet):  104 / 21.1 / 9.95

Engine: C-2Cyl, 50 rhp, by Ross & Duncan, Glasgow.

Owners:   26 Sep 1894:  Castle Steam Trawlers (Thomas Ridley Oswald), Castle Hall, Castle Pill. Walter Henry Smith, 'Belize House', Goole   As SEAGULL RE100 13 Jun 1905: G. Einarsson                ) Benedikt Stefansson     ) Eyjolfur Ofeigsson        )  Reykjavik, Iceland Bjarnhedinn Jonsson     )

Landed at Milford: 14 Sep 1894 - 25 Aug 1904

Skippers: William Saunders cert 698, age 32, born Newport, Yorks.; residing 5 Milton Tce., Pill, Milford; signed on 18 Sep 1894; 1 Jul 1895; 1 Jan, 2 Jul 1896 Harry Glansford 1660, 30, Hull; 1 Jan, 6 Jun 1908 J. Clark 612, 42, Grimsby; 20 Jun, 12 Sep, 14 Nov 1898 George Masters 5545, 27, London; Greville Rd., Milford; 14 Nov 1898; 8 Jan, 4 Jul 1900 William Spurgeon 3707, 38, Grimsby; 20 Aug 1900 John Morris 2152, 34, Rye; 18 Nov 1900 A.G. Kippin 5204, 30, Norwich; 7 Dec 1900; 7 Jan, 15 Jul 1901; 2 Jan 1902, 12 May 1904 Ernest Walker 3445, 38, Brighton; 3 Jun 1902 John Henry Dove 2287, 36, Hull; Charles St., Milford; 31 Jul 1902 C. Challis 238, 44, Hull; 5 Nov 1902 J. Nicholls 3975, 42, Plymouth; St. Peter's Rd., Milford; 29 Dec 1902; 1 Jan, 1 Apr 1903 James S. Gray 996, 49, Woodbridge; Great Eastern Hotel, Point St., Hakin; 10 Jul 1903 H. Hills 3190, 32, Ramsgate; 1 Oct 1903 H. Rayworth 3687, 34, Leeds; 7 Nov 1903 Samuel Richards 6941, 23, Neath; 4 Dec 1903 William Milthorpe Dunnil 1074, 46, Bath; 22 Apr 1904 R. Hooper 6686, 44, Plymouth; 4 May 1904.

Notes: As can be seen in the photograph, she appears to have been registered as M4, although that number was still allocated to the smack CHARLES PEARCE (1869 - 1899).  This may have been recognised as a mistake, and the number M112 was then allocated.

Cert. Cancelled & Milford Registry Closed: 13 Jun 1905  Vessel sold to Icelandic owners.

 Accidents and Incidents:

Log book entries:

 

07.10.1898.

Proceeding out of Milford Docks for the fishing grounds when we collided with the team trawler Exmouth.  Damaged her starboard quarter, and Sea Gull's stern, owing to error of judgment of space of canting vessel.

    J. Clarke. (Skipper).

 

20.04.1903.

5 miles from Trevose Head.

Henry James Nichols, age 27, Mate; British, born in Plymouth, residing in Milford.

Cut head, caused by warp slipping out of block and striking the mate's head against rail of ship.

    J.Nichols.  (Skipper)

 

03.11.1903.

Milford Docks.

Damage to the General Roberts' stern.  General Roberts coming astern without giving warning by whistle, so we could not get astern.

    H. Rayworth. (Skipper).

 

31.12.1903.

I very much regret that the men who were Skippers at the time carried the following men for a trip or two before signing them on the log.  I will take steps to prevent this occurring in future.

Names of the men referred to are as follows:

C. Taylor. Cook, July 10th.

I. Hare. Third Hand, October 13th.

A. Lecoute. Cook, December 23rd.

 

Yours truly,

T. R. Oswald (Owner).

_______________________________

 

Birgir Thorisson of Iceland has kindly provided the following information:

 

In 1904, optimism was high in Iceland, which had just been granted home rule. Four men in Reykjavik, two shopkeepers (Benedikt Stefansson and Eyjolfur Ofeigsson), a blacksmith (Bjarnhedinn Jonsson), and a mason (Gudmundur Einarsson), decided to buy a trawler, despite their limited means. They contracted with a fisherman named Jon Bach, who had four years' experience as a deckhand on Hull trawlers, to go to Britain and buy a ship. She arrived in Reykjavik in June 1905 and was delivered to the owners, at the cost of 32.000 kronur (1750 pounds). Jon Bach managed to get his friend and compatriot Arni Eyjolfsson (Byron), who had become a skipper in England, to become her skipper. The ship was named SEAGULL RE 100, but its fishing career was disastrous, (One comment in the press from 1906 was; "It was lying in the harbour with a machine breakdown as usual"). Arni Byron quickly returned to England.
The owners were short of capital, and brought in a wealthy farmer, Thorvaldur Björnsson, who had made money mainly in selling live animals to Britain, (horses for coalmines, and sheep for food). He had in old age sold his farm and moved to Reykjavik and intended to make money in fishing. Thorvaldur soon took over the ship, although G. Einarsson remained in official registers as owners for decades. The ship was painted red, and thus soon was nicknamed (and derided) as Fjósa-rauður (cowshed-red) because of its farmer owner. Both the original buyers and Thorvaldur Bjornsson went bankrupt in 1907. The ship was sold at auction twice in 1907, and in December that year, it was sent on transport mission to the fishing station Vestmannaeyjar. While in harbour, the ship dragged the anchor, and went aground. It was refloated and towed to Hafnarfjordur and broken up there. However the ship wasn´t removed from the register for decades.
The problem with the ship was the engine. For some reason, it was old, obsolete, and presumably reused. I see in my notes that the double-expansion engine was made in 1874.

 

 

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