UNICORN  M139

Official No:  104195   Port Number and Year:      5th in Grimsby, 1895 (GY746)                                                                                    2nd in Inverness, 1907 (INS249)                                                                                   11th in Milford, 1920

Description: Iron; steam screw, coal burning. Drift nets and lines. Ketch rigged: foresail, mainsail, mizzen

Crew:  8 men.

Registered at Milford: 12 Aug 1920

Built: 1895, by Edward Bros., North Shields.  (Yard no. 498)

Tonnage: (1895): 124 grt.  28 net. (1914): 123.72 grt.  45.62 net. (1922): 116 grt.  42 net.

Length / breadth / depth (feet):  90.7  / 20.15 / 10.65

Engine: T-3Cyl. 40 nhp. 196 ihp. 10 kts.  Engine and boiler: North Eastern Marine Engineering Co., Sunderland.

Owners:   As GY746 Mar 1895: Fred. W. MacKrill, Cleethorpes, Lincolnshire. Managing owner.   As INS249 Jan 1907: James Campbell, 11 James St., Lossiemouth. Managing owner.   As M139 12 Aug 1920: Sarah Isabel Hancock, 5 Picton Rd., Hakin.   19 Aug 1920: The Lagos & General Shipping Co., Ltd., 28 Queen Sq., Bristol. _______________________   7 Oct 1920: Francis T. Hare, Mary Tavy, Tavistock, Devon. Managing owner.   By 1922: Hare Steamship Co. Ltd., 38-39 Prudential Bldgs., Plymouth. Manager: Lt.Cdr. Francis T. Hare.

Landed at Milford: (INS249) 5 Jan - 19 Jul 1920. (3 landings.)

Skippers:

Notes:  Jun 1915: Taken up by the Admiralty (No. 2196) as net layer UNICORN. 1 x 3 pdr. 1919: Returned to owners. 7 Oct 1920: Ceased to be used for fishing; converted to cargo ship. 8 Apr 1923: Carrying a cargo of bricks and tiles from Bridgewater to Jersey, sank in heavy seas off Rame Head. No lives lost.

Cert. Cancelled & Milford Registry Closed: 7 Oct 1920. Vessel no longer employed fishing.  [ Newspaper article below and MNL 1923 refer to her continued Milford registration. ]

 

Accidents and Incidents

From The Scotsman of Monday 9th April 1923, p.7:

VESSEL FOUNDERS OFF PLYMOUTH

THREE LIVES LOST

    A converted steam trawler, the Unicorn, of Milford, has foundered in hazy weather off Rame Head, Plymouth, with, it is feared, the loss of three lives.

    A report brought by two watchers from the cliffs caused the Trinity pilots and the Plymouth lifeboat, the latter in tow of a tug, to make a thorough search.  Wreckage was discovered, and subsequently a boat containing the mate and the cook, who stated that the skipper and two men were missing.  The two survivors had got with difficulty into the boat, floating clear of the wreckage.

    A later Plymouth telegram says:― Captain A. G. Bisson, of St. Helier, Jersey; Chief Engineer J. Prettyman, of Plymouth; and Second Engineer W. Herbert, of Plymouth, lost their lives in the foundering of the Unicorn. 

    The mate, C. S. Bisson, of Jersey, brother of the captain, and the cook, L. G. Barnes, of Chatham, were saved.

    The Unicorn was bound from Bridgwater to Jersey, and shipped a lot of water during heavy weather in the Channel yesterday morning, foundering when making for Plymouth.

 

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