Registration number 191
Status Registered
a12admin

Details

Function Cargo Vessel
Subfunction Barge
Location Battersea
Vessel type Spritsail Barge
Current use Ongoing conservation
Available to hire No
Available for excursions No

Construction

Builder Forrestt & Sons Ltd, Wivenhoe
Built in 1898
Hull material Steel
Rig Spritsail
Number of decks 1
Number of masts 2
Propulsion Sail
Number of engines 1
Primary engine type Inboard
Boiler type None
Boilermaker None

Dimensions

Breadth: Beam
18.65 feet (5.69m)
Depth
6.90 feet (2.10m)
Length: Overall
84.36 feet (25.73m)
Tonnage: Gross
95.00
Air Draft
82.02 feet (25.00m)

History

Built 1898 by Forrest & Sons Limited, Wivenhoe, ATRATO is a Thames Sailing Barge with a steel hull. Her current engine is a Kelvin K3 66hp built in 1944. She was first owned by Hughes at Greenwich and then by the London & Rochester Barge Company from 1923 when an auxiliary Hamworthy petrol engine was fitted. In 1944 she was rebuilt as a motor barge and sold to her present owner in 1980. For most of her working life she carried general cargo from the Thames and Medway around the coast. She is currently undergoing restoration to her original specification.

 

Key dates

  • 1898

    Built by Forrest of Wivenhoe

  • 1944

    Conversion to motor barge, Kelvin K3 engine installed

  • 1980

    Sold out of trade, conversion back to sailing barge commenced

Sources

Carr, Frank, Sailing Barges, 1971 
Perks, Richard, Sprts'l: A Portrait of Sailing Barges and Sailormen, Conway Maritime Press, 1975
The Last Berth of the Sailorman, Society for Spritsail Barge Research, 1987
Wood, D G, Barges Sailing Today: Sailing Barge Information Pamplet No: 1, Society for Spritsail Barge Research, 1995
Simper, Robert, Classic Boat: Revival of the Fittest,  pp46-53, October 1999 

Own this vessel?

If you are the owner of this vessel and would like to provide more details or updated information, please contact info@nationalhistoricships.org.uk

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