Castlerock | National Historic Ships

Registration number 3859

Status Registered

luis.vicente

Details

Function Naval & Military Vessel

Subfunction Launch

Location Bristol

Vessel type Cruiser

Current use Private use

Available to hire No

Available for excursions No

Construction

Builder United States Coast Guard Yard, Baltimore

Built in 1942

Hull material Wood

Rig None

Number of decks 1

Propulsion Motor

Number of engines 1

Primary engine type Diesel

Boiler type None

Boilermaker None

Dimensions

Breadth: Beam

12.00 feet (3.66m)

Depth

4.00 feet (1.22m)

Air Draft

8.00 feet (2.44m)

Length: Overall

40.00 feet (12.19m)

Tonnage: Gross

10.00

History

CASTLEROCK was originally built in the US Coast Guard Yard in Baltimore, in 1942. She was handed over to the British Navy at some point during WW2, possibly as part of the Lend-Lease Agreement. She was used by the Navy, and it is thought that at some point she was used as a lifeboat judging from the lifting points and buoyancy tanks that were once fitted to her. Overall, exact details on her service are unclear.

After the war she was loaned to the Sea Cadets for training purposes. In 1960, at which point CASTLEROCK was in Bath, she was sold out of service by the Admiralty. She remained in private hands from that point onwards, being located on the River Exe and in Bristol where she has been moored since at least the 2010s. Much of her teak hull remains intact and original, but her decking and wheelhouse have been restored and altered over the years. Her first recorded 4 cylinder 40hp Atlantic engine has been replaced at least twice, and her current engine is a six cylinder Perkins diesel of unknown model, dating from the 1940s-50s.