Registration number 615
Status National Historic Fleet
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Details

Function Service Vessel
Subfunction Pilot Vessel
Location Swansea
Vessel type Pilot Cutter
Current use Museum based
Available to hire Yes
Available for excursions No
Info required Yes
Web address www.swansea.gov.uk

Construction

Builder Bowden, J, Porthleven
Built in 1909
Hull material Wood
Rig Gaff Cutter
Number of decks 1
Number of masts 1
Propulsion Sail
Number of engines 1
Primary engine type Inboard
Boiler type None
Boilermaker None

Dimensions

Breadth: Beam
13.61 feet (4.15m)
Depth
8.59 feet (2.62m)
Length: Overall
55.97 feet (17.07m)
Tonnage: Gross
35.00

History

OLGA was built by John Bowden of Porthleven, Cornwall, in 1909, and given the cutter No 12, and served as a pilot cutter out of Barry until 1917. She was equipped with Appledore roller reefing gear which enabled the crew of two to reduce sail quickly and easily.

Her first owner was Henry Charles Edmunds, of Newport, who named her after his grand daughter, Olga Lilly Edmunds. Henry Edmunds was a double-licence pilot for Barry and Newport, and the boat was numbered 23. She was then sold to a Barry pilot in 1911.

In 1917 OLGA was sold to a Swansea owner and registered as a fishing vessel for a year in 1918. She was then sold to become a private yacht, remaining so under a variety of owners until 1984.

 In 1927 OLGA was registered at Ramsey, Isle of Man, owned by Charles Martin, a retired brewer of Hightown, near Liverpool, and by this time she had a Bergius engine. In 1935 she was sold to William Nicolson of Langbourne, who resold her in the following year to Herbert Ferdinando, of London. At this time she had a Ford petrol engine. In 1947 Ferdinando sold OLGA to Lt Col Patrick Phibbs, of the Royal Marine Barracks, Plymouth, and she remained in his ownership until 1975 when sold to Roger Robinson, of Brockenhurst, Hampshire.

In 1984 OLGA was purchased by Swansea City Council for display at the Swansea Maritime Museum. She was refitted in 1998 and 2004. In 2007 – 2008 restoration, aided by £50,000 from the Heritage Lottery Fund, was undertaken by T Nielsen & Co, at Gloucester. The work included a new deck and some new deck beams. A new suit of sails was also purchased. On 24 July 2008 she sailed back to Swansea, to berth at the Swansea Museum’s floating exhibits pontoon. Seagoing, from spring 2010 she has been used with youth and community groups, including RYA training.

In February 2011 a grant of £36,000 was obtained for a new engine, replacing an elderly Perkins, in order to improve the safety and reliability of the vessel. This work was carried out at Gloucester in 2010-11 by T Nielsen & Co, who also completely refitted the cutter’s interior in grained finish pine with deep red cushions, creating a splendid appearance. There are six berths in the forward cabin, together with a wood-burning stove and galley stove, and four berths in the saloon. The aft accommodation includes the skipper’s berth, a chartroom and toilet.

OLGA is now owned by the Swansea Museum and it was reported in February 2019 that she's seaworthy again. As of July 2019, OLGA is under an innovative five-year partnership agreement that sees the historic vessel loaned to Sailing Tectona CIC.

Although this vessel is on the National Historic Fleet, we are currently lacking information on this particular vessel. If you have any information on this vessel past or present, please contact us.

Key dates

  • 1909

    Built by J. Bowden of Porthleven for Henry Edmunds of Newport

  • 1909-1917

    Worked as a pilot cutter out of Barry

  • 1918

    Sold to Swansea and registered as a fishing vessel for a year before being bought for use as a private yacht 

  • 1927

    Bought by Charles Henry Martin and registered in Ramsey, Isle of Man

  • 1935

    Bought by William Reginald Nicholson

  • 1936

    Sold to Herbert Rene Ferdenando

  • 1937

    Sold to Patrick William O’Hara Philby

  • 1975

    Sold to Roger Lionel Robinson

  • 1984

    Purchased by Swansea City Council

  • 2009

    Work to deck and beams funded by a Heritage Lottery grant

  • 2010-2011

    Entered Nielsen’s yard, Gloucester for major refit

Grants

  • 2009-2010

    A grant was awarded to the museum for £20,000 by the PRISM Fund

  • 2007-2008

    The Heritage Lottery Fund awarded £50,00 for a communtiy project to restore and develop an education programme

Sources

Finch, Roger, Sailing Craft of the British Isles, William Collins & Son Ltd, 1976
Stuckey, Peter, The Sailing Pilots of the Bristol Channel, David and Charles, 1977
Classic Boat: The final few, June 1999
Classic Boat: Classic Boat Restoration of the Year Awards, January 2012

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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