Name Vigilance

1.      What is the vessel’s ability to demonstrate history in her physical fabric?

Evidence for designs, functions, techniques, processes, styles, customs and habits or uses and associations in relation to events and people.  How early, intact or rare these features are may impact on significance.

As with all vessels of her type, Vigilance’s design was subtly different as she was a one-off order.  The most significant variation is the absence of transom stern, with her elliptical counter based on those of the larger Brixham fruit schooners built in the same yard.  Most of her frames are original, as is her aft cabin (used as the crew’s living accommodation) which includes the bunks, panelling, lockers, horn timbers and frames in the way of the mizzen mast. All of the keel from forefoot through to rudder skeg is original and was encapsulated in a steel box in 1998 to give the vessel a strengthened “spine”. The masts, bowsprit and sail plan are also original according to the drawings of Vigilance’s sister ship Valerian, built at the same yard in 1923.  Other early features include: guides and rails, the ship’s bell, the capstan, compass, derrick (used as a crane to haul catch on deck), the rudder, hatches and leg joints.   Her hull form remains as built, with the exception of a drop in the sheer of the counter stern that has developed over time and is due to be addressed as part of future conservation work. 

Vigilance has undergone a variety of uses since ceasing fishing in the 1930s which have been reflected in her fabric.  A ‘doghouse’ has been fitted on deck, a rigid framed ‘cradle’ now houses the mainsail boom, a steering wheel has replaced the original tiller and internally a galley, living area, bunks and heads have been fitted in what was previously the fish hold.  A steam winch was added early in her working life which is now powered by a generator.  A nominal petrol/paraffin auxiliary wing engine was installed in the 1950s.  Conservation work was carried out during the 1950s-60s which included renewal of some frames in oak and the topsides were re-planked (with mahogany and Malayan keruin) upwards from seven strakes above the keel. Where new planks were necessary below the waterline these were of larch.  The lower sections of both masts were destroyed by fire in the 1950s and a landing light post from an aerodrome was acquired and scarfed to make new sections.  In 2015, further repairs were carried out to the starboard side using like-for-like materials.

2.      What are the vessel’s associational links for which there is no physical evidence?         

Associations with people or places.  Off-ship research.

Vigilance has strong local connections to Brixham and the Torbay area, being the last Brixham sailing trawler launched from Upham’s Yard, and she still retains links today with descendants of the families which built and owned her.  During her fishing career, she was noted for winning the King George VI Cup twice which was a considerable achievement.  In the Second World War, Vigilance was requisitioned by the Admiralty and used as a barrage balloon- mooring vessel in the outer harbour at Brixham in order to protect naval shipping and those preparing the D Day invasion fleet from enemy aerial attack.  Vigilance’s history has been well researched and is documented in a publication printed in 2010.  Log books, crew lists, newspaper articles, registration documents and photographs all survive and comprise her archive.  She has been featured in a number of short films and television programmes and her story is also covered in a special documentary produced by Brixham Community College.  Vigilance is supported today by a group of 80 volunteers and is a recognised part of the tourism industry within the town.  She has been recorded on the National Register of Historic Vessels since 2013 and is a member of the National Historic Fleet, being a rare survivor of her type and an example of the evolution of Brixham trawler design.

3.      How does the vessel’s shape or form combine and contribute to her function?    

Overall aesthetic impact of the vessel, her lines, material she was built from and her setting.  Does she remain in her working environment?

Vigilance’s sleek lines and tall gaff rigged sails are aesthetically pleasing and reflect a design which stems from the 18th Century, when those seeking a solution to limited fish stocks created a form of vessel suited to deep sea trawling.  Her elliptical counter stern is now the only one left of its kind and gave her better buoyancy aft, thus reducing the probability of being pooped by a following sea. Her long run and skeg at the heel of her keel were designed for power and speed.  Like all Brixham trawlers of this type, her hull is massively constructed to allow for carrying a heavy wooden beam trawl, some 45 feet long with trawl net and gear attached, 2-3 tons weight, along the sea bed, at 2-3 knots. Her large sail area, about 2500 sq feet, was necessary to achieve this speed and her deep draught and wide beamed hull provided a steady work platform in order to be able to trawl in boisterous seas, gale force winds and, furthermore, be fast enough to reach the markets with the catch in prime condition.  Vigilance continues to operate from the Heritage Pontoon in Brixham, only feet away from the site of Upham’s Yard where she was built.

Source: NHS-UK team, 19 February 2019.