Seagull II | National Historic Ships

Registration number 832

Status National Historic Fleet

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SEAGULL II - at Free Trade Wharf, London, 5 December 1998. Bow view looking aft.

SEAGULL - at Free Trade Wharf, London, 5 December 1998. Stern view.

SEAGULL II - at Free Trade Wharf, London, on 5 December 1998. Starboard bow.

Details

Function Cargo Vessel

Subfunction Barge

Location Gillingham

Vessel type Spritsail Barge

Current use None

Available to hire No

Available for excursions No

Construction

Builder Gill & Sons, Rochester

Built in 1901

Hull material Wood

Rig Spritsail

Number of decks 1

Number of masts 1

Propulsion Sail

Primary engine type None

Boiler type None

Boilermaker None

Dimensions

Breadth: Beam

13.08 feet (3.99m)

Depth

4.79 feet (1.46m)

Length: Overall

43.18 feet (13.17m)

History

SEAGULL II, Thames barge, was built in 1901 by Gill & Sons, Rochester, for the War Department. She is half the size of normal craft of her type and her purpose was to carry ordnance and stores in Pembroke dockyard. She did this until 1930 when she was sold and became a private yacht back in the Thames Estuary before becoming an architectural feature on Free Trade Wharf Wapping in 1988. Sold in 1999 for restoration at Gillingham to her current owner, this was estimated to be continuing until 2010. In 2008, she moved to the dry dock at The Medway Cruising Club to undergo a major rebuild, during which everything was being replaced except the flat bottom. She came out of the dry dock in 2014 and her rebuild was completed in 2021.

Key dates

1901
Built by Gill & Sons, Rochester, for the War Department
1901-30
Carried ordinance and stores in Pembroke Dockyard
1930
Sold to Gil Winfield to become a private yacht
1959-60
Sailed to the Mediterranean via Paris and French canals
1988
Became an architectural feature on Free Trade Wharf, Wapping
1999
Sold to private owner for restoration at Gillingham
2008
Moved to the dry dock at The Medway Cruising Club for a major rebuild
2014
'Re-launched' from dry dock to a mud birth for continued fitting out
2021
Re-build completed.

Sources

Old Gaffer's Association Member's Handbook and Boat Archive, 1993
World Ship Society British Armed Forces Small Craft Historical Society, Survivors Register, 1998