Maritime record MDO20214 - Security

An English tug which capsized and foundered some 4 miles ESE of Anvil Point after the tanker she was towing broke tow in a force 8 or 9 SE gale. Built of steel in Sunderland in 1927, she was a steam driven vessel. Her possible remains are charted some 3.25 miles East of this position, and are thus recorded separately as (NRHE) 1521032.

Large sea going tug, foundered due to bad weather whilst towing the tanker Kelletia. Vessel may have been unseaworthy at the time of sinking.

'Capsized and sank while standing by towed vessel which had broken free. Four men lost.' (1, citing 2).

'The Swanage lifeboat THOMAS MARKBY was called out at 6pm in wind conditions SE force 8-9 to this large sea-going tug, on of three towing a large vessel up channel. In the storm she broke from all three tugs, and whilst sanding by her charge, the SECURITY capsized and sank.' (2)

'On route from Falmouth for the Tyne towing the tanker KELLETIA she foundered due to stress of weather when 8 miles SW of St. Catherines and 12.5 miles SE of Anvil Point.' (3, comment TA 2008)

The manner of her loss and some of her history is described most fully by the court of enquiry into her sinking, Source 4. It states that:

The Left Thames for Falmouth on 18th Nov 1946, to assist tow of tanker KALLETIA and took shelter from heave weather in Dover, Newhaven and at Portsmouth. Shortly before she left Gravesend for Falmouth, a stem plate was welded on and a cement box fitted. Whilst at Dover however, she sustained damage to her wood bolting which was not repaired, and despite minor repairs at Falmouth before she finally embarked on her mission to tow the taker, she was not considered 'seaworthy' by the court enquiry into her sinking which took place in 1949. There appear to have been three main factors which may have contributed to her loss; a lack of structural integrity, a recurring mechanical problem, and unsafe practices while at sea.

In 1944, doubling plates had been fitted to wasted side plates when she was returned from Naval service, but wastage of other plates seems to have continued and later that year 'when the crew were engaged in chipping the side inside the crew space, one of the chipping hammers went through the side near but below the water line and below the after side light or scuttle on the starboard side. The plating was washed to the thickness of paper' temporary repairs by plugging were made by the crew and... later... a plate about a foot square was welded on the outside.' (4) In 1946 the vessel had been in a collision which 'had caused damage to her stern..' which allowed water to get into her forepeak. (4) It seems possible that deterioration of other parts of the vessel may have continued, and that the un-repaired leak and several other leaks around bolts and holes in the bilge pump which were later identified and never repaired, made her more susceptible to flooding.

Her steering gear which was original from the time of her build had occasionally jammed, but was not thought to have been a primary consideration in the reason for her loss. (4)

Although 'the final reason' for her sinking was identified as the practice of leaving open the doors while at sea, which enabled water to enter the vessel and to move to the engine room and aft deck. 'Once that started to happen there can have been little chance of any recovery.', and she may not have been very stable to begin with, on account of her narrow beam. (4)

Built: 1904 (4)
Where built: South Shields (4)
Builder: JP Rennoldson & Sons (4)
LBD: 102 X 23.1 X 12 feet as registered (4); 31.1 x 7 x 3.7m (3)
Tonnage: 173.34 underdeck, 188.5 gt, 69.78 register (4); 189 (2)
Propulsion: 3-cylinder triple expansion reciprocating steam engine.(4)
Boiler: 1 made by 1904 JT Eltringham and Company, South Shields (4)
HP: 700 (4)
Additional constr. detail: Forecastle 57ft long x 7ft high (4)
Crew: 9 (2)
Crew lost: 4 Crew: 9 (2)
Ownership details:
1904 - 1906 built as KINGFISHER, ownership until 1906 is not known. (5)
1906 - 1914 - renamed DILIGENCE, owned by Royal Navy (5)
1914 - 1914 - renamed SECURITY, still in RN ownership (5)
1927 - 1939 - sold to The Elliot Steam Tug Company Ltd, London (4) (5)
1939 - 1944 - renamed STOKE 'and chartered to the Government' (4)
1944 - Returned as the STOKE toThe Elliot Steam Tug Company Ltd, London (4)
1946 - Renamed SECURITY by that owner. (4)

The SECURITY was a steel, single deck, single screw steam towing and salvage vessel. She had open floors throughout and had a bar at keel. [She] was built in 1904 by JP Rennoldson & Sons, South Shields; that firm is now out of business.' ' [She] had four watertight bulkheads separating the following compartments: Fore peak, Crew's cabin and chain locker, Cross bunker, Machinery and salvage pump space, After peak, [and] vertical sliding watertight doors in the bulkhead between the stokehead and cross bunker.' (4)

Date of loss qualifier: Actual date of loss

Additional sources cited in Shipwreck Index of the British Isles:
Western Morning News 06.12.1946 ®

<1> https://www.wrecksite.eu/Wrecksite.aspx, 19627 > Accessed 14-JUL-2010 (Digital archive). SDO20096.

<2> Larn, R, and Larn, B, 1995, Shipwreck index of the British Isles, volume 1 : Isles of Scilly, Cornwall, Devon, Dorset Section 6, Dorset (AJ) Vol 1 (Monograph). SWX4541.

<3> https://www.wrecksite.eu/Wrecksite.aspx, 30660 > Accessed 14-JUL-2010 (Digital archive). SDO20096.

<4> https://www.wrecksite.eu/Wrecksite.aspx, 658 > Accessed 14-JUL-2010 (Digital archive). SDO20096.

<5> Colledge, J J, 1989, Ships of the Royal Navy. Volume 2: navy-built trawlers, drifters, tugs and requisitioned ships from the fifteenth century to the present, 69 (Monograph). SDO20520.

<6> Wendes, D, 2006, South Coast Shipwrecks off East Dorset & Wight 1870 - 1979 (Monograph). SDO10496.

<7> National Record of the Historic Environment, 1521031 (Digital archive). SDO14739.

Record last edited

Mar 26 2024 12:05PM