User:Rafal Zahorski/new article name here

New article name is THPV Bembridge 1938

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In 1937 the Pilotage Committee of Trinity House London was thinking about a new vessel, much bigger, modern and better following the new requirements of Isle of Wight District.

On 27th July 1937 Pilotage Committee decided finally to build a new Pilot Cutter for the Isle of Wight District (IOWD) to replace the first "Bembridge". The Surveyor of Shipping was instructed to prepare plans for a new Pilot Cutter For the IOWD

On 10th August 1937 Trinity House Pilotage Committee decided that a name be given to the New IOWD Pilot Cutter will be "Nilton"

The name "Nilton" was coming from a lighthouse and headland on the Southern edge of the Isle of Wight.

Finally THPV Bembridge was designed by Sir William Reed in early 1938 for Trinity House London as a first in the history of British pilotage motor cruising pilot cutter. She was built by famous Smiths Dock Company Co. Ltd. South Bank in Middlesbrough area.

Why Trinity House decided to place that order to Smiths Dock Company and their designer Sir William Reed?

That time Smith's Dock Co. Ltd. was building many Whale Catchers - a small brave vessels resistant for the worst kind of sea conditions. They were designed by Sir Reed too. He loves to design a small ships - it was his specialty. They were for sure their export "hit" There are many of them on a bellow attached picture. Such a tested and constantly developed hull looked perfectly to use for a new pilot cutter.

Just after beauty Bembridge Sir Reed designed a Flower Class Corvette - a small escort vessel for Atlantic Convoys supplying UK with supplies from USA and Canada during WWII. It is almost proven now that whole Bembridge project was secretly supervised by British Navy. Trinity House London was well related to them and it was the best method to make a secret tests with a new type of hull of the new warship prepared to fight with Kriegsmarine's U-boots. A civil pilot vessel was perfect camouflage for such a top secret project. So she is definitively an ancestor of the famous Flower Class Corvettes - the first type of Corvettes ever built.

HMS Gladiolus (K34) was a first Flower class corvette of the Royal Navy. She was laid down on 19 October 1939, launched on 24 January 1940, and commissioned on 6 April 1940. Gladiolus was active in the Battle of the Atlantic in World War II and spent most of her service career on convoy escort duty in the North Atlantic. She was lost in action on 16 October 1941.

Bembridge's keel was laid on 10.03.1938. She was built under a contract No 504, yard number 1040 as a Cruising Pilot Cutter, a fine looking vessel of 412.61 tonnes, length 142.3 ft. beam 27 1 ft. made for Trinity House Pilotage Service. She was launched on 14.07.1938. When a building in a ship yard was completed vessel was registered under official Lloyd Register No. 166583 on 29th September 1938. She was commissioned at Cowes on 6th October 1938 and with a crew of six officers and thirteen men, and sleeping accommodation for twenty four pilots.

Built as a cruising pilot cutter for Isle of Wight/Southampton District operating at the Nab and the Needles station, BEMBRIDGE was the first Trinity House ‘cruising’ pilot cutter fitted with an oil engine made by British Auxiliaries Ltd in Glasgow. Although the pilot tender VIGIA of 1936 was the first diesel engine vessel.

As launched the vessel was painted in gray primer. This was a common feature prior to WWII, for both ships and locomotives; the purpose being to obtain a good photographic negative although interestingly the BROOK and GURNARD built for the Isle of Wight District in 1932 were launched painted black. After photographs were taken the ship’s hull was painted black with a 3” white line and the license number and the legend PILOTS in white.

Prior to WWII the deck houses of all Trinity House vessels were painted ‘stone colour’ and this can be seen in the shipyard trial photographs. Earlier vessels also had the funnel painted ‘stone colour’ but BEMBRIDGE was the first to appear with the funnel painted in the buff/cream of later vessels.

THPV Bembridge served in the Isle of Wight District, based at Cowes from 1938 to 1947.

At some time after June 1940, all of the Trinity House pilot cutters were painted Admiralty grey as can be seen in the photograph of BEMBRIDGE taken when she was anchored off Cowes in 1942.

In 1940 (26.05 - 03.06) she took part in British evacuation of Dunkirk through the English Channel codenamed Operation Dynamo.

In 1941 she was hit aft by a bomb during a German air raid but fortunately it did not explode and passed through without causing any vital damage.

In 1942 On the night of the 4/5th May through the night hundreds of German bombers directed a hail of bombs onto the burning town. Thankfully one warship polish destroyer ORP Blyskawica (The Lighting) stood at the center of the spirited defense, and saved the town along with the sheer courage of the rest of the defense forces. She came to Cowes for refitting of her guns and other equipment. What was interesting in a history of our Bembridge - she was supplied by pilot on in and out from a deck of THPV Bembridge.

In June 1942 during a heavy bombing of Southampton by Luftwaffe one Pilot Jack Saunders lost his whole family - bombs destroyed his family home completely - nobody survived. He came back to a deck of Bembridge, drank a bit and than hang up himself under a deck.This fact was hidden by many years. According some witnesses he is still on board. He was alway active if somebody wanted to hurt a vessel. In Cosag Marine Services time (described later) his cabin was called a "haunted cabin" and his presence was notified twice in 1972 (when Cosag removed big part of stern superstructure to make a bigger aft deck) and in 2004 when Medway Council ordered to the owners to sent her to breakers. His name was written by exorcist Kelly after a "contact" in Medway in 2004 and later on confirmed by some friends in Southampton searching old records.

In June 1944 she took part in the Normandy landings. It were the landing operations of the Allied invasion of Normandy, also known as Operation Neptune and Operation Overlord, during World War II. The landings commenced on Tuesday, 6 June 1944 (D-Day), beginning at 6:30 AM British Double Summer Time (UTC+2). In planning, D-Day was the term used for the day of actual landing, which was dependent on final approval.

In 1946/47 the ship was taken in hand to increase her accommodation for pilots from six to eighteen. On completion of this work she was based at Dover and was employed as a cruising cutter at both the Dungeness and Sunk pilot stations in the London District. The colour scheme for the period after WWII was black hull, white upper-works and buff funnel, masts and ventilators etc. Boats were painted black. Lifeboats were fitted with white canvas covers which would turn ‘grayish’ after time. Motor boarding boats originally had canvas or steel covers (as illustrated) which were painted the same buff/yellow colour as the funnel.

On 7th November 1946 the Master of the Pilot Vessel Bembridge Mr G.R. Jolliffe informed Superintendent of East Cowes that his vessel was grounded off Seaview Pier. She was aground for five hours.

On 31st January 1947 Trinity House Pilotage Committee ordered to Superintendent of East Cowes that Pilot Vessels of Isle of Wight should submit for renewal of the Licences. It concerns of the Pilot Vessels Bembridge, Brook, Gurnard, and Viola. Official license renewal letters were sent on 3rd February 1947.