MV Celtic (1903)

For other ships with the same name, see Celtic (ship).

History
United Kingdom
Name	Celtic
Port of registry	London
Builder	Kievits & Van Reede, Papendrecht, Netherlands
Launched	1903
Identification	UK official number 118314 code Letters JGMC (until 1933) call sign MKFZ (by 1934)
Status	Under restoration
General characteristics
Class and type	Sailing barge, later coaster
Tonnage	148 GRT
Length	90 ft (27.43 m)
Beam	23 ft 2 in (7.06 m)
Depth	9 ft (2.74 m)

MV Celtic is a former Thames sailing barge[1] which was built by Kievits & Van Reede in Papendrecht, Netherlands in 1903 for E J & W Goldsmith Ltd of London and Grays, Essex.[2][3] She is currently under restoration at Sittingbourne, Kent.

History

Celtic under restoration at Sittingbourne, Kent

Celtic was built with a steel hull and was spritsail-rigged.[3] She was used to trade around the coast of Kent and Essex, and the Thames Estuary, mostly in the brickmaking and papermaking trades, and was operated by E J & W Goldsmith for 38 years.

In 1941 she was requisitioned for war service, passing into ownership of the Ministry of War Transport, under the management of the London & Rochester Trading Co Ltd, and at that time was fitted with twin screws a pair of Bergius diesel engines.[1][4][5] She was used as a barrage balloon base at Portsmouth, later serving as a parent vessel in Chichester harbour during January 1943.[6] She saw further service in Scotland after this with Detachment Celtic; part of the RMBPD[6]

Postwar, Celtic returned to commercial service in the ownership of Vectis Shipping and, later, Alfred Horatio Sheaf, both of Newport, Isle of Wight.[7] She was mainly in the cement trade, working between Asham Cement Works on the River Ouse and the Isle of Wight. In 1967 the cement works closed, and she then worked between the Isle of Wight and Shoreham by Sea or Greenhithe[1] and was laid up at Newport in 1969.[1] She finally ended her days working in the ballast trade[4] in the Thames area.[1]

Official number and code letters

Celtic's UK official number was 118314, and until 1933 her code letters were JGMC.[2] By 1934, her call sign was MKFZ.[8]

References

1. Langley, Michael (June 2006). Kent Seaways, Hoys to Hovercraft. Midhurst: Middleton Press. pp. 50–51. ISBN 1-904474-79-9.
2. Lloyd's Register of Shipping (PDF). Vol. I.–Steamers and Motorships under 300 tons. Trawlers, Tugs, Dredgers, &c. Sailing vessels. London: Lloyd's Register. 1930. CAV–CHA. Retrieved 15 January 2008 – via Southampton City Council.
3. Mercantile Navy List. London: Spottiswoode & Co. 1904. p. 513.
4. Dolphin Yard Sailing Barge Museum, Sittingbourne.
5. Lloyd's Register of Shipping (PDF). Vol. I.–Steamers and Motorships under 300 tons. Trawlers, Tugs, Dredgers, &c. Sailing vessels. London: Lloyd's Register. 1942. CEL–CHE. Retrieved 21 August 2014 – via Southampton City Council.
6. Quentin Rees; Cockleshell Heroes- The Final Witness
7. "Non Active Barges". Colchester: The Society for Sailing Barge Research. Retrieved 21 August 2014.
8. Lloyd's Register of Shipping (PDF). Vol. I.–Sailing Vessels. London: Lloyd's Register. 1934. CED–CHE. Retrieved 23 February 2009 – via Southampton City Council.