18 •^ Summer 2018^ •^ http://www.shipsmonthly.com
UNICORN REWIRED
PRESERVATION John Megoran
STEAM TUG
Instead of going to Hull, as was
announced last year, the steam
tug Challenge now looks set to
return to her old home on the
River Thames, with the offer of a
berth at Trinity Buoy Wharf, not
far from Greenwich, where she has
previously been based. A berth
on the Thames is considered
to be the most suitable for thehistoric craft, which was built in
1931 and is the last example of
a sizeable Thames steam tug
of the kind which was once a
common sight on the river.
The boiler has been stripped
down and has passed its tests.
The machinery is ready to go.
All that is needed is a visit to a
dry dock for survey prior to the
voyage round from Southampton
during the coming summer.Challenge played her part
in the Dunkirk evacuation and
continued her towing career until
1971, after which she became
one of the fleet of historic ships
displayed by the Maritime Trust in
St Katharine Docks. Challenge’s
fortunes subsequently fluctuated,
with various periods of
restoration, and trying to keep an
historic steamship in operational
condition proved difficult.HISTORIC FRIGATE
HMS Unicorn, the historic
frigate on display in Dundee,
has recently been rewired as
part of an ongoing £1 million
refurbishment programme
funded largely by the Scottish
Government’s Regeneration
Capital Grants Fund to maintain
the ship. Her roof has also
been extended, and enhanced
facilities for her visitors provided.Built at Chatham in 1824,
HMS Unicorn incorporated
features that were cutting-edge
at the time, including iron straps
and knees to strengthen her
hull. But as the Napoleonic
wars had ended, she went from
building into reserve and never
saw service. In 1873 she was
moved to the Tay as reserve
training ship and has remained
in the area ever since, but has
never been rigged in her career.CHANGE OF
PLAN FOR
CHALLENGE
LAKE STEAMER
Lake Lucerne’s flagship Stadt
Luzern is set to make her last
cruise on the lake on 21 October
prior to being withdrawn for a
major rebuild, which is planned to
take at least two years.
The board of directors of
the SGV took the decision to
undertake this work last August
and have subsequently defined
the scope of the project in
association with the LucerneDampferfreunde (steamer friends)
and representatives from the
local cantons, all of whom will be
contributing towards the cost,
which is expected to be in the
region of 12.5 million Swiss francs.
Completed in 1928, Stadt
Luzern is the only Swiss paddle
steamer to have been built by
a non-Swiss company. During
her career, she has been rebuilt
several times. A parade with all
five Lucerne paddle steamers is
scheduled for 16 September.STADT LUzERN TO BE REBUILT
LIFE-SAVER
IN SHEFFIELD
PRESERVED LIFEBOAT
The former Whitby and Poole
lifeboat, City of Sheffield
(pictured), has been placed
on display at the National
Emergency Services Museum in
Sheffield. After being taken out
of service in 2016, the Tyne class
lifeboat was taken by road from
the RNLI’s Headquarters in Poole
to Sheffield last summer.
She was lifted into the museum
to become a major exhibit there,
representing the work of the
RNLI. At her new home, she has
had an exhibition built around
her to share stories of the boat’s
service history with museum
visitors. Guided onboard tours
are provided during the school
summer holidays. City of Sheffield on display.
Unicorn’s gun deck.Schiller (left) alongside and Stadt Luzern leaving Lucerne.