Steamboat Register

Freshspring

Status: Undergoing renovation

Owner: Steamship Freshspring Trust

Area: UK-South West

Hull

Admiralty water tender. Construction: Riveted steel.
Built 1947 by Lytham Shipbuilding and Engineering Co. Ltd. at Lytham
LOA: 121' 0", Beam: 24' 6", Draft: 10' 6", Displacement: 570000 lbs.
Laid down 12/09/1945, Launched 15/08/1946, completed for service 10/02/1947 No.886. Straight stem, counter stern, fo’c’sle with 8 berths, wheelhouse, crews’ cabins. Steam steering engine.

Boiler

RT Scotch Built 1947 by Lytham Shipbuilding and Engineering Co. Ltd.
Fuel: Oil, Pressure: 180 psi,
156" dia X 130" long Steel barrel. 206 X 3 1/4" dia Steel tubes.
condensing, engine driven pump, forced draft fan, steam feed pump, siren,
No.559. 3-furnace wet back, 13' dia x 10' long. 206 × 3¼" od tubes, 7' long. oil burning since 1956. Howden-Wallsend burners, 52 tons bunkers.

Engine

Triple Expansion. 11" + 18" + 30" X 22"
Built 1947 by Lytham Shipbuilding and Engineering Co. Ltd.
pv on HP, sv on IP & LP valve. SLRG valve gear.
No.558. Cast A frames, lever-driven Edwards air pump and fp, inboard surface cond, 450 IHP, 170 rpm. Full set of auxiliary engines and pumps

Propeller

Steel, 4 blades, 82" X 84"
O.A. 13 sq ft

History

New as fleet water carrier, launched 1946, completed 1947 and worked out of Malta until 1967. Upon returning to the UK she worked on the Clyde and Pembroke dock until she was put in reserve in Greenock 1976. Acquired late 1979 by Oswald Burgess when withdrawn from service and towed to Bristol. Ownership transferred to charitable trust, Steamship Freshspring Society 2014 Ref: Ships Monthly Nov 1987, and Funnel 51. Last steamed 1990. Following funding from the National Heritage Memorial Fund in 2016, she was taken to Sharpness drydock for remedial works and painting of the hull prior to being relocated in Bideford, North Devon. Since arriving in Bideford, the wheelhouse has been refurbished and the ship is regularly open to the public through the summer months as a static exhibit.

At Bideford quay 2018

Photos

At Princes Wharf, Bristol, outside the industrial museum, now M Shed. Mid 1980's?	Mid to late 90's at Newnham on the river Severn	A view down the port deck of Freshspring as another bright morning gets underway on the river Severn during the restoration of Freshspring. April 2014
May 2013, possibly at her lowest point while moored on the River Severn near Newnham, Gloucestershire	View of the telegraph Donkin steering engine and switchboard in the wheelhouse	At completion of works in Sharpness drydock September 2016