TUG BONCHURCH INFORMATION

[peter j. fitzpatrick]

HI FOLKS
IM IN NEED OF SOME PHOTOS OF THE TUG BONCHURCH AND ALSO INFORMATION ON HER PREVIOUS PRIVATE OWNERS
I HAVE LOOKED ROUND THE NET BUT MAYBE SOMEONE HERE CAN HELP
BEST REGARDS
PETER

[Tom Walker]

I hope the following is of interest,

BONCHURCH

1944      - built by R. Dunston Ltd., at Thorne as the TID 174, 2 Cy steam
               compound expansion engine.

1948     -  renamed ABEILLE No. 13 - owners shown in LR55-56 as Cie. de
               Remorq. & de Sauvetage "Les Abeilles", Fench flag, registered at
               Harve. 54 tons gross.

               owners shown in LR60-61 as Sirespa Building Ltd., British flag. 53
               tons gross.

1962/12  - new 8Cy General Motors diesel engine (made in 1943) re-fitted.

1963     - renamed BAIE COMEAU - owners shown in LR64-45 as Sirespa
              Building Ltd., British flag. 63 tons gross.

1966     - renamed BONCHURCH - owners Southampton, Isle of Wight &
              South of England Royal Mail Steam Packet Co. Ltd. (Red Funnel).

1967/03 - LR67-68 shows entry class withdrawn at Owners' request 3/67.

1967/04 - seen in Southampton on 01/04/1967.  LR No. 5418965.

1984     - seen at Torquay 19/04/1984, assisting with the Marina building work.

A previous BONCHURCH worked at Teignmouth from 1924 to 1931 when she re-located to Hull.

Best regards

Tom

[peter j. fitzpatrick]

THANKS TOM THATS GREAT INFO JUST NEED THE LAST FEW YEARS OF PRIVATE OWNERSHIP
THANKS AGAIN
PETER

[Bj]

Hello
Take look at Shippspotting own pages
http://www.shipspotting.com/modules/myalbum/photo.php?lid=341202

[peter j. fitzpatrick]

THANKS KNUDDE GOOD PICTURE

[Mac Mackay]

It is fairly certain that she worked in Canada for Sirespa, during the building of a pier at Baie Comeau, Quebec. Does anyone know what ship brought her to Canada and took her back again?

[peter j. fitzpatrick]

hi mac thats very interesting and would love to find out if any photos exist
regards peter

[Bj]

hello once more
I found this:http://www.scars.org.uk/cuttings/volume6/issue6-4/bonchurch.html
one more with pics. http://www.medwaymaritimetrust.org.uk/tidtugs/pages/tid174.htm

[peter j. fitzpatrick]

THANKS AGAIN KNUDDE

[Mac Mackay]

That puts an end to speculation that she actually came to Canada. It always seemed a stretch to me-there were lots of tugs here-but the name change certainly indicated an intent to bring it to Canada.
I'm not sure what happened to Sirepsa, but they apparently made other arrangements.

[kevin blair]

One piece of info the http://www.scars.org.uk/cuttings/volume6/issue6-4/bonchurch.html web site got wrong is that it says Bonchurch never done any work when she was on the Tyne for Tyne Towage, she did her fair share and i've got some photos somewhere to prove it.

[peter j. fitzpatrick]

HI KEV LIKE TO SEE THOSE PHOTOS IF POSSIBLE
CHEERS
PETER