HM Tug ''Char'', formally the North Eastern Railway tug ''Stranton'', was a ship requisitioned by the

Admiralty Admiralty most often refers to: *Admiralty, Hong Kong *Admiralty (United Kingdom), military department in command of the Royal Navy from 1707 to 1964 *The rank of admiral *Admiralty law Admiralty can also refer to: Buildings * Admiralty, Traf ...

during the

Great War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. ''Char'' was lost at sea on 16 January 1915.

History

HM Tug ''Char'' was built by JP Rennoldson & Sons at

South Shields South Shields () is a coastal town in South Tyneside, Tyne and Wear, England. It is on the south bank of the mouth of the River Tyne. Historically, it was known in Roman times as Arbeia, and as Caer Urfa by Early Middle Ages. According to the 20 ...

as the tug ''Stranton'' for the North Eastern Railway (NER) for use at West Hartlepool Docks. It was launched on 12 June 1899 and was completed in August of that year. It had a two-cylinder engine of 98 rhp. On 8 July 1913, ''Stranton'' ran aground off of Middleton Sands whilst assisting the Swedish

barque A barque, barc, or bark is a type of sailing ship, sailing vessel with three or more mast (sailing), masts having the fore- and mainmasts Square rig, rigged square and only the mizzen (the aftmost mast) Fore-and-aft rig, rigged fore and aft. Som ...

''Meda''. During the assistance, ''Stranton'' collided with a submerged object, damaging her propellers, ''Stranton'' was left adrift. It took two attempted rescues by the

RNLI The Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) is the largest charity that saves lives at sea around the coasts of the United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland, the Channel Islands, and the Isle of Man, as well as on some inland waterways. It i ...

Hartlepool Hartlepool () is a seaside and port town in County Durham, England. It is the largest settlement and administrative centre of the Borough of Hartlepool. With an estimated population of 90,123, it is the second-largest settlement in County ...

but on the second, the ''Stranton''s captain, J.P. Whale, elected to stay behind. ''Stranton'' was eventually refloated and taken to

Newcastle Newcastle usually refers to: *Newcastle upon Tyne, a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England *Newcastle-under-Lyme, a town in Staffordshire, England *Newcastle, New South Wales, a metropolitan area in Australia, named after Newcastle ...

for repair and soon after returned to West Hartlepool Dock for work. In November 1914, ''Stranton'' was requisitioned by the

for use during the First World War.

Admiralty service

On 17 November 1914, ''Stranton'' was requisitioned for war service by the Admiralty. ''Stranton'' was to work as a unarmed boarding vessel, as part of the North Downs Flotilla based in

Ramsgate Ramsgate is a seaside resort, seaside town in the district of Thanet District, Thanet in east Kent, England. It was one of the great English seaside towns of the 19th century. In 2001 it had a population of about 40,000. In 2011, according to t ...

. The crew of ''Stranton'' requested that they stay with ''Stranton'', now named HM Tug ''Char'', during its war service. Most of the crew joined the Mercantile Marine Reserve, with the captain joining the

Royal Naval Reserve The Royal Naval Reserve (RNR) is one of the two volunteer reserve forces of the Royal Navy in the United Kingdom. Together with the Royal Marines Reserve, they form the Maritime Reserve. The present RNR was formed by merging the original Ro ...

. The NER crew where supplemented by a further seven members of the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against F ...

or the Royal Naval Reserve and two members of the

Royal Marine Light Infantry The history of the Royal Marines began on 28 October 1664 with the formation of the Duke of York and Albany's Maritime Regiment of Foot soon becoming known as the Admiral's Regiment. During the War of the Spanish Succession the most historic achi ...

. ''Char''s crew were part of , the naval designation for

HMNB Chatham Chatham Dockyard was a Royal Navy Dockyard located on the River Medway in Kent. Established in Chatham in the mid-16th century, the dockyard subsequently expanded into neighbouring Gillingham (at its most extensive, in the early 20th century, ...

Loss

On 16 January 1915, ''Char'' was inspecting the steamship ''Frivan'' in high seas when a collision occurred to ''Char'' below the

waterline The waterline is the line where the hull of a ship meets the surface of the water. Specifically, it is also the name of a special marking, also known as an international load line, Plimsoll line and water line (positioned amidships), that indi ...

, causing ''Char'' to take on water. The crew of ''Char'' could be heard screaming for help as it drifted into the storm. The captain of ''Frivan'' sent out a distress beacon which was answered by the Deal Lifeboat, which undertook a search for the ''Char'' and its crew but nothing was found. Later that day, the crew of ''Char'' was posted as Lost at Sea. To date, the location of HM Tug ''Char'' is unknown but is believed to be in the area around the former South Goodwin Light Vessel.

Technical Details

Char was described by the NER Magazine in February 1915 as being: Length: 105ft 4in Beam: 22ft 1in Depth: 9ft 7in Horsepower: 98hp

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Char 1899 ships North Eastern Railway (UK) Maritime incidents in 1915 Auxiliary ships of the Royal Navy