Hero is a

steam Steam is a substance containing water in the gas phase, and sometimes also an aerosol of liquid water droplets, or air. This may occur due to evaporation or due to boiling, where heat is applied until water reaches the enthalpy of vaporization ...

-powered

pinnace Pinnace may refer to: * Pinnace (ship's boat), a small vessel used as a tender to larger vessels among other things * Full-rigged pinnace The full-rigged pinnace was the larger of two types of vessel called a pinnace in use from the sixteenth c ...

, a small boat of the type used, for example, as a tender to larger vessels, believed to have been built as an

electric Electricity is the set of physical phenomena associated with the presence and motion of matter that has a property of electric charge. Electricity is related to magnetism, both being part of the phenomenon of electromagnetism, as described by ...

launch, by Andrews of Maidenhead, England in 1895, with the name ''Avondale''. She is made from

teak Teak (''Tectona grandis'') is a tropical hardwood tree species in the family Lamiaceae. It is a large, deciduous tree that occurs in mixed hardwood forests. ''Tectona grandis'' has small, fragrant white flowers arranged in dense clusters (panicl ...

on steamed

oak An oak is a tree or shrub in the genus ''Quercus'' (; Latin "oak tree") of the beech family, Fagaceae. There are approximately 500 extant species of oaks. The common name "oak" also appears in the names of species in related genera, notably ''L ...

ribs laid in the carvel style, with a clipper bow, counter

stern The stern is the back or aft-most part of a ship or boat, technically defined as the area built up over the sternpost, extending upwards from the counter rail to the taffrail. The stern lies opposite the bow, the foremost part of a ship. Ori ...

and a wooden canopy on 10 brass

stanchion A stanchion () is a sturdy upright fixture that provides support for some other object. It can be a permanent fixture. Types In architecture stanchions are the upright iron bars in windows that pass through the eyes of the saddle bars or horizo ...

s. Her overall length is , beam and draft . The vessel reportedly attended the

Cookham Cookham is a historic River Thames, Thames-side village and civil parishes in England, civil parish on the north-eastern edge of Berkshire, England, north-north-east of Maidenhead and opposite the village of Bourne End, Buckinghamshire, Bourne ...

regatta in 1901 and was known to be electrically powered in 1912. She was converted to run on petrol by the late 1960s, after which, she was again converted, to run on steam, with a

Merryweather Merryweather may refer to: People * Alice Merryweather (born 1996), American alpine skier * Andrew Merryweather (born 1961), Australian rules footballer * George Merryweather (1794–1870), English inventor of the tempest prognosticator, a leech-ba ...

boiler. It was in this state that she was acquired by

John Player & Sons John Player & Sons, most often known simply as Player's, was a tobacco and cigarette manufacturer based in Nottingham, England. In 1901, the company merged with other companies to form The Imperial Tobacco Company to face competition from US ma ...

, who used her for promotional purposes, and lent her

The Onedin Line ''The Onedin Line'' is a BBC television drama series that ran from 1971 to 1980. The series was created by Cyril Abraham. The series is set in Liverpool from 1860 to 1886 and covers the rise of a fictional shipping company, the Onedin Line, nam ...

, Series 2, episode 1 credits to the producers of the television series ''

'', in which she was featured. She also appeared in the series ''

Edward the Seventh ''Edward the Seventh'' is a 1975 British historical drama series, made by ATV in 13 episodes. Based on the biography of King Edward VII by Philip Magnus, it starred Annette Crosbie as Queen Victoria, Timothy West as the elder Edward VII, wi ...

''. Players also installed an oil fired scotch dry back boiler. The vessel was acquired by its current owner Nigel Thomson in 1996, who again replaced the boiler, with one built 1998 by D.& S. Steam Engineering Ltd of Raunds, Northamptonshire.

References

{{Reflist

External links

Steam Boat Association of Great Britain register entry
19th century in England Electric boats Steamboats in Europe Pinnaces 1895 ships