Atrato | National Historic Ships

Registration number 191

Status Registered

a12admin

Details

Function Cargo Vessel

Subfunction Barge

Location Battersea

Vessel type Spritsail Barge

Current use Ongoing conservation

Available to hire No

Available for excursions No

Construction

Builder Forrestt & Sons Ltd, Wivenhoe

Built in 1898

Hull material Steel

Rig Spritsail

Number of decks 1

Number of masts 2

Propulsion Sail

Number of engines 1

Primary engine type Inboard

Boiler type None

Boilermaker None

Dimensions

Breadth: Beam

18.65 feet (5.69m)

Depth

6.90 feet (2.10m)

Length: Overall

84.36 feet (25.73m)

Tonnage: Gross

95.00

Air Draft

82.02 feet (25.00m)

History

Built 1898 by Forrest & Sons Limited, Wivenhoe, ATRATO is a Thames Sailing Barge with a steel hull. Her current engine is a Kelvin K3 66hp built in 1944. She was first owned by Hughes at Greenwich and then by the London & Rochester Barge Company from 1923 when an auxiliary Hamworthy petrol engine was fitted. In 1944 she was rebuilt as a motor barge and sold to her present owner in 1980. For most of her working life she carried general cargo from the Thames and Medway around the coast. She is currently undergoing restoration to her original specification.

Key dates

1898
Built by Forrest of Wivenhoe
1944
Conversion to motor barge, Kelvin K3 engine installed
1980
Sold out of trade, conversion back to sailing barge commenced

Sources

Carr, Frank, Sailing Barges, 1971
Perks, Richard, Sprts'l: A Portrait of Sailing Barges and Sailormen, Conway Maritime Press, 1975
The Last Berth of the Sailorman, Society for Spritsail Barge Research, 1987
Wood, D G, Barges Sailing Today: Sailing Barge Information Pamplet No: 1, Society for Spritsail Barge Research, 1995
Simper, Robert, Classic Boat: Revival of the Fittest, pp46-53, October 1999