Name Joyce

JOYCE was designed by the Admiralty and built by Percy M See at Fareham during 1943-1944, a vessel of timber carvel construction with a Gardner 6LW diesel engine. The vessel was designed and used as a recovery boat during test firing of torpedos.

After service in various bases including Lough Neagh, Northern Ireland, and Devonport, England, she was sold out of service in 1960 and bought by her present owners who have restored and maintained her in her original condition.  She was under the same ownership for 60 years and operated as a working boat in Weymouth, Dorset.

JOYCE offered for disposal by her owners in October 2020. 

Update, March 2023: JOYCE has now returned to Loch Neagh near Belfast, where she served during WWII.  She was gifted by her previous owners to Antrim and Newtownabbey Borough Council who are the new owners/custodians.  The move from her previous home in Weymouth to Northern Ireland was facilitated by Silver Light Sailing, whose volunteers refurbished the vessel (after a 2 year delay caused by the pandemic) ready for her move to Lough Neagh.  JOYCE will be a permanent floating exhibit on the water outside the Lough Neagh Heritage Centre.  She is fully operational and now has a secure purpose-built pontoon/viewing platform open to the public, with exhibition panels telling her local wartime connection and history.