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Registration number
1647
Status
Registered
a12admin
Details
Function
Cargo Vessel
Subfunction
Narrow Boat
Location
Northwich
Vessel type
Star Class Butty
Current use
Ongoing conservation
Available to hire
No
Available for excursions
No
Construction
Builder
Harland & Wolff Ltd, Woolwich
Built in
1935
Hull material
Steel
Rig
None
Number of decks
1
Propulsion
Motor
Number of engines
1
Primary engine type
Inboard
Boiler type
None
Boilermaker
None
Dimensions
Breadth: Beam
6.98 feet
(2.13m)
Depth
4.00 feet
(1.22m)
Length: Overall
45.00 feet
(13.72m)
History
ACHILLES was built by Harland & Wolff Ltd., at Woolwich, in November 1935 and was commissioned by the Grand Union Canal Carrying Company. She was a 70ft 'Star' class narrowboat butty, designed to work as a pair, and was inherited by British Waterways in 1948. After 1965, ACHILLES was purchased by the Birmingham & Midland Canal Carrying Company and used to carry cargo alongside the motor COLLINGWOOD until the 1970s.
Between 2015-2021, under the ownership of the boat restorer Roger Farrington, ACHILLES was cut in half and converted into two separate motor vessels at Braunston Marina. The stern end of the vessel - still called ACHILLES - is now a 45ft small Woolwich tug and has been fully restored as of 2021, with a new stern, new base plate, all rotted steel replaced, and completely refitted interior.
Update, June 2024: Vessel for sale.
Key dates
-
1935
Built by Harland & Wolf at Woolwich, London as a Star Class Butty boat for the Grand Union Canal Carrying Co Fleet
-
1935 - 1947
Worked with a motorboat as a commercial cargo-carrying pair
-
1948
Inherited by the British Transport Commission
-
1948 - 1965
Continued working with a motorboat as a commercial cargo-carrying pair
-
1965
Bought by Birmingham & Midland Canal Carrying Company
-
1956 - 1970s
Continued use in traditional cargo trade with motor Collingwood
-
1970s
Interior converted for camping
-
2005
Vessel in care of and livery of Birmingham Canal Boat Services Ltd, a successor to the Birmingham & Midland Canal Carrying Company. Restoration not yet started
-
2012
Ownership unknown
Sources
Alan H Faulkner, The George & the Mary (1973) pub: Robert Wilson
Waterways World (October, 1999, pp50-54)
Own this vessel?
If you are the owner of this vessel and would like to provide more details or updated information, please contact info@nationalhistoricships.org.uk
