Name Spider T

What is the vessel’s ability to demonstrate history in her physical fabric?

SPIDER T is a Humber sloop built in 1926 that has been reconstructed (with the exception of the insertion of port holes and widow lights) to her original hull form. She is used for charter work which has required considerable adaptations to her interior, but these have been carried out to an extremely high standard with the cargo hold altered to period Edwardian accommodation. Care has been taken to ensure that conservation work uses traditional methods and like-for-like materials wherever possible to maintain the significance of the vessel. For example, the vessel had not been fully rigged since 1939 but, in 2007, new sails were commissioned from a traditional sail maker to re-create the 1920s' sails of tan sailcloth. The vessel retains her engine to allow greater operational scope, but the wheelhouse structure has been made demountable to permit tiller steering as in the original specification if required for heritage purposes. Modern navigational aids and passenger comforts have been installed, but these have been carefully situated to make the least impact to the vessel’s overall significance.

What are the vessel’s associational links for which there is no physical evidence?

The Humber sloop, developed from the 18th century single-masted square-rigged Humber keel was designed to make passages between the Humber ports and inland along the rivers Trent and Great Ouse, carrying cargos such as coal, phosphates, cement and bricks. As a Humber sloop built for this increasingly competitive market in the early 20th century, SPIDER T was the pride of her fleet and is now a rare representative of this form of Britain’s industrial and maritime heritage. She came second in the Humber Regatta only a few weeks after she was launched. Today, she maintains her connection with the firm that built her, being visited by Peter Warren in 2009, whose father and grandfather built SPIDER T at Warrens Shipyard in 1926, to a design by his uncle, Frederick Warren. Eighteen working drawings of the vessel survive and are now held by the current owner. SPIDER T still operates on the Humber today; a visual reminder to the public of her significance as a heritage asset for this region. She also demonstrates wider elements of national significance, contributing to the Second World War effort as a motor vessel transporting munitions. In later life, she became a Rotherham Police community project vessel, earning the organiser the British Empire Medal. SPIDER T is one of three surviving Humber sloops and eight Humber keels included on the National Register of Historic Vessels.

How does the vessel’s shape or form combine and contribute to her function?

SPIDER T was designed with a heavily built iron hull, with 3/8 inch plates below the waterline and alternating 5/16 inch and 3/8 inch above. She was flat-bottomed to take the ground and had a deep hold to maximise the space available for carrying cargo. Fully rigged, SPIDER T now combines the external characteristics of a typical working boat, whilst offering a heritage experience in terms of Edwardian style down below.

Source: Hannah Cunliffe, Policy & Project Manager, National Historic Ships 06 January 2011. Updated 21 December 2017