Seaham Harbour, Durham

[Tony Mattson]

I wonder if some kind soul might be able to help me.

Can anyone confirm which port Seaham Harbour tugs were registered out
of in the 1960's and 70's? Would it be Sunderland? Or was Seaham the
named port of registration on tug sterns?

I have tried to contact the Port Authority at Seaham but have had no
response whatsoever to my messages. Great public relations - not!

Many grateful thanks
Tony
Auckland, NZ

[Paulrjordan]

Hi Tony:

Try emailing The Durham County Records Office at

record.office@durham.gov.uk

They carry quite a number of Seaham Harbour Dock Co. records from the
19th and 20th Centuries. You might be able to luck onto some
enthusiastic young archivist who can do some digging!

I have looked through all my images of Tyne tugs and have have found
an undated photo of "Reliant" which clearly shows her Port of Registry
as Newcastle. The same photo appears in Scott Newhall's book "The
Eppleton Hall". However, this might be different from the registry
when she was "Old Trafford". Stuart (Badger)can probably confirm this
from when he built his magnificent model of "Reliant/Old Trafford"
which I saw three years ago when I visited him in the UK.

I have just purchased a very informative booklet about "Reliant"
called "Old Order New Things" published of all people by the NMM.(Say
no more!) The book hasn't arrived yet. Do you have a copy of it?

Sorry I have not been able to post to PDs, but a new job and learning
curve have preoccupied me for the past two months. Hope to rectify
this once life resumes a more normal pace.

Best regards

PJ
Victoria, British Columbia, Canada

[Tony Mattson]

Hi Paul,

grateful thanks for such a prompt reply and welcome back! Good to see
you returning to the fold!

I've seen Stuart's fine model of 'Old Trafford' and the photos
of 'Reliant' in the Neptune Hall at Grenwich - such a shame that the
museum treated her in the cavalier fashion they did - however I have
a small bit of evidence for the Sunderland connection.

Last week I found a copy of Model Maker for May 1964 (price two
shillings and sixpence). In it there is a three page profile of the
paddle tug 'Seaham', which worked out of Seaham Harbour
alongside 'Reliant'. One photo of the 'Seaham's stern show the port
of registration as Sunderland, which I believe is only six miles up
the coast.

Tug 'Seaham' was brand new when she arrived at Seaham Harbour in
1908. She stayed there all her life until retiring in 1963, when she
was cut up.

Tug 'Old Trafford" was purchased by Ridleys in 1950, and moved to the
Tyne that year where Ridleys shortened her sponsons, added the tow
hooks to the foredeck bollards, took out the freshwater tank on the
aft deck, etc., and renamed her Reliant. She moved to Seaham in 1956.

I wonder if the Nat Maritime Museum's use of the Newcastle registry
on Reliant's stern reflects the six years that she was owned by
Ridley Tugs in Newcastle.

Was she was never reregistered when she moved to Seaham?

Or am I wrong in thinking that tugs were registered for, and
displayed the names of, ports they worked in? Is the registration
actually where the tug was built?

So many questions...

Hope the new job is panning out well.

Kind regards
Tony
Auckland, NZ