HM Tug "Char", formally the North Eastern Railway tug "Stranton", was a ship requisitioned by the Admiralty during the Great War.
"Char" was lost at sea on 16 January 1915.
History.
HM Tug "Char" was built by JP Rennoldson &amp; Sons at South Shields as the tug "Stranton" for the North Eastern Railway (NER) for use at West Hartlepool Docks. It was launched on 12 June 1899 and was completed in August of that year. It had a two-cylinder engine of 98 rhp.
On 8 July 1913, "Stranton" ran aground off of Middleton Sands whilst assisting the Swedish barque "Meda". During the assistance, "Stranton" collided with a submerged object, damaging her propellers, "Stranton" was left adrift. It took two attempted rescues by the RNLI at Hartlepool but on the second, the "Stranton"'s captain, J.P. Whale, elected to stay behind. "Stranton" was eventually refloated and taken to Newcastle for repair and soon after returned to West Hartlepool Dock for work.
In November 1914, "Stranton" was requisitioned by the Admiralty for use during the First World War.
Admiralty service.
On 17 November 1914, "Stranton" was requisitioned for war service by the Admiralty. "Stranton" was to work as a unarmed boarding vessel, as part of the North Downs Flotilla based in Ramsgate.
The crew of "Stranton" requested that they stay with "Stranton", now named HM Tug "Char", during its war service. Most of the crew joined the Mercantile Marine Reserve, with the captain joining the Royal Naval Reserve. The NER crew where supplemented by a further seven members of the Royal Navy or the Royal Naval Reserve and two members of the Royal Marine Light Infantry.
"Char"'s crew were part of , the naval designation for HMNB Chatham.
Loss.
On 16 January 1915 at 0130, "Char" was inspecting the steamship "SS" "Erivan" in high seas when a collision occurred to "Char" below the waterline, causing "Char" to take on water. The crew of "Char" could be heard screaming for help as it drifted into the storm. The captain of "Erivan" sent out a distress beacon which was answered by the Deal Lifeboat, which undertook a search for the "Char" and its crew but nothing was found. Later that day, the crew of "Char" was posted as Lost at Sea.
To date, the location of HM Tug "Char" is unknown but is believed to be in the area around the former South Goodwin Light Vessel.
Aftermath.
On the 20th January 1915, a memorial service was held in St. George's Church in Ramsgate.
Soon after the collision, "Erivan" was taken to Dover Harbour where it was later repaired.
Technical Details.
Char was described by the NER Magazine in February 1915 as being:
Length: 105 ft 4in
Beam: 22 ft 1in
Depth: 9 ft 7in
Horsepower: 98 hp
References.
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