www.sloopphyllis.com

This is the story behind the 1907 Humber sloop that was to help fight two wars and join the search for the Loch Ness monster.

Updated: January 2012

Site created May 2009

By Kath Jones & Alan Gardiner.

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The Building of Phyllis.

  Extracts from the plans of "Adlingfleet" are by kind permission of The Hull Maritime Museum.

 James Barraclough who was an already well established Barton on Humber sloop owner along with his brothers Thomas, John and Joe with several sloops to his own name had "Phyllis" built in 1907 for the coal trade. Between them they had a run of five sloops built from 1904 to 1909 by WH Warren at New Holland on the banks of the River Humber; John William 1904, Alfred 1905, Phyllis 1907, Nancy 1907 and Elma A.B 1909. Phyllis was to be the second largest of the five sloops at 68ft Loa by 16.15ft beam and 7.4ft depth of hold, (fractions of a foot were given in tenths on paperwork for ease of tonnage calculations) the largest was "Elma A.B" built also for James Barroclough at 68ft Loa by 16ft 6" beam and 8ft depth of hold. These larger vessels had greatly increased capacity over the smaller but well established sloops that traded along the Sheffield and South Yorkshire Navigation and the Stainforth and Keady Canal out through Keadby lock into the Trent, those would loose out to the ability of the big sloops to use the New Junction opened in 1905 and carry over 150 tons compared to just 100 or less depending on water levels by the smaller sloops also through the New Junction. The route was also quicker, but the reward was the amount that was carried per trip through Goole using the Ouse to York, Hull or Grimsby. The new deep water docks at Immingham started in 1906 and to be opened in 1912 was also good news for the sloop owners. The Barracloughs would have known about any developments that would have favoured river transport and timed the building of the vessels to suit the demand.

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Although Warrens' in 1896 originally built vessels at Beverley from Low More Iron and dealt directly with the Low More Works, steel was being used by the time Phyllis was on the stocks at their New Holland yard in 1907, although the old bargee's still referred to them as "Iron ships". The plate used to build Phyllis came from their later suppliers Roberts, Thomas and Baldwin, from their works either at Wakefield or Scunthorpe; they later went on to become one of the three founding firms of British Steel. The initials RTB are to be found stamped on frames in the ship's starboard aft side. The plates and frames were rolled and rivet punched on site at Warren's yard using a 75 horsepower Ruston Hornsby stationary gas engine, which was later converted to diesel in 1916. The rivet holes would then all be tapered by hand using a reamer to enable the rivets to hold the plates together securely and had either lead or a tarred fibre known as "luting" clenched between them during riveting to make them watertight. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
At left is an example of the rivets and original 1907 plate that were uncovered in her hold area. The exceptionally good condition of her steelwork over 100 years later is a testimony to the quality of materials used by W.H Warren. Perhaps it was through the quality of ships like "Phyllis" that the yard succeeded under the management of William Warren after being closed down by two previous owners after only trading for a short time.
 
 Unlike the framework of the smaller variants of the Humber sloop that I had been used to seeing, Phyllis has, reflecting her different use and capacity, three additional stiffening "stringers" located on the inside of the bow, made of four inch rolled and riveted angle. A similar single stiffening stringer additionally runs the entire circumference of the vessel's interior riveted to every frame that are 20" apart. The three external rubbing strakes on the bow are rolled five-inch 'D' iron rather than the rail iron sections that are found on inland vessels giving Phyllis a more streamlined look to her bow. The bottom rubbing strake running continually along the external circumference of the vessel just below her unladen waterline. This is to prevent hull chafe when lying against walls and jetties. Her hull is constructed using 6 rows of riveted plates to make up each side of the hull instead of just 5 on later vessels making the shape of her hull easier to form and much stronger. With all those rivets she would have been expensive to build. Another significant characteristic of Phyllis as with similar Humber sloops of her time is her fine run that starts at the mid ships frame.
  It was the run of the hull that differentiated a sloop hull from a keel hull although many believe that a sloop is the same as a keel apart from the sailing rig. Outwardly this is true of Sheffield size vessels when only taking the deck equipment and general dimensions into account. This belief probably being brought about by the fact that in more modern times many Sheffield keels as with "Amy Howson" were re-rigged as sloops. The keels that traded seaward up until the 20th century had a longer run than the river craft. However I am safe in saying the vast majority of keels had very short runs to allow them to carry as much as possible, particularly in the shallow water of a canal. The purposely built sloops had the advantage of sailing ability and the length of the run dictated this, giving less drag and better handling in the often adverse conditions they were required to sail in. The inland trading Sheffield sloops inherited a proportionally shorter but also purposeful run to the hull from their larger seagoing cousins, how long a run depended on the orders of the owner to the builder. A sloop built with a long run carried less cargo, a sloop built with a short run carried more but didn't sail as well. It was a compromise for the Sheffield sloops that needed to use the locks and canals to trade their wares, which is why the Humber sloop apart from overall length boasted that bit extra beam and depth of hold, they could afford to have built-in sailing qualities that made them what they were, quick and relatively agile on the coast and in the lower reaches of the Humber carrying upward of 150 tons of cargo. I have used the drawing from "Adlingfleet" built 19 years after "Phyllis" to try and demonstrate this.
 
  After completion in August 1907 Phyllis was measured and her tonnage calculated for the Board of Trade by surveyor Mr W. Parnell. She was entered onto the British Ships Register and given the certificate number 58/1907. She was also given a sail number 26148 which we think refers to her Port Health Certificate. Phyllis was again calculated for the Department of War and Transport on 2nd October 1943 and re-certified on the British Ships Register as certificate number 40/1944 after having her engine fitted and prior to her being used by the War Office to tranship and store bombs that were being delivered into the Humber by American ships for the local airfields. Phyllis had a replacement engine fitted in 1962 and this is noted on her C.344B Certificate of British Registry, the engine was a 33 bhp air cooled Lister that has since been removed and shipped to the owners of "John William" another one of the Barraclough fleet and one of only two other Humber sloops that I know of to survive although no longer traditionally rigged, the other being "Annie Barraclough" now a houseboat moored near Lincoln. "John William" was in France at the time, her trip to France had taken it's toll and she now requiring a replacement engine and gearbox, I understand that she has now returned to England. A Gardner 6LXB of 180 HP is now powering Phyllis with matched gearbox and propeller.
 

 
 

A few of the keel and sloop plans from W H Warrens yard still survive today at the Maritime Museum in Hull, unfortunately the only item that survived regarding Phyllis is a card template of her hull that once may have had her plate configuration drawn on in pencil but has faded away over the years. The fact that Phyllis was built so early makes it difficult to gather accurate details of her life from the early years but we do have some copies of her original paperwork.  Click Here 

   Note the curvature of the deck head that was built into the hull of the Humber sloops, this aided drainage and kept the after deck free of standing water. Phyllis's after deck was also wooden clad to assist with grip in heavy weather which was a commonly added feature on the large sloops.

ell expansion drawing for "Adlingfleet" that gives the cutting dimensions for each plate that makes up one side of her hull. It also indicates the plate thickness that is 3/8" for the bottom and 5/16" for above the chine as is Phyllis and seems to be an industry standard. The chine plates were doubled at the original build making them 3/4" total thickness.. The hull of Adlingfleet, as can be seen from this drawing is made up of five rows of plate instead of six that the hull of "Phyllis" has giving her greater strength and making her an expensive ship to build. Being much later than "Phyllis" there are no strengthening stringers running inside the bow or down the length of the hull.

The keel of "Phyllis" was laid down in 1907, two years before "Titanic" in 1909. In 1907 Barbara Stanwyck, Frank Whittle and John Wayne were born. The great ship "Lucitainia" completed her record breaking crossing of the Atlantic in just five days.