Ahoy There

A scale shipyard model of the 'Empire Tesbury' built by Bartram and Sons Ltd Sunderland, 1945-1946 for the Ministry of War Transport.
Estimate £1,000 - £1,500
To be sold Antique and Interiors Sale 7th August

Built by Bartram and Sons Ltd, Sunderland, the Empire Tesbury was a 975 GRT coastal tanker. The tanker launched on 21 November 1945 and was completed in March 1946. The tanker was built for The Ministry of War Transport. 

Formed by the British Government early in the Second World War, The Ministry of War Transport (MoWT) was formed by merging the Ministry of Shipping and the Ministry of Transport. Founded on 1st May 1941 after the appointment of Lord Leathers as Minister of War Transport, the MoWT brought the responsibility of the shipping and land transport into a single department to ease co-ordination problems of transport in wartime.

The tanker was chartered out commercially in 1951 by the Admiralty and renamed Rippledyke. The Royal Fleet Auxiliary used the tanker as RFA Rippledyke in 1958 as an oil hulk at Gibraltar. After being sold to S. Lucchese & L. Esposito, Italy the tanker was converted to a suction dredger in 1960, now 1,000 GRT. The tanker was renamed Ada in 1965 and collided with a ship 'Bočna' and sank on 5 November 1966 at Lido, Venice. The wreckage was struck on 16th November by motorboat Marini Di Sapri which sank as a result. On 4th February 1967 the tanker re-floated and was repaired; including a new diesel engine being fitted. The tanker was then reclassed as a barge in 1978 and eventually scrapped in November 1981 at Porto Nogaro, Italy.

Founded in 1838 Bartram & Sons were a shipbuilding firm, started by George Bartram and John Lister. In 1852 the partnership between Bartram and Lister ended and Robert Appleby Bartram, George’s son was brought on board. Forming a partnership with George Haswell after his father’s retirement in 1871, Robert established Bartram, Haswell & Co. The company was positioned at South Dock in Sunderland. After the retirement of George Haswell in 1889, Robert brought his sons, William and George on board. The company became limited in 1922 and was taken over by George and William in 1925.