Bid to save little ship with big past after sinking

A 92-year-old wooden boat, believed to have been involved in the Dunkirk evacuation and Atlantic convoys during World War Two, is in need of major repairs after nearly sinking.

Athlone Castle had been carrying children and adults for a birthday party when it broke down and beached at West Bay, Dorset, on 4 July.

The passengers safely disembarked but the vessel was damaged and over the following days attempts to re-float it were unsuccessful.

Owner Jeremy Gower, who recently uncovered its history, said the submerged vessel was eventually towed to safety and he is now fundraising to restore it.

Gower bought Athlone Castle about eight years ago but remembers seeing it in Bridport Harbour since he was a child.

The former radio vessel is just 32ft-long (9.75m) yet, according to Gower, log books held at the National Maritime Museum in Greenwich show it crossed the Atlantic seven times to help protect supply vessels during the Battle of the Atlantic during World War Two.

In one such log, he says a crew member recorded being 1,700 miles (2735km) from land as the vessel climbed waves of 70-80ft (20-25m).

Gower said: "Crossing the Atlantic is beyond bonkers and they did it seven times.

"They only had a motor and the mothership would see them every two to three days to refuel."

The vessel is also believed to be one of the last surviving "little ships" involved in Operation Dynamo - the evacuation of 338,000 soldiers from northern France between 26 May and 4 June 1940.

Gower believes Athlone Castle was one of about 30 boats that sailed to Dunkirk after the main flotilla, but the crew were not fully briefed and brought the first 22 evacuees directly back to Ramsgate before being sent back across the Channel to ferry more soldiers to the waiting ships.

He said: "I didn't really appreciate her full history until this became public but in the last 10 days we have had people from all over the place telling us the extraordinary things this little boat had done.

"It is one of the most travelled little boats and has done about 2.147 million nautical miles."

The vessel was built in Belfast by Harland and Wolfe and operated as a radio vessel, sailing the east coast of Africa where it would relay transmissions from the shore to ships at sea.

Because the vessel did not completely sink, its damage is not covered by insurance, so Gower has launched a crowdfunding campaign to raise nearly £100,000 to restore it, using as many of its reclaimed timbers as possible.

He has already received offers of help from a crane operator, two garages, a foundry and others.

He said the "tragedy" was part of the boat's "long and courageous history", adding: "We want to get her back in the water to make people smile once again."