The good ship TWIZZLE … I have no idea how the name originated, and thankfully it was not too long before it took on a “better” name, although it would have been nicer if it had stayed at Tilbury.
This motor tug, of 129 tons gross, was being built by Henry Robb Ltd, at Leith in Scotland, when the Second World War started, and completed early in 1940 as MSC MALLARD for Manchester Ship Canal Company. She was in service on the canal until 1973 and was then sold to Thames Services (Marine) Ltd, which had offices at Tilbury Repair Jetty and also in Preston Road, Blackwall, London E14. There is a measure of disagreement as to when Thames Services sold the tug … either 1975 or 1976 (I think that late 1975 is more likely), when she went to Northern Ireland to become the port tug for Londonderry Port & Harbour Commissioners, which renamed her ABERFOYLE. The tug lasted another ten years and was scrapped in 1986.
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The good ship TWIZZLE … I have no idea how the name originated, and thankfully it was not too long before it took on a “better” name, although it would have been nicer if it had stayed at Tilbury.
This motor tug, of 129 tons gross, was being built by Henry Robb Ltd, at Leith in Scotland, when the Second World War started, and completed early in 1940 as MSC MALLARD for Manchester Ship Canal Company. She was in service on the canal until 1973 and was then sold to Thames Services (Marine) Ltd, which had offices at Tilbury Repair Jetty and also in Preston Road, Blackwall, London E14. There is a measure of disagreement as to when Thames Services sold the tug … either 1975 or 1976 (I think that late 1975 is more likely), when she went to Northern Ireland to become the port tug for Londonderry Port & Harbour Commissioners, which renamed her ABERFOYLE. The tug lasted another ten years and was scrapped in 1986.
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