SB Ena
![]() Ena lying on the mud at Hoo, 2018
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History | |
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Name | Ena |
Owner |
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Builder | McLearon, Harwich, Essex, UK |
Launched | 1906 |
Identification |
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Status | Lying in the marshes |
General characteristics | |
Class and type | Thames sailing barge |
Tons burthen | 73 |
Length | 88.13 ft (26.86 m) |
Beam | 20.6 ft (6.3 m) |
Draught | 2 ft (0.61 m)approx |
Depth of hold | 6.89 ft (2.10 m)approx |
Propulsion |
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Sail plan | mulie rig sprit mainsail, topsail, mizzen, gaff rigged with boom. |
Capacity | 150 tonnes |
Complement | 2 |
Notes | Served in both World War I as an ammunition barge, and in World War II in the Dunkirk evacuation.[1]Focus of 2002, first series of theSalvage Squad.[2] |
TheEnais a woodenThames sailing bargeconstructed inHarwichin 1906 that is resting on the flats adjacent to Stargate Marina inHoo,Kent. She is a notableDunkirk little shipreputed to have rescued 100 men.[3]
In 2002,Enawas the focus of an episode of theChannel 4TV seriesSalvage Squad.[2][4]
History[edit]
The barge was built speculatively by W B McLearon at the Navy Yard slip, Harwich in 1906. R & W Paul Ltd, the grain and agricultural merchants, bought her in 1907 to use in thegrain trade.This was the second barge they had bought from W B McLearon's Navy Yard, after theThalatta.They rigged her as a mulie in their own Dock End Shipyard.[1]
First World War service[edit]
Ena served in the First World War, delivering supplies across the Channel to troops in France. Her shallow draught allowed her to operate in waters too shallow for the enemy U-boats.[1]
Dunkirk evacuation[edit]
ThirteenThames sailing bargesmade the crossing, six from R & W Paul Ltd's fleet. On the Dunkirk beaches, her crew were ordered to abandon her. She was beached but then refloated by Lt Colonel W G Mc Kay and men of the 19th Field Regiment, Royal Artillery, and taken back to Kent, notable as none of them was asailorman.[1]
See also[edit]
References[edit]
![](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/4/4a/Commons-logo.svg/30px-Commons-logo.svg.png)
- ^abcdEna 199.
- ^ab"Thames Sailing Barge".Salvage Squad.Series 1. Episode 9. 2002.Channel 4.
- ^"Dunkirk hero ship Ena pictured decaying at Hoo | On The Thames".onthethames.net.14 August 2017.Retrieved10 April2018.
- ^Salvage Squad: Sailing BargeonYouTube
- Bibliography
- "Ena | National Historic Ships".www.nationalhistoricships.org.uk.Retrieved10 April2018.