SS Robin is a 300-tonne steam coaster, a class of steamship licensed only for passage in coastal waters, the oldest complete example in the world, at the Royal Docks in London, England for restoration and later display from July 2011.
SS Robin is one of three ships in London on the Core Collection of the National Historic Ships Register (the nautical equivalent of a Grade 1 Listed Building); the others are Cutty Sark and HMS Belfast. One of a pair of 'coasters' built in Bow Creek in 1890, the ship was originally intended to carry raw materials and the products of British industry around the UK and northern Europe.
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SS Robin is 143 feet (44 m) long, her beam is 23 feet (7.0 m), her depth is 12.2 feet (3.7 m) and her tonnage (distinct from weight) is 366 gross register tons. She carried 400 tons of cargo (hold door) or 450 tons (plaque).
The engine is a steam triple expansion reciprocating (three-cylinder), developing 60 horsepower (45 kW). Her maximum speed was 10 knots (19 km/h).
Her official number is 98185 and the port of registry is Glasgow. On the Lloyds register she is registered as TMS SS Robin – Tri Masted Schooner. It appears that this classification is incorrect, however: SS Robin is a steam vessel and was never a sailing auxiliary. Rather, the authors of the Board of Trade registration document appear to have taken note of her three masts—which were not used to hold sails—and assumed she was a schooner.
The original intention after her return was to develop a learning centre and photojournalism gallery which would run an extensive programme of talks, seminars and workshops designed to build bridges between communities. The gallery is a 100 by 23 ft (30 by 7 m), with a flexible classroom and exhibition space within the steel hull.
The main objective of the learning centre and gallery was to use photography as an effective means of communication and education, with the aim of integrating communities, building skills and knowledge through a diverse programme of international photography exhibitions, workshops and talks. While moored at West India Quay, the centre provided an interactive education programme with local schools and businesses.
SS Robin has her own archive comprising some 200 objects and documents. These provide a fascinating insight into the life of a ship which has seen three centuries of maritime history.
The museum will open in early 2012, providing exhibition space, a permanent collection of artefacts and a research facility for those interested in the history of the ship. SS Robin's heritage is intrinsically linked with the shipbuilding and ironworks of London's East End, the site of the 2012 London Olympics.
SS Robin was built in 1890 by Thames Ironworks and Shipbuilding and Engineering Company Ltd. of Orchard House Yard, Bow Creek. She is a steam vessel built for coastal trade, and was built in a style that had been used since the 1840s; similar ships were in constant use up to the 1940s.
She was built by Mackenzie Macalpine and Robert Thomson for Ponsonby and Co. of Newport, Monmouthshire. SS Robin was towed to Scotland to have the engine, the boiler and the auxiliary machinery fitted by Gourlay Bros. of Dundee.
SS Robin was launched on 16 September 1890, and after being fitted out in East India Docks was towed to Dundee to have the engine and auxiliary machinery fitted. On 20 December 1890, Robin commenced her career in the British coastal service at Liverpool, with a crew of 12 signing the Articles for her maiden voyage.
A sister ship named SS Rook was built at the same time but foundered in a gale off Anglesey in 1925.
As a coaster her range was limited to the coastal waters, within sight of land. However, on her first voyage she went 400 miles (600 km) outside the Home Trade limits to Bayonne; the owners had to replace Master mate with another who held the correct certificate, until she returned to Swansea on January 10.
Her second voyage began at Swansea on 14 January 1891, visiting Rouen, Northfleet on the River Thames, Eastham and Garston on the River Mersey, Plymouth, Deauville, Guernsey, London, Rochester, Newport, Swansea, Cherbourg arriving in Northfleet by April 5, 1891
In 1892 SS Robin was sold to Andrew Forrester Blackwater of Glasgow. Until 1900 her trading took place mainly between the seaports of Britain, Ireland and the continental ports and was reported to carry bulk cargoes of grain, iron ore, scrap steel, pits props, china clay, railway steel, general cargoes of casked and baled goods such as herring barrels,[1] and even granite blocks for the Caledonian Canal.
In 1900 SS Robin was sold and renamed the Maria; for the next 75 years or so she had three different Spanish owners.
Until 1965 the structure of Robin stayed mainly unchanged; in 1966 she had a major refit with the whaleback (at the stern) and the mizzen mast removed, the foremast and the funnel shortened, and the forecastle extended. The coal-fired furnaces were modified for oil fuel. After this she resumed trading.
SS Robin was discovered by the Maritime Trust in 1972. Following an inspection, it was decided that she was worth preserving, and in May 1974 she was purchased, on the brink of being sold to Spanish breakers. In June 1974 she came home to St Katherine's Dock under her own steam and given back her original name. She was restored at a cost of £250,000, with most work taking place in 1974 and 1975, and was subsequently moored in St Katherine's Dock.
A new mooring was offered in 1991 at West India Quay where SS Robin stayed until 2008. SS Robin is now listed on the core collection of the National Historic Ships register alongside Cutty Sark, HMS Belfast and Discovery.
In 2002 David and Nishani Kampfner bought SS Robin and set up the SS Robin Trust as a registered charity. HRH Prince Philip is an honorary member, and Jim Fitzpatrick MP and Channel 4 news reader Jon Snow are patrons.
Listed as part of the National Historic Fleet, Core Collection, the restoration of the superstructure of SS Robin began in March 2002. The original beams, structures, fittings and engine were preserved and restored by her volunteer crew.
A bid for lottery funding was refused in 2008; a loan was that year agreed with Crossrail which underwrote essential minimum repairs to the ship. The loan was provided when the vessel had to be moved from its berth to allow for the development of the Canary Wharf railway station which was to be constructed beneath and within the West India North Dock. Without the compensation necessitated by the Crossrail construction proposals and negotiated during the hybrid Bill House of Lords Select Committee process it appeared likely that SS Robin would have to be scrapped. Further fund-raising was needed to repay the loan and continue the repair process.
Structural restoration of SS Robin took place between 2008 and 2010. This including the construction of a bespoke display dock. The structure will house her floating museum, opening shortly before the 2012London Olympics, and provide space for functions and exhibitions.
Before the ship's move to drydock, SS Robin contracted work to dismantle and de-rig the masts, funnel, lifeboats and davits to Cutty Sark Enterprises, beginning mid-late May 2008.
Between 2008 and 2010 she was berthed in Lowestoft for £1.8m of conservation work to her 118 year-old hull.[2] The ship was repaired using, so far as was practicable, the same craft skills with which she was built in 1890, conserving her Victorian technology.
SS Robin left Lowestoft for the Port of Tilbury on 17 September 2010.[2]
In July 2011 she returned to east London, where she was built, undergoing internal restoration to become a floating museum at the Royal Docks in Newham borough[3], for public display starting in late 2011 and including the 2012 London Olympic games.
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