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The 'Orwell' Waterguard Hailing Station |
The vessel was 90' in length, 184 tons displacement, and built of iron as the Trinity House Light Ship 'Edinburgh' in 1860, and purchased by HM Customs & Excise in 1931 for £250 and converted to a Hailing Station at a cost of £575.
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Plan showing the accommodation in use c1955 |
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Plan showing the Main Deck - c1955 |
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Plan showing the Lower Deck - c1955 |
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She was moored between two buoys some 300 feet from the Commissioners Water Quay, North Shields. The primary duty of the vessel was to provide a suitable site and accommodation for Customs & Excise Hailing Officers who hailed all ships going in and out of the River Tyne. The vessel also acted as a mooring for the reserve Middle and Lower Station launches, and as an engineering base for all the port's launches.
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Position of the 'Orwells' Mooring - c1955 |
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The 'Orwell' Customs Hailing Station on her way to the breakers yard via Albert Edward Dock, North Shields, in April 1957. By 1955, with only a compliment of 3 Watchers, she had lost here role as an engineering base and the engineer's stores had moved to other premises. So after due consultation it was decide she would be 'withdrawn'. She was officially decommissioned on 3I May I957 and towed to a berth in the Albert Edward Dock.
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