1922 - 1961 | Richard Hall of Arklow Ownership

NOTE: This is identical to what is written on Wikipedia, as both were written by the author of this website, stardust5980 (aka celesteshipping5980).

Purchase

- At the time of his purchase of De Wadden, Richard Hall was expanding his fleet of schooners. He was a well-known ship-owner in Liverpool, having served his time at sea on Liverpool Square-Riggers.[1] He would make a few alterations to the ship, mainly consisting of structural changes in the forward hold where crew quarters were built.[2] as well as installing a bulkhead forward.[1] The size of the deckhouse around the foremast would also be reduced. [10] All of this contributed to a decrease in her gross and net tonnage, reduced to 239 tons and 159 tons respectively.[13] She would also gain a new callsign, EKIF.[6] She was put into service by her new owner as an Irish Sea Trading Vessel following her registry on October 26th 1922[13], sailing out of the River Mersey to various Irish ports carrying cargoes such as grain, pit props, china clay, mineral ores, manure, timber, and coal,[3][1] eventually becoming the last schooner to trade in the British Isles.[4] The Hall family had experience owning and operating schooners, having owned others including the Cymric.[5] Her original 125-horsepower SteyWal engine was replaced with an 80hp Bolinder engine purchased from the Admiralty after a major failure in the 1920s, and she was also fitted with a 50-hp Kelvin engine to give additional power.[3] This meant that in order for both engines to work in unison she had to be given a second propeller, which was placed on her port side. This makes her unique in that she had no starboard counterpart.[13] In the 1930s her bowsprit and and topmasts were shortened, and even more so following WW2, the bowsprit being reduced to a stump. Loading and discharging in this time was done with the ship's gear, by use of booms hoisted and rigged with lifting tackle. The shrinkage of the foremast deckhouse allowed for a motor winch to be installed up forward in its own deckhouse, with drum ends on either side to be used in sail hoisting and cargo work. Crew composed of a captain, engineer, bosun, cook,  seaman, and a boy. The ship is well-remembered by those who served on her.[11]

A slurry of voyages were recorded in the years of 1934/35, starting with a departure from Ayr with a cargo of culm bound for the Bennett Mills on Ballinacurra on August 24th 1934. She was later sent by the same agent, Miss Hickey, to the same mills on September 11th 1934 from Dublin with a cargo of 3,286 malt barrels. The schooner would arrive in Ballinacurra on February 1st 1935 on another voyage which embarked at Birkenhead with a cargo of 334 tons of coal for a firm named Japer & Tatten, later embarking for Dublin with a cargo of 3,571 barrels of malt for J.H.  Bennett. On April 5th she arrived in cork carrying 322 tons of coal which she had brought from Garston, departing on the 18th of that month with 3,264 malt barrels for Dublin.

On June 25th she made another visit to Ballinacurra, carrying 335 tons of coal en route from Glasgow before carrying 15 tons of sand to Birkenhead, leaving on July 5th. She was soon back at Ballinacurra on July 13th with 330 tons of coal for M. Hyde, a firm which mainly imported coal and exported timber. The ship departed on July 22nd to Birkenhead with another 15 tons of sand, returning again with another load of 330 tons of coal, this time for Suttons, arriving on August 2nd. She departed for Garston ten days later on the 12th carrying 15 tons of sand for J.H. Bennett. The roundtrip between Birkenhead, Dublin, and Ballinacurra was a frequent one for De Wadden, again taking a load of 330 tons of coal to the latter for Suttons on September 23rd. She would leave the port of Ballinacurra on October 1st, carrying a mere 15 tons of sand (china clay) for Birkenhead; J.H. Benett the buyer. She appeared in Ballinacurra on October 17th, again with coal and then departing for Wexford with 15 tons of sand on the 24th. The call at Wexford was an outlier to load another cargo, the sand was still ultimately bound for England. She disappears from records in November though was at Whitegate in December, likely in wait for cargo from numerous other ports in Cork Harbour. She took leave from Whitegate carrying no cargo en route to Ballinacurra on December 21st, then heading for Dublin on the 28th with a cargo of 3,535 tons of malt.[13]

For an extended record of the ship's voyages beyond 1935, access this link: https://niallbrn.wordpress.com/category/maritime-history/

War

- During the Second World War, she was one of few vessels providing a vital lifeline of supplies to the Irish Republic, even making some trips to Portugal, and managed to survive the war,[3][12] and in 1941 her engines were replaced again by a six-cylinder 150 hp Crossley DR diesel, though one source states it was changed in the 1930s,[13][6] which was overhauled at least once between 1950 and 1951.[7] The ship was involved in a collision with the Belfast steamer Craigolive in 1951 but was repaired.[6]

Blackwater

- A journey to the River Blackwater was recorded in 1948. On November 13 the ship was carrying 210 tons of timber with O'Keeffe sawmills of Tallow noted as the merchant, travelling to Garston, Liverpool. On May 8, 1958, the ship would make its last trip on the River Blackwater, becoming the last ever schooner to do so, marking the end of river-based transport servicing the catchment. This was because the newly built Youghal Bridge prevented any large sailing ship from passing under it and further upriver. Overall, the ship made 43 passages over the Blackwater between 1936 and 1958. She was known to carry cargo to and from the stonebuilt quays at Killahalla and Cappoquin, as well as Dromana.[7][2][13]

Captains and Crew

- The ship would have seven captains during the period of Richard Hall's ownership. The first, named Edward Hall, was Richard's brother, whose career at sea ended after falling between the ship and a quay, being severely injured in the event. Her second captain, a man named William Kearon, commanded the ship for five years in the 1920s. He died when a vessel he was commanding during WWII was torpedoed and sunk. Captain George Kearon, a first cousin to William, would follow as captain of De Wadden, serving until 1932. The Kearon family was plagued by tragedy, having lost two cousins at sea in WWI, then later George would transfer ships with his son which led to his own demise as well as two of his brothers when their schooner Julia was lost at sea in either February 1931 or 1935.[13] Ted Kearon, another cousin, would be lost while commanding a midget submarine during the attack on the German Battleship Tirpitz in WWII. George Kearon was succeeded by Victor Hall, Richard Hall's son, and would become her longest-serving captain, spanning the years between 1932 and 1952; he would also go on to help accumulate a lot of the information the Merseyside Maritime Museum has on the vessel today. Her next captain was named James Hagan, one of the best-known Arklow schooner men, previously commanding ships including the barque Cupicia and the schooner Happy Harry. Her final captain under Arklow ownership would be Bobby Price, serving until the ship ceased trading in favour of modern motor coasters and was sold into private ownership in 1961.[1][5]

Billy Knight of Charleton Hill, New Ross, was a cook onboard the ship for three years, and in July 2005 was interviewed by the Irish Independent. De Wadden was a known vessel in New Ross, often visiting on voyages bringing coal before taking malt to Dublin and County Waterford. Billy's interest in the ship began when he was very young, visiting the quay to see what was happening there. In 1947 he finally got the opportunity to step aboard the ship, as a cook. The place was offered to him by the ship's captain, Victor Hall. The food was great onboard, and everyone was looking for a job on her because the captain's extra finances led to better quality onboard as opposed to other ships. Billy would often take a few bags of coal and paraffin oil to bring home whenever the ship was in port, which he described as 'no small perk'. Billy had worked at sea before, on the Brooklands, but as she was made of wood and had no engine, he was discouraged. De Wadden on the other hand, with her steel construction and inboard engine, was perfect. There were still bad nights, but nowhere near as bad as the Brooklands. Billy often had a hard time keeping all the food on the pan, and the galley was very small, not helped by the foremast running right through it. The ship had nowhere to store produce, and a lot of the cooking involved frying. Billy always ensured he had a month's supply of corned beef onboard. The menu of corned beef, sausages, fresh fish, and other fried delicacies was quite reserved, but it was still enjoyed by the crew. Billy often fished for mackerel and other boats would throw some of their catches onto De Wadden if she passed. Common ports of call noted by Billy were New Ross, County Waterford, Dublin, Maryport, Youghal, and Garston. He owed his time at sea to youthful enthusiasm, but once reaching the age of 23 he chose to leave the ship and find a land job. The crew made efforts for him to reconsider, but none worked. Billy was hoping to see the ship again in her Merseyside home, but it is unknown if he ever did.[9]

References

1.  Kearon, J. (1985). Pugh, N. R. (ed.). Liverpool Nautical Research Society Bulletin, Volume 29. pp. 86–87. Retrieved 2023-12-16.

2.  "PressReader.com - Digital Newspaper & Magazine Subscriptions". www.pressreader.com.  Retrieved 2023-12-16.

3.  "De Wadden | National Historic Ships". www.nationalhistoricships.org.uk. Retrieved 2023-12-16

4.  "Conserving Unique and Historic Ships". maritime.org. Retrieved 2023-12-16.

5.  "First World War: Britain's surviving vessels". First World War: Britain’s surviving vessels.  Retrieved 2023-12-16.

6.  "Stichting Maritiem Historische Data - Schip". www.marhisdata.nl. Retrieved 2023-12-16.

7.   "De Wadden". Ships Nostalgia. 2013-03-03.  Retrieved 2023-12-16.

8.  Dusseldorp, Wouter van (2021-01-27). "Nederlandse schoener De Wadden bewaard in Liverpool". Scheepspost (in Dutch). Retrieved 2023-12-16.

9. https://m.independent.ie/regionals/wexford/new-ross-news/memories-come-flooding-back-for-seafarer-billy/27426994.html Retrieved 2023-12-22.

10. http://snap.waterfordcoco.ie/collections/ebooks/95152/95152.pdf Retrieved 2023-12-22.

11. http://snap.waterfordcoco.ie/collections/ebooks/95152/95152.pdf Retrieved 2023-12-22.

12. Anderson, John (1948) Coastwise Sail, Retrieved 2023-12-29.

13. https://niallbrn.wordpress.com/category/maritime-history/ Retrieved 2024-06-22.