The Restoration of the paddle tug John H. Amos has
begun.
For more than three decades the John H Amos has
waited for this moment.
Until now her restoration could not start because she was on a site
needed for development and she had to be moved.
The vessel could not be towed away because her hull was corroded and
could not be trusted to survive a hazardous tow.
It would have been embarrassing for the developers to have her cut up
because she is one of the most important historic vessels in the country.
The only option was to lift her with a giant crane and place her on
her own pontoon.
To the casual observer the John H Amos was known as "that
paddle tug abandoned and sunk at Chatham". Behind the scenes it was
very different:
· A massive pontoon was acquired.
· A suitably large floating crane, one of the largest in Europe,
operated by Chatham based GPS Marine, was contracted at a non commercial
price.
· The pontoon was put to work to help pay for the crane.
· Timber was found to re-enforce the deck of the pontoon.
· Dock blocks were borrowed.
· A suitable mooring was arranged for the pontoon.
· Railway lines were borrowed and welded to re-enforce the hull
of the John H Amos.
· Steel girders were located and transported to re-enforce the
deck of the John H Amos.
PREPARATION FOR THE LIFT.
Since the middle of February it was beginning to look as
though the crane barge Atlas would have two commercial jobs to do in the
South East of England. These had to be in place before a subsidised lift
of the John H Amos could be done.
The date of the possible lift changed ten times between mid February and
mid March. A difficult scenario to give notice to others involved.
With the specific practical help of Martin Staniforth, Martin Stevens was determined that everything should be ready just in case the great lift happened this time.
THE THREE LIFTS.
On the morning of Wednesday 26th March 2008 Martin Staniforth was still welding extra steel re-enforcements to the lifting spreader beams, and at the lunch time high tide the Atlas appeared for the first of three lifts.
The first part of the lift was to raise the bow of the John
H Amos and slide two wire lifting stropps under the hull.
The two others had been placed in position almost two years previously.
This having been competently completed the Atlas retreated until high tide the next day.
On Thursday 27th March 2008 the JohnH Amos was raised
from what some locals called her "watery grave".
A marine surveyor who would rather remain anonymous as he admitted to
having tears in his eyes.
Holes had been cut in the hull of the John H Amos to allow the water to drain rapidly as she was lifted. The crane operator said that the weight on the crane was 330 tonnes when the lift started and 225 tonnes after the water had drained.
When the John H Amos had been lifted and turned 90 degrees parallel to the river a transport barge was slid under her and she was lowered onto the deck. About 80% of the weight was still supported by the crane.
In the meantime the Medway Maritime Trust pontoon, Portal Narvik, had been moved down river to a deeper mud berth for the transfer. This was to happen at high tide the next day.
On Friday 28th March 2008 the third lift took place.
The director of operations, Dutchman Jaco Sluijmers, had
decided to bring the pontoon Portal Narvik across the river to
the John H Amos because there would be more time for the transfer
without the restriction of a falling tide.
This was a well judged decision as it proved to be a difficult job to
free the stropps.
So began a tow up river in the dark, past her old home in the dockyard where the John H Amos had spent the last decade, to a buoy in Rochester.
The first jobs will be to clean the vessel and begin a comprehensive recording programme. This is necessary because, despite have a complete set of original drawings for the ship, the details added by "old Fred in the shipyard" will ensure that the restored vessel will have all the authenticity of the 1931 vessel.
John H Amos on the pontoon Portal Narvik.This can be seen from
Rochester railway station.
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FOR UP TO DATE INFORMATION TELEPHONE
MARTIN STEVENS 07710 900 004
The Trust would like to offer its sincere thanks to the following:
ORGANISATIONS INVOLVED.
All this work had to be done with minimal funding and with the help of
friendly companies and organisations such as:
· GPS Marine who own tugs and operate the crane barge Atlas,
· Peel Ports who control Medway Ports,
· National Historic Ships,
· Rochester Bridge Trust,
· Museums, Libraries and Archives Council
· G.G.Stevens & Son of Sittingbourne, sellers of Woodstoves
and Garden Machinery, who have generally supported the project,
· Nuttalls who donated the timber decking and
Derek Gransden for the use
of his Scammell to position the strops.
· Chatham Historic Dockyard Trust who lent their dock blocks,
Plus so many individuals and other companies without whom this project could not have progressed.
All the above have
and are making the present operation possible.