TS Royalist
| File:TS Royalist.JPG TS Royalist at the Bristol Harbour Festival 2009 | |
| Career | |
|---|---|
| Name: | Royalist |
| Owner: | The Marine Society & Sea Cadets |
| Operator: | Sea Cadets Offshore Office |
| Port of registry: |
 Portsmouth |
| Builder: | Groves & Gutteridge, Cowes |
| Launched: | 3 August 1971 |
| Identification: |
IMO Number 1003530 MMSI Number 235004308 Callsign MROR |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type: | Sail Training Vessel |
| Tonnage: | 83 GRT |
| Length: |
29.52 metres (96 ft 10 in) overall 23.32 metres (76 ft 6 in) hull length |
| Installed power: | Two Perkins diesel engines, 101 kilowatts (135 hp) each |
| Sail plan: | Brig |
TS Royalist is a brig owned and operated as a sail training ship by the Sea Cadet Corps of the United Kingdom.
Contents
Description
Royalist is 83 GRT and her hull is 23.32 metres (76 ft 6 in) long, with an overall length of 29.52 metres (96 ft 10 in). As well as her sails, she is equipped with two Perkins diesel engines of 110 kilowatts (150 hp) each.[1]
History
Royalist was built by Groves and Guttridge, Cowes, Isle of Wight. She was designed by Colin Mudie RDI and launched on 3 August 1971 by Princess Anne.[2] In 1992, Royalist was taken out of the water for a refit, termed as a "Mid-Life Upgrade". Various facilities were improved, and she got a new coat of paint. Royalist was re-launched by Princess Anne, (now the Princess Royal). She is built of steel, with an overall length of 29 metres (97 feet) (not including the bowsprit, which adds about 8 metres onto her overall length), and has a traditional square-rigged brig layout.
Crew
Almost every week of the year, 24 Sea Cadets, Combined Cadet Force (Navy) and a single week of Air cadets from all over the UK join the ship and spend the whole week on board working as part of the team. Many different parts of the UK are visited, sailing from her home berth in Gosport to Southampton, Poole and the Isle of Wight.
Every week, there are two berths made available to Adults (18+) as Watch Officers.
In addition to the temporary crew, there are also 6 permanent members of crew. These are the Captain, the Sailing Master, the Engineer, the Boatswain, the Coxswain and the Cook. The former 3 members of crew are officers of the RNR, while the latter are Senior Rates of the SCC.
Incidents
On 20 May 1996, Royalist ran aground in the River Severn some 3 nautical miles (5.6 km) north of the Severn Bridge near Oldbury Power Station. Twenty cadets were taken off by helicopter and lifeboat.[3]
On 5 April 2009. Royalist ran aground in Chapman's Pool, Dorset (50°35′17″N 2°04′46″W / 50.58806°N 2.07944°W). The Marine Accident Investigation Branch (MAIB) investigated the incident and found that the Master of Royalist had taken on too many tasks at once.[1]
On the evening of 2 May 2010 a 14 year old male Sea Cadet was killed, following a fall from the rigging whilst furling sails when the ship was anchored in Stokes bay, in the Solent. He was named the next day as Jonathan Martin.[4][5] The MAIB have opened an investigation into the accident.[6]
Opportunities
Trips abroad are also taken regularly, such as to the Channel Islands and to France, Belgium and in some cases, the Netherlands and Germany. Also, during the Tall Ships race period, Royalist can visit other countries of Europe.
For around four or five weeks of the year, for The Tall Ships' Races, Royalist becomes a racing ship. During this period, only cadets who are over 16 years of age are allowed to crew her. This period usually involves a crew taking her to the start of the race (1 week duration). Then, the race crew come onboard, and race Royalist against other Class A ships in the race, which are from all over the world (2 week duration). When the race finishes, yet another crew come aboard, and bring her back home (2 week duration).
Cadets can gain various qualifications when they complete a week on board TS Royalist, which are Offshore Hand 1, Offshore Hand 2, Offshore Seaman, and Offshore Watchleader. The only way to gain any further qualifications, is by getting day skippers, onboard TS Vigilant or the sister TS City Liveryman.
See also
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 "Report on the investigation of the grounding of the sail training vessel TS Royalist near Chapman’s Pool off the south coast of the United Kingdom 5 April 2009". MAIB. http://www.maib.gov.uk/cms_resources.cfm?file=/TS_Royalist_Report.pdf. Retrieved 4 May 2010.
- ↑ "Projets - TS Royalist". Fertan. http://www.fertan.co.uk/projects-Royalist.htm. Retrieved 4 May 2010.
- ↑ "Cadets taken off stranded ship". The Independent. 21 May 1996. http://www.independent.co.uk/news/cadets-taken-off-stranded-ship-1348405.html. Retrieved 4 May 2010.
- ↑ "Sea cadet, 14, dies after falling from ship in Solent". BBC News Online. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/hampshire/8657813.stm. Retrieved 4 May 2010.
- ↑ Weaver, Matthew (3 May 2010). "Teenage Sea Cadet dies after falling overboard in the Solent". The Guardian. http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2010/may/03/sea-cadet-dies-fall-overboard-solent. Retrieved 1 June 2010. "14-year-old from Kent flown to hospital after being recovered from Stokes Bay, off Gosport, but later pronounced dead"
- ↑ "Current investigations". MAIB. http://www.maib.gov.uk/latest_news/current_investigations.cfm. Retrieved 4 May 2010.
