A BRIEF HISTORY OF CHALLENGE

Acquired by SHIP TOWAGE [LONDON] LIMITED 1-2-1950. Disposed 1973 Official No. 162549. Call sign MPZB.

31-5-1940 Worked at Dunkirk berthing vessels in the harbour during the evacuation.

3-7-1944 Damaged by V1 rocket in Royal Albert Dock. Repaired at Mills and Knight's yard, Rotherhithe.

1964 Converted to oil fired boiler at Sheerness. Access to aft accommodation moved from the engine room to current position.

29-10-1973 Sold to Taylor Woodrow Ltd. for preservation at St. Katherines Dock, London.

2006 Still in existence. The last steam tug to operate in the Ship Towage fleet.

Challenge was the last steam tug to serve on the Thames and was based on the Thames for all her working life but her work meant that she steamed as far as Scotland, Holland, Belgium, France and the South Coast of England. Jobs included towing barges of bricks from Holland and Belgium, laden square rigged ships, cargo ships and passenger liners

At that time in the thirties and forties London Docks were at the hub of the world trade with cargos and passengers coming from and going to all corners of the globe with several large fleets of steam tugs competing to tow and dock the ships. She was often used to take crews to their vessels that had not come up the estuary, often with up to 60 or 70 crew members on board

In 1939 her war started and she was put under admiralty orders, and in May/June 1940 she took part in the evacuation of British and allied troops from Dunkirk. She, along with her sister ship Contest and other tugs from the Thames was an integral part of the fleet of Little Ships which plucked from the beaches and harbours over 338,000 men. (see the Dunkirk page)

Returning to the Thames, she was equipped with a flying bridge to mount an Oerlikon cannon and a fore-bridge for two Lewis guns. Work included towing the Maunsel Towers out to the Thames Estuary where they formed the front line of defence against invasion. Later jobs included towing parts of the Mulberry Harbour which ensured the success of the D Day landings.

In 1944 a VI flying bomb exploded in the water close alongside causing extensive damage and lighting a number of fires. Fortunately she survived, some of the shrapnel holes are still in evidence.

After the war she continued in service.

In 1950 she, and a number of other vessels, which had been involved with the evacuation returned to Dunkirk where crewmembers took part in the march past as representatives of all the tugmen who took part in the evacuation.

In 1954 she rescued three survivors of the Steam Tug Cervia after she capsized, Cervia was towing the P&O Liner Arcadia. the liner went ahead before Cervia had dropped the tow and she was girted* with the loss of six crew. (Cervia is now preserved in Ramsgate)

*When a tug is pulled sideways by the vessel she is towing and capsizes it is known as "girted"..

1973 (29th of October) she was sold The Taylor Woodrow Group just a week before she was going to be scrapped. Taylor Woodrow was redeveloping St Katherine's Dock and Challenge joined some other vessels to form a collection of historic Thames vessels. She spent the next 19 years moored in the dock close by Tower Bridge.

By 1993 she had become a victim of age and neglect, and would have been scrapped but for the intervention of The Dunkirk Little Ships Restoration Trust, which had been set up only months before with the object of saving any Dunkirk Little Ship which is in danger of destruction.

Thanks to the generosity of Sun Tugs and the Port of Tilbury, Challenge was moved to Tilbury Docks where work started on the restoration. This is being carried out by a team of dedicated volunteers helped by many young people including a team of Duke of Edinburgh's Award qualifiers, thus meeting the second objective of the Trust, which is to educate the public in the skills necessary to rebuild and maintain the vessels.

December 1994, Work has progressed well with the boiler being fired for the first time, and on the 19th January 1995, 21 years after she last moved under her own power, the first manoeuvring tests were successfully carried out in Tilbury Dock. The foredeck has been re-plated, and the steam winch overhauled and re-installed. All of the machinery has been overhauled and is in full working order and much of the electric wiring has been replaced.

In December 2000 Challenge was towed to Southampton were we have a very good relationship with the British Military Powerboat Trust. They had recently been allowed to use the old Husbands Shipyard site at Marchwood near Southampton where it was proposed to create a heritage centre. There was also a large jetty and slipways capable of taking Challenge.

23 July 2001, At last exactly 8 years after leaving Tower Bridge she was slipped for all the major engineering work to be done. This included pumping out the oil tanks, removing asbestos, blasting off, re-plating and painting the hull. This work was completed in November 2001 and she was re-launched still leaving much work to be done. This was completed in 2003 and after trials Challenge steamed back to the Thames to her berth at Tilbury and then to the London International Boat Show.

Urgent attention had to be made to the accommodation as many of the volunteers come from a distance and need feeding and sleeping arrangements. To this end the toilet arrangements, which were almost non existent, have been expanded to give two toilets with showers and running hot and cold water, the galley refurbished and equipped to do the catering and the accommodation cleaned and painted. Central heating is now in place in order to protect against frost and condensation damage.

2004, May, Challenge attended the Dordrecht Steam festival and in July the Brest Festival of the Sea, She was a great success at both shows. She proved very popular in Brest and featured on French TV.

2005 May, Challenge attends the Association of Dunkirk Little Ship cruise to Dunkirk to commemorate the 65th anniversary of the evacuation from Dunkirk in 1940. She was under the command of Sir Robin Knox-Johnson, Vice President of the DLSRT.

2005 June, Challenge was invited to attend The International Fleet Review by Her Majesty the Queen at Spithead, and then in the following week she attended the International Festival of the Sea (IFOS) in Portsmouth.

2006 saw the start of a major refit which will include refurbishing the tail shafts and bearings, realigning of the main engine bearings, and a major overhaul of the boiler, this refit will run into 2008, we hope to attend the Brest festival again in July 2008.

OWNERS 1931-1965 Elliott Steam Tug Co. 1965 -1968 William Watkins Ltd. 1968 -1974 London Tugs Ltd. 1974 -1993 St. Katherine Haven Ltd. 1993 - present Dunkirk Little Ships Restoration Trust

Read about the delivery trip from Southampton to Tilbury