MV PIET SCHIPPER

Position ...  Officially not located, however there are reports of a site being dived in the early 2000's that was thought to be that of the Piet Schipper.

Type ...  Cargo, machinery aft, plumb bow, counter stern

Official number ...  149253

Built ...  1925

Construction ...  Steel

Tonnage ...  Grt 121, Net 66

Builder ...  S. B. Amble. Co. Ltd

Engine ...  Diesel

Dimensions ...  Length 98 feet, beam 19 feet, draught 7 feet 9 inches, quarter deck 34 feet, forecastle 14 feet

Screw ...  Diameter 54 inches / blades x3

Lost ...  10th May 1960

Casualties ...  None

Ownership History

Built in 1925 as the tanker Southgate for the Anglo - American Oil Co Ltd, Southampton. 

1951 ... New owner, Esso Petroleum Ltd, Southampton. Withdrawn from service on the 8th August 1955 pending disposal by sale.

1955 ... New owner, H. G. Pounds, Portsmouth

1956 ... New owner, Pieter Jan Schipper (Netherlands) renamed Cisterna.

1957 ... Converted into a dry cargo vessel

1959 ... renamed Piet Schipper

Below ...  The Piet Schipper high and dry, reportedly near Calais?

Of note ... In either 1958 or 1959 the Piet Schipper was fitted with a new engine, this being built by Van Berkel's of Rotterdam. Engine type, diesel, 4SA  x2 cylinders.

Engine at time of build

Built by L. Gardner  and Sons of Manchester (1925).

Engine number ... 26397

Fuel ... Diesel

Cylinders ... x4 / cylinder diameters  eleven and a half inches

Length of stroke ... Twelve and a half inches

Circumstances of loss

En route from Antwerp to Boston in Lincolnshire with a cargo of steel plates. A shift in the cargo caused the vessel to capsize and sink two miles north off Haisborough. All the crew were picked up safely by the British vessel Charles Parson.