W. Doxford & Sons of Sunderland, builders of the Rokos Vergottis and her engine... William Doxford founded the company in 1840. From 1870 it was based in Pallion, Sunderland, on the River Wear in Northeast England. The Company was managed by William Doxford's four sons following his death in 1882. It was acquired by Northumberland Shipbuilding Company in 1918. It was renamed Doxford & Sunderland Shipbuilding & Engineering Co Ltd in 1961 and Doxford & Sunderland Ltd in 1966. Court Line took it over in 1972 and renamed it Sunderland Shipbuilders Ltd. In the 1970s a new all-weather Pallion yard was built which could build two ships of up to 30,000 tons deadweight side-by-side. The steel came in at one end, and the completed ship left from the other with engines installed and sometimes with the machinery running. Court Line collapsed in 1974 and the company was nationalised. It was privatised in 1986 when it was merged with Austin & Pickersgill to form North East Shipbuilders. The last ship built at Pallion was floated out of the yard in 1989 after which it closed as a shipbuilding yard. The old shipyard is now occupied by Pallion Engineering Limited, whilst the former marine engine works is occupied by W.H.Forster (Printers) Ltd.
Rokos Vergottis
Position ... 52 52 825 N / 002 12 019 E (Smiths Knoll)
Type ... WW1 A Class standard cargo ship
Official number ... 32561
Built ... 1919
Propulsion ... Steam
Tonnage ... 5637 grt
Dimensions ... 130.5 x 16.8 x 8.7 mtrs
Engine ... x1, 3 cylinder triple expansion
Boilers ... x3 single ended Scotch type, x9 corrugated furnaces
Power ... 517 nhp
Speed ... 11 knots
Builder ... W. Doxford & Sons, Sunderland (yard number 536)
Engine builder ... W. Doxford & Sons, Sunderland
Lost ... 23rd December 1941
Cause ... Mined then grounded on Smith's Knoll
Casualties ... 0
Depth ... 11 mtrs
Technical data ... (Rokos Vorgottis, standard A class cargo ship)
Hull and upper structures
Three Island type, x1 deck
Poop deck 49 feet / Bridge deck 113 feet / Forecastle 38 feet
Construction, steel
Holds x4, x2 forward of bridge, x2 aft of bridge
Double bottom construction
Boilers
X3 single ended Scotch type boilers (coal fired)
Furnaces, x3 corrugated furnaces per boiler, x9 furnaces in total
Working pressure, 180lb
Diameter each boiler, 15 feet 6 inches
Length of each boiler, 11 feet 7 inches
Shell plate thickness, 1 1/4 inches
Donkey boiler fitted, no
Engine and propulsion
Triple expansion, x3 cylinders
Cylinder sizes and stroke, Hp 27 inches / Ip 44 inches/ Lp 73 inches // Stroke 48 inches
Donkey engines x3
Single shaft x1 screw
Diameter of prop shaft, 15 1/2 inches
Screw, x4 blades, diameter 17 feet 6 inches
Pitch of screw. 16 feet 6 inches
Left ... A bank of two single ended Scotch type boilers with x3 corrugated furnaces each. The Roko Vergottis had a bank of three boilers of this design.
There were two types of furnace available for the construction of boilers. Firstly the corrugated type and secondly the plain type. The advantage of the corrugated furnace due to its corrugation was that it proved to be more flexible, stronger and in turn extended the life of the boiler.
Below ... General arrangement of a standard A Class cargo ship
As can be seen below, due to the A class being engined midships, the shaft tunnel runs beneath holds 3 and 4, this in turn reducing the depth of the two holds, this obviously reducing the cargo carrying capacity for holds 3 and 4. A way around this loss of cargo space was to incorporate a raised quarter deck into a given ships design. For more information on the benefits of a raised quarter deck for engines midships, please follow the link below to the Corchester
Left ... basic workings of a triple expansion engine. Red, steam from the boilers enters the high pressure cylinder (Hp), yellow, steam from the Hp cylinder enters the intermediate pressure cylinder (Ip), blue, steam from the Ip cylinder enters the low pressure cylinder (Lp) from here the low pressure steam leaves the engine and is fed into a surface condenser. In the condenser, the steam is cooled and returned to its liquid state as it meets the cold water tubes within the condenser. From here the water is fed back into the boiler for re-use. To the left of each con rod can be seen the valve gear, this opening and shutting the cylinder valves. The type of valve gear most favoured at the time was the Stephensons valve gear, as featured in the diagram (note the eccentrics on the crank).
Below, Double bottom cross section as incorporated in the Roko Vergottis .... A double bottom is a method of construction where the bottom of the ship has two separate layers of watertight hull floor. The outer layer forms the outer hull and the inner layer, ie the floor forms a watertight barrier should the outer hull be breached. Up until 2007, double bottomed vessels were allowed to utilise their DB's for fuel storage. In addition the DB can also be used for the storage of ballast water.
Origins of standardised ship building during WW1 and the A class standardised cargo ship .... During WW1 (1914-18) , over nine million gross tons of British shipping was lost due to enemy action, with losses reaching there a peak during April, May and June 1917, when over 1.4 million gross tons were sunk.
In 1916 the British Government appointed a shipping Controller in order to provide and maintain an effective supply of shipping. An extensive shipbuilding programme was set in motion with the decision made that all ships would be of a simple design and standardised as far as possible regarding their engines and hulls. The building of these standardised vessels was not exclusive to British ship yards, in turn orders were also placed for ships in the United States via the Cunard Steamship Co. In addition vessels were built in Canada , Japan, Hong Kong and Shanghai.
All these vessels were given names prefixed with WAR, but just after the United States entered the war in 1917, they requisitioned all ships being built and only a few were delivered bearing their original intended names. Many of these cancelled names were re-allocated to British built ships.
After the Armistice in 1918, many of the standard ships being built were sold to shipping companies and completed to their owners specifications.
Excluding orders to United States shipyards, 821 ships were ordered. 416 were completed to Government order, 279 were sold to private companies before completion and the remaining orders were cancelled.
Fourteen of these ships were lost in WWI, but they were lost in large numbers during WWII.
In addition to the A Class, there were an additional nine other types of standardised vessels built during WW1, these being listed below,
Type
A .. 400 x 52 feet / 5030 grt / 11 knots / Single deck
B ... 400 x 52 feet / 5030 grt / 11 knots / two deck
C ... 331 x 46 feet, 6 inches / 3000 grt / 11.5 knots / Single deck
D ... 285 x 41 feet, 9 inches / 2300 grt / 11.5 knots / Collier
E ... 376 x 51 feet, 6 inches / 4400 grt / 11.5 knots / Tween deck
F ... 411 feet, 6 inches x 55 feet, 6 inches / 6440 grt / 12knots / Tween deck
F1 ... 400 x 53 / 5680 grt / 12 knots / Shelter deck
G ... 450 x 58 / 8000 grt / 13 knots / Various
H ... 303 x 43 / 2800 grt / 10.5 knots / Single deck
N ... 411 feet, 6 inches x 55 feet, 5 inches / 6500grt / 11 knots
History of 0wnership
Laid down as the War Begonia for the Shipping Controller in 1919, bought whilst under construction by Panaghis Vergottis Argostoli of Greece and renamed Rokos Vergottis. In 1927 she went into the ownership of Mrs K. Vergotti Argostoli and then in 1928 into the hands of Gerassimos Vergottis Steam Ship Co Ltd. In 1938 the Rokos Vergottis changed hands again and become the property of Eptanisos Steam Ship Company (Adelphi Vergottis Ltd, London) who owned her up until the time of her loss.
Circumstances of loss
On the 23rd December 1941, whilst attached to convoy FS.679 = FS. 79/phase 7, on passage from Montreal / Methill to London with a cargo of grain, the Rokos Vergottis hit a mine. She was taken in tow but later grounded on Smiths Knoll where she broke in two. In addition to the Rokos Vergottis, three other vessels were lost from the convoy. On the 23rd December, the same day as the Rokos Vergottis was lost, the Belgium cargo ship Leopold 2 also hit a mine and sank between Hammond Knoll and Smiths Knoll. The other two vessels lost from the convoy were the Greek vessels, Zeus and Stylianos Chandris.
UKHO
1960 ... Back broken, funnel missing, foremast, main mast & top of after samson post visible.
1994 ... Swept clear at 6.5 mtrs, foul at 6.8 mtrs. General depth 11 mtrs. Length 70 mtrs, width 12 mtrs.
The wreck today
Awaiting divers report