Vera SS (Cley)

VERA SS
(CLEY)

Research by Paul Hennessey / underwater photography by Louise De Lisle / Paul Hennessey

Position ... 52 58 000N / 001 03 500E
Depth ... 7mtrs
Shore dive
Dimensions ... Length 88.2mtrs Beam 11.6mtrs Draught 6mtrs
Type and decks ... Cargo. Plum bow, counter stern, poop deck 29ft / quarter deck 78 feet.
Engine ... Triple 3 cylinder expansion / Hp22, Ip36, Lp59 x 39 inch stroke
Propulsion ... Single shaft / x1 screw
Boilers ... x2 single ended Scotch type boilers / x6 corrugated furnaces / made by Blair & Co, Stockton-On-Tees
Donkey boiler ... x1 vertical , built by Riley Brothers of Stockton.
Screw / prop ... x1 main / x1 spare / diameter 15 feet 6 inches
Tonnage ... 2391 gross
Cargo ... Coal
Date of loss 15th November 1914
Cause of loss ... Collision with HMS Parthian (Minesweeper)
Built ... 1891 by Turnbull and son (Whitby) , Whitehall Dockyard, Yard No 117
Construction ... Steel
Official number ... 96558
Engine builder ... Blair & Co Ltd, Stockton on Tees
Owner at time of loss ... W. Coupland & Co

Below ... Life on the Vera abounds (Paul Hennessey)
History
The Vera was built in 1891 for T. Marwood & Sons. She was to change hands several times prior to her sinking, 1901, Suggit & Forth, 1904. Suggit & Forth, Whitby, 1911, Vera SS Co Ltd, 1913, W Coupland & Co.
On the 15th November 1914 whilst on route from the Tyne to Livorno with a cargo of coal she was in collision with the minesweeper HMS Parthian. She was beached at Cley, subsequent attempts to refloat her failed.

According to local sources the Vera was heavily salvaged soon after her loss. She was pretty much cut down to her waterline, this would in turn account for the lack of remaining collapsed hull you would otherwise expect to see on such a site. For a couple of years after the Vera beached, it is said that the households of Cley never wanted for coal for their fires, this being due to the remains of her cargo of coal being gradually washed out of her and up onto the beach.

Thomas Turnbull & Sons, builder of the Vera (ship builders and owners) Founded in 1817 at Whitby, builders and owners of sailing ships, built their first steamer  ( SS Whitehall) in 1871. In 1880 their fleet consisted of 23 tramp steamers. The company liquidated in 1920.

Blair & Co Ltd, builders of the Vera's engine and boilers. Founded circa 1866, built its first compound steam engine in 1869 for the SS Glenmore. In 1884 the company produced its first triple expansion engine, this being for the SS Burgos. By 1914 the company had built in the region of 1400 marine engines. In total 130 0f the 1400 engines built had been for Thomas Turnbull & Son. In 1919 the company was taken over by Gould Steamships and Industrials. In 1926, due to the trade depression that started in 1920 and lasted 5 years or so, the company was forced into liquidation.

Left ... basic working 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 ... One of the Vera's con rods (Louise De Lisle)      Below ... Right The remains of the Vera's engine ... Left Top of boiler
Below ... What is left of the Vera's donkey boiler (Louise De Lisle)

Donkey boiler ... Left, the Vertical Meredith Patent donkey boiler as installed on the Vera, built by Riley Brothers of Stockton. Technical data , Height 13 feet 6 inches, diameter 6 feet 3 inches, fire grate area 23 square feet, furnace length 2 feet 6 inches.

Scotch type boilers ... Left, a bank of two single ended Scotch type boilers as installed in the Vera, complete with x6 corrugated furnaces. Dimensions of boilers and furnaces on the Vera, length 10 feet, furnace outside diameter 3 feet 4 inches, furnace length 6 feet 3 inches.

 The Vera today
Engine and boiler show at low water. Triple expansion engine still in situe but very broken up, one con rod remains, x3 cylinders gone. Prop shaft  and tunnel bearings standing. Running parallel along the port side of the prop shaft lays one of her masts, this disappearing into the sand just past the end of the prop shaft. One of her boilers is situated some 20mtrs or so west of the engine and makes for the most intact part of the wreck. No sign of second boiler, either now broken up or salvaged at some point. The remaining wreckage is made up of sections of broken plates and frames. The Vera makes for a very scenic dive with plenty of life. Lies parallel to the shore, bows to the west, stern to the east.

Boiler heavily salvaged, top cut away, all fire tubes removed.
Prop (spare)
Donkey boiler 
Engine .. Very broken, no cylinders remaining, one con rod, no valve gear.


Below .... The Vera 2019
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