Odd ship on Britain on Film ep 6 Yesterday

[theageofthetra]

Whilst bored with Ukraine v England I flicked over to this excellent series on BBC 4. @ 18m45s in you see a light blue ship in the Pool of London near Colonial wharf. It has spray coming out the front like a hovercraft but it does not have skirts nor does it look like a hydrofoil prior to lift. Any ideas what it was? Before the shot changes you can see the word 'Thames' in white lettering on the crafts port side.

 

[John Webb]

Whilst bored with Ukraine v England I flicked over to this excellent series on BBC 4. @ 18m45s in you see a light blue ship in the Pool of London near Colonial wharf. It has spray coming out the front like a hovercraft but it does not have skirts nor does it look like a hydrofoil prior to lift. Any ideas what it was? Before the shot changes you can see the word 'Thames' in white lettering on the crafts port side.

I did watch this programme but didn't notice this vessel particularly. Was it a twin-hulled catamaran, perhaps? Some of these were introduced on the Thames as passenger carrying boats. And I think the PLA had one or two for clearing rubbish out of the river and/or for pumping air in to increase oxygen levels.

EDIT: Just had a look on iPlayer and I assume this is the craft at around 21+ minutes - it could be a rigid-wall hovercraft, a sort that was a cross between a catamaran and a hovercraft that was an attempt to eliminate the costly and potentially damageable rubber skirts. But that meant it couldn't go on land, of course, and I think the idea was dropped after a while.

 

[deltic1989]

If we are thinking about the same vessel, it looks like a pilot boat.

 

[Peter Mugridge]

Just had a look; yes - it's a sidewall hovercraft that was used by the port authority. The type was quite successful and did not require amphibious capability. From memory - but I'll have to check this - it was a cushioncraft CC7.

The French Navy developed the concept further in the late 1980s when they built a patrol craft named Agnes 200 that was basically a sidewall hovercraft but with full catamaran hulls rather than sheer sides.

For one summer season they bolted a large passenger cabin onto the after deck onto it and ran it between Brighton Marina and Dieppe doing one return trip each day taking 2 hours each way. I had the privilege, while travelling on it, to be invited up to the bridge and was even allowed to photograph the bridge - pretty rare considering at the time it was an active French navy vessel.

It rode very well, but a few years later the craft was laid up at Cherbourg and I understand that it has since been converted into a private luxury yacht; not sure if it kept the skirt element or if it became a pure catamaran at that point - I suspect the latter.

 

[theageofthetra]

Thanks for the responses, a side wall hovercraft would make sense. Certainly a type of craft I had not seen before.

 

[Peter Mugridge]

I've forwarded the iPlayer link to a couple of the trustees of the Hovercraft Museum for comment - they may be able to more accurately pin down the type.


*****UPDATE*****

Heard back - it's a Denny D2 ( https://www.google.co.uk/#q=denny+d2 ) and was in passenger service from Greenwich to Festival Pier.

 

[theageofthetra]

Thanks for that. I wonder how the journey time compares to what the Clippers do it in now?

 

[Peter Mugridge]

Probably a lot less! There was also a passenger service on the Thames using a fleet of ( three? ) Griffon 2000s about a decade ago.