UK Charity Races to Save 130-Year-Old Sailing Barge That Survived WWII

A charity in Ipswich, England, has launched an appeal to save a historic sailing barge because of her long connection with the town. The Victor 1895 Community Heritage Trust hopes to raise $337,000 to buy the Victor, a 131-year-old Thames sailing barge whose future is uncertain.

For the past two decades, Victor has been a regular sight on the River Orwell, running public and private cruises from the Ipswich waterfront. Her longtime skipper is retiring, and no buyer has come forward. With the barge facing decommissioning or even scrapping, the charity is raising money to keep her afloat as a community-owned heritage vessel.

Victor's ties to Ipswich go back to 1895, when Horace Shrubshall built her at the Dock End Yard for Owen Parry Ltd of Colchester. For much of her early career, the wooden barge carried linseed from East Coast farms to Colchester and came back with barrels of oil. During World War II, she ferried munitions, including torpedoes and shells, from Chatham Dockyard to naval vessels under cover of darkness. She survived a direct bomb strike that destroyed a lighter lying alongside her.

In the 1950s, Victor was converted to a motor barge, and she worked for the London & Rochester Trading Company until she was sold in 1964. She changed hands several times over the following decades, serving at different times as a strip club, a passenger charter barge and a floating office.

This story was originally published by The Maritime Executive. Read the full story at The Maritime Executive →