# Empire Sandy > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Empire_Sandy > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Empire_Sandy.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Empire_Sandy > Source revision: 1326891810 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) {{Short description|Tall ship built in 1943}} {{Use dmy dates|date=January 2017}} {{Use British English|date=January 2017}} {{Infobox ship |display_title=ital |section1={{Infobox ship/image | image = Empire Sandy.jpg | image_caption = ''Empire Sandy'' }} |section2={{Infobox ship/career |hide_header= |country= |flag= |name=*''Empire Sandy'' (1942–48) *''Ashford'' (1948–52) *''Chris M'' (1953–79) *''Empire Sandy'' (since 1979) |namesake= |owner=*Ministry of War Transport (1942–45) *Admiralty (1945–53) *Great Lakes Paper Co (1953–79) *Nautical Adventures Ltd (since 1979) |operator=*Overseas Towage & Salvage Co Ltd (1942–48) *Risdon Beasley Ltd (1948–53) *Great Lakes Paper Co (1953–79) *Nautical Adventures Ltd (since 1979) |registry=*{{flagicon|United Kingdom|civil}} Newcastle upon Tyne (1942–48) *{{Flagicon|United Kingdom|civil}} Southampton (1948–53) *{{flagicon|Canada|1921}} [Ft William](/source/Fort_William%2C_Ontario)/[Pt Arthur](/source/Port_Arthur%2C_Ontario) (1953–65) *{{flagicon|Canada}}Ft William/Pt Arthur (1965–70)On 15 February 1965 Canada adopted a new flag. *{{Flagicon|Canada}} [Thunder Bay](/source/Thunder_Bay) (since 1970)In 1970, the cities of Fort William and Port Arthur, and some townships, were merged to form the new City of Thunder Bay. | route = |ordered= |awarded= | builder= Clelands (Successors) Ltd, Willington Quay on Tyne |original_cost= |yard_number=66 |way_number= |laid_down= | launched= 22 December 1942 | completed = 14 July 1943 |sponsor= |christened= |acquired= |commissioned= |recommissioned= |decommissioned= |maiden_voyage= Iceland 30 July 1943 | in_service= |out_of_service= |renamed= |reclassified= 1982 |refit= |struck= |reinstated= |homeport= |identification=*UK Official Number 169167 (1942–53) *Code letters MQTO (1942–48) *{{ICS|Mike}}{{ICS|Quebec}}{{ICS|Tango}}{{ICS|Oscar}} *{{IMO|5071561}} |motto= |nickname= |honours= |honors= |captured= |fate= |status=Active |notes= |badge= }} |section3={{Infobox ship/characteristics |hide_header= |header_caption= |class=*Deep sea tugboat (1942–82) *Schooner (since 1982) |type= |tonnage=*{{GRT|485}} (1942–82) *{{GT|338}} (since 1982) |displacement= 740 tons (schooner) |length=*{{convert|135|ft|m|2|abbr=on}} (tug) *{{convert|203|ft|m|2|abbr=on}} (schooner) |beam={{convert|30|ft|1|in|m|2|abbr=on}} |height= {{convert|116|ft|abbr=on}} (schooner) |draught={{convert|15|ft|2|in|m|2|abbr=on}} |draft= |depth= |hold_depth= |decks= |deck_clearance= |ramps= |ice_class= |power= |propulsion=*1 [triple expansion steam engine](/source/triple_expansion_steam_engine) (1942–82) *Sails, auxiliary [diesel engine](/source/diesel_engine) (since 1982) |sail_plan=Schooner (since 1982), Topsail schooner (since 2008) |speed= {{convert|16|kn|km/h}} maximum under sailMeasured by onboard GPS while on passage New York to Bermuda running before [Hurricane Mitch](/source/Hurricane_Mitch) Nov 1998 |range= |endurance= |test_depth= |boats= |capacity=275 passengers (since 1982) |troops= |complement= |crew=25 (since 1982) |time_to_activate= |sensors= |EW= |armament= * Anti-aircraft 1943–1945 * 2 × bronze cannons (1990) |armour= |armor= |aircraft= |aircraft_facilities= |notes= }} }} '''''Empire Sandy''''' is a three-masted [schooner](/source/schooner) providing chartered [tall ship](/source/tall_ship) tours from [Toronto](/source/Toronto), Canada. She was built in 1943 as an Englishman/Larch Deep Sea-class [tugboat](/source/tugboat) for [World War II](/source/World_War_II) service by the [British government](/source/UK).Mitchell and Sawyer (1990) p. 304 After the end of World War II she was repeatedly sold, renamed ''Ashford'' and then ''Chris M'', before being substantially enlarged in a conversion to a schooner and reverting to her original name. ==Tugboat history== ''Empire Sandy'' was one of 1,464 [Empire ship](/source/Empire_ship)s built or acquired for war service by the [British government](/source/UK). Built in [England](/source/England) in 1943 as a deep sea [tugboat](/source/tugboat), she was tasked with [Royal Navy](/source/Royal_Navy) work and [salvaging](/source/marine_salvage) merchant ships damaged in the [Battle of the Atlantic](/source/Battle_of_the_Atlantic) and other naval engagements during the [Second World War](/source/World_War_II). She served in the [North Atlantic Ocean](/source/North_Atlantic_Ocean) from Iceland to Sierra Leone, the [Mediterranean Sea](/source/Mediterranean_Sea), the [Indian Ocean](/source/Indian_Ocean) and the [Bay of Bengal](/source/Bay_of_Bengal) during the conflict. ''Empire Sandy''{{'}}s Second World War 'Official Log-Books' documented all her wartime voyages including the complete particulars of the crew, names, addresses, ages, next of kin etc. The oldest was the [Master](/source/Master_(naval)), E Thomas, 63, and the youngest the [Cabin Boy](/source/Cabin_boy), Kenneth Lewis 15.'Log Book 014'. She met a storm while towing, with rescue tug HM ''Hesperia'', AFD24 ([Admiralty Floating Dock](/source/Admiralty_Floating_Dock) No. 24) off the coast of Libya on 8 February 1945.TNA-25-5-05-094 ''Hesperia'' and the dock were blown ashore and lost. In 1948 she was [bareboat chartered](/source/Bareboat_charter) by Risdon Beazleym who renamed her ''Ashford''. Together with their Bustler-class tug ''Twyford'', ''Ashford'' embarked in rescue towing.{{cite web|url=http://www.risdonbeazley.co.uk/|title=Brook House Book – Home Page|work=risdonbeazley.co.uk}} ''Ashford'' is listedin 'Part of the Acorn Archive – Hearts of Oak' as part of the salvage team attending the [battleship](/source/battleship) {{HMS|Warspite|03|6}} after she was driven [aground](/source/Ship_grounding) on 23 April 1947 on the way to the breakers. ''Ashford'' is incorrectly identified as tug ''Englishman'',The tug ''Englishman'' was bombed and sunk on 21 January 1941 however all other particulars are of her.{{cite web|url=http://freepages.family.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~treevecwll/visitorshw.htm|title=Hearts of Oak – Mount's Bay Visitors – HMS Warspite|work=ancestry.com}} ''Ashford'' was handed back to the [Admiralty](/source/British_Admiralty) in 1952. She was then sold to a Canadian firm, the [Great Lakes Paper](/source/Great_Lakes_Paper) Company, and renamed ''Chris M''{{Cite web|url=http://www.tynetugs.co.uk/empiresandy1943.html|title=Empire Sandy Chris M 1943|website=www.tynetugs.co.uk|access-date=2019-07-22}} (after Chris Michels, a senior employee of Great Lakes Paper). She then came to the [Great Lakes](/source/Great_Lakes) where she spent fifteen years towing [timber raft](/source/timber_raft)s for [Lake Superior](/source/Lake_Superior) logging companies. In the early 1970s the aged ship was to be sold to [breakers](/source/ship_breaking) for scrap, but the steel hull was still in very good condition and she was bought by Nautical Adventures Co. for a possible conversion. They completely rebuilt the vessel as a three-masted [schooner](/source/schooner) in the style of the 1880s, and she assumed her original name, '' Empire Sandy ''. On 5 August 2017, ''Empire Sandy'' was in collision with the Liberian freighter {{MV|Ina|2010|2}} at [Port Colborne](/source/Port_Colborne), Ontario.{{cite web |url=http://www.maritimeherald.com/2017/empire-sandy-collides-freighter-ina/ |title=Empire Sandy collides with freighter Ina |publisher=Maritime Herald |access-date=7 August 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170808000510/http://www.maritimeherald.com/2017/empire-sandy-collides-freighter-ina/ |archive-date=8 August 2017 |url-status=dead }} {{Clear}} thumb|''Empire Sandy'' at the Buffalo, New York, Tall Ships festival on July 4, 2019 ==See also== * [List of schooners](/source/List_of_schooners) ==Notes== {{reflist}} ==References== *{{cite book | last1 = Sawyer |first1=L A| last2 = Mitchell |first2=W H | year = 1990| title = The Empire Ships| publisher = Lloyd's of London Press Ltd| location = London, New York, Hamburg, Hong Kong|isbn=1-85044-275-4 }} *{{cite web |url= http://www.risdonbeazley.co.uk/ |title= Risdon Beazley |first= Roy |last= Martin |page= Post war |access-date= 9 November 2009 |quote=After the war they reduced their fleet to ten vessels including: Help & Lifeline, Foremost 17 & 18, and the tugs Ashford (Empire Sandy) & Twyford (HMS Warden on bare-boat charter)). In addition to salvage and wreck removal around the World they ventured into rescue towage and cargo recovery. }} ==External links== {{Commons category|Empire Sandy (ship, 1943)}} *[http://www.empiresandy.com Official site] *[http://www.tynetugs.co.uk/empiresandy1943.html tynetugs.co.uk : Empire Sandy 1943] {{Empire ships}} {{2017 shipwrecks}} Category:1942 ships Category:Tugboats Category:Ministry of War Transport ships Category:Empire ships Category:World War II merchant ships of the United Kingdom Category:Merchant ships of the United Kingdom Category:Steamships of the United Kingdom Category:Merchant ships of Canada Category:Steamships of Canada Category:Tall ships of Canada Category:Schooners Category:Three-masted ships Category:Articles containing video clips Category:Maritime incidents in 2017 category:Ships built by Clelands Shipbuilding --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Empire Sandy](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Empire_Sandy) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Empire_Sandy?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.