Oostende Voor Anker 2015 - 28 mei 2015 - 086

Oostende voor Anker - Editie 2015 (www.oostendevooranker.be/)

 

The George Stephenson.

 

 

 

Servaas Strik, a Dutch citizen is more than 50 years active in the rental business of steam generating boilers. In the fifties he started his career by buying steam boilers from ships, that became redundant as they were replaced by diesel engines. Initially in the margin of that business he collected all kinds of maritime attributes beginning with steam sirens and extending to barometers, range finders, fire extinguishers, level glasses, manometers, compasses, steam engines, diesel engines (with the 8 cylinder Gardner as crown jewel) etc. etc. A count now will come to 700 different items. Some ten years ago he decided to focus his zest as a collector on the building of a new vessel and to equip that vessel with the most ingenious and yet functional attributes as a salute of honour to the ingenuity of mankind. He had a strong aversion from sending such attributes to waste.

 

In December 2006 he formally applied for a “permit to build” an assembly-hall, a temporary construction in which the ship could be assembled with the top attributes from his collection. At the same time the building of the ship started at the wharf of a renowned shipbuilder (>150 years of family business).

 

On Friday the 2nd of November 2007 the ceremony of the keel laying took place. Strik’s grandson Jack performed well, accompanied by a selected group of some 100 invited people who have supported mr Strik in his passion. On the occasion of that ceremony, the guests moved to the assembly-hall where a selection of the maritime attributes was exhibited. Also the first running-in of a refurbished beautiful diesel engine (Gardner) took place as it was started up.

 

Next to the Gardner, the George Stephenson will be powered by a historic steam engine from a “Clyde puffer”! The steam boiler and steam engine were both on display as well. Examples of craftsmanship in carpentry, welding, riveting etc. could be seen in progress.

 

As regards the name for the ship, mr. Strik had decided for “George Stephenson” the famous developer of steam driven locomotive engines, pioneer of the railways, during the first half of the 19th century.

 

The vessel, once ready, will tour the European waters and will visit many marinas. On its journeys funds will be raised for the Foundation for Scientific Research on Urology (SUWO) established at the Erasmus Medical Centre at the University of Rotterdam.

 

Since the keel-laying ceremony considerable progress has been made. On the 18th of February 2008 the casco was transported to a nearby hall where it received its first layer of paint. Then on the 29th of March 2008 it was transported to its assembly-hall. The hard work could start.

 

Hard work by a small team of 2 full fledged engineers, a master carpenter and his pupil, a number of welders, painters etc.. An experienced project leader took the helm, in continuous discourse with Mr. Strik. The man in charge, demanding and with a sharp eye for detail spotting every deviation form his dream. Whenever he spotted a deviation from his dream, it was “back to the start”. Strik now 73 years young had to share his attention with that for his business, the rental of boilers. The project leader had also to ensure the approval by the experts of Lloyds Registry and by the naval architect.

 

Attention had to be paid to the many aspects that have to be attended by the building of a ship such as:

 

· Systems (fully spared) for the generation and transport of electricity.

 

· Generation and transport of steam and compressed air

 

· Transport and/or storage systems and/or discharge of drinking water,

 

· waste water, storm and bilge water.

 

· Central heating and air treatment

 

· Sanitary facilities

 

· Telecommunication facilities

 

· Fuel systems (incl. bio-diesel) and adequate burners

 

· Facilities for lubrication

 

· Etc. etc.

 

In all these auxiliary systems, equipped with the necessary safety devices, and in many other instances (e.g. port-holes) the relics in maritime attributes got a place and had to be refurbished, and made functioning by the craftsmen-with-passion for the technical beauty.

 

When the ship is finished and sailing many will wonder how these systems and their integrated parts are connected. That is all behind the carpentry, like the arteries and nerves in the human body under the skin. Not visible, but behind a beauty and a joy forever.

 

Then there are the accommodations, the lounge, the bedrooms, the caboose, the engine rooms and the decks. The struggle the carpenter had to endure to find a place everything to be placed in a room. Often a mock-up was made with everything in place made of triplex or cardboard. The master carpenter often quoted his masters by saying: “You first have to make it, before you are going to make it”.

 

Three years later (May 2011) the progress made is considerable and the last finishing touches are applied. The steam boiler is at its place in tango with the Compound C steam engine that once served on a Clyde puffer. The diesel engine (the Gardner), has been placed a level lower than the boiler/steam-engine combination both connected through axis and gearboxes with the propeller.

 

The cockpit is in place, shines beautifully and instruments are being mounted there. The vessel after its second primer paint has been painted 7 times and finally is in its final colours and on display, full of grace. The exhausts of the engines and boiler have been connected to the chimney which proudly displays the logo of the old Strick-line from the past.

 

Old ships like the cruise ship the RMS “Windsor Castle” ( Margarita L) make a reappearance by the use of her solid doors; the application of sucupira wood on the floor; wood that once served as dancing floor at a paddle-boat on the river Thames. Wood and doors also from the cruise ship “France”, later to be known as the “Norway”. Ships with a long history both finding their end on the shores of India where their final dismantling took place. Strik travelled to India to lay his hands on attributes just in time to save these for destruction. Or in the case of the Norway entered in a deal with Norwegian collectors who had captured a great part of nostalgia form the Norway.

 

On his travels to India mr Strik could acquire a cargo of tropical teak wood, coming from a building built in 1880. The teak wood used comes from trees that were planted in the 11th century, judging from the year-rings. It is now a millennium later, being applied on the decks and stairs of the George Stephenson.

 

Another famous ship is the French aircraft carrier the (George) Clemenceau, the hero from the first world war, built after the second world war (ordered by President Charles de Gaulle). A few years ago she made her last journey from Toulouse to India, pursued by action groups, ordered back to France by President Chirac to Toulouse and Brest so as to wait and find an acceptable haven to dismantle. That ultimate haven was found in the UK with Able UK. It has been agreed between Able UK and mr Strik, thanks to his network and his sharp eye, that part of the screw of the Clemenceau will be salvaged en recast into two new screws for the George Stephenson.

 

The salvage took place end 2009 early 2010. Melting and recasting followed and the screw and a reserve screw arrived at site in august 2010. By the end of 2010 another milestone in the assembling of this steam ship was attained, the screw was put in place soon thereafter in tango with its companion the rudder, made by the well-known specialist Becker-Hamburg Germany. In this way, France with Clemenceau and the UK (Able and George Stephenson) will be connected on the George Stephenson equipped with a rudder from Germany. A French-anglo-german connection crafted by dedicated workmanship and perseverance from the Netherlands.

 

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