Ship profile for the sailing ship: "Bessie Ellen"

Photos of the sailing ship:

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Bessie Ellen, Volker Gries, Brest/Douarnenez 2004 , 07/2004

Source, location, date:
Volker Gries,
Brest/Douarnenez 2004,
07/2004

Bessie Ellen, Volker Gries, Brest/Douarnenez 2004 , 07/2004

Source, location, date:
Volker Gries,
Brest/Douarnenez 2004,
07/2004

Bessie Ellen, Volker Gries, Les Tonnerres de Brest 2012 , 07/2012

Source, location, date:
Volker Gries,
Les Tonnerres de Brest 2012,
07/2012

Bessie Ellen, Volker Gries, Festival Temps Fête sur Douarnenez 2012 , 07/2012

Source, location, date:
Volker Gries,
Festival Temps Fête sur Douarnenez 2012,
07/2012

Bessie Ellen, Volker Gries, Sail Brest 2016 , 07/2016

Source, location, date:
Volker Gries,
Sail Brest 2016,
07/2016

Bessie Ellen, Volker Gries, Temps fete Douarnenez 2016 , 07/2016

Source, location, date:
Volker Gries,
Temps fete Douarnenez 2016,
07/2016

Bessie Ellen, Volker Gries, Temps fete Douarnenez 2016 , 07/2016

Source, location, date:
Volker Gries,
Temps fete Douarnenez 2016,
07/2016

Videos with the sailing ship:

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Technical data of the sailing ship:

Name:Bessie Ellen
Ex-names:Forsøget
Registered port:Plymouth
Nation:GBR
Type of rigging:KETSCH
Type of ship:Gaffelketsch
Year built:1904
Yard:W.S. Kelly, Plymouth, England
Overall length:35.00 m
Length (hull):30.50 m
Breadth:6.00 m
Draught:3.00 m
Sail area:330 m2
Ship's hull:Holz / Wood
Power:310 PS
Engine:Volvo Penta

Portrait of the sailing ship:

Last update: 26 May 2005

  • keel laid 1904, built at the shipyard of William Samuel Kelly from Turnchapel (Plymouth), launched 1907, purchased by John Chichester, registered in Barnstaple.
  • used to carry cargo around the coasts of the United Kingdom and Europe.
  • in January 1910 hit the rock Morte Stone in an area around Morte Point, damaged keel, repaired two times in Appledore.
  • 1917 installation of an auxiliary engine, a 25hp Widdop paraffin engine, reduction of the rig height to enable handling the ship with fewer crew.
  • in February 1920 John Chichester died by an accident on board, his sun Jack Chichester became the captain now until the late 1920s
  • run cargoes to and from Ireland alongside the now diminishing fleet of North Devon Ketches during the WWII.
  • purchased by the Dane Captain Christian Moller in Braunton in 1947 with the intention of purchasing a sound wooden hull to continue in the coastal trade on the Danish coast, taken to Frederikshavn in North Jutland, renamed the "Forsøget", reduction of the rigging, installation of a new engine, a Hundested single cylinder engine.
  • used to transport iron cargoes until the 1970s, until finally the ship became to small to be profitable, laid up.
  • purchased by Ole Pietersen, begin of her restoration and re-converted into a sailing ketch, not finished she was laid up again in Svendborg in the shipyard of J. Ring Andersen for 20 years.
  • purchased by Nikki Alford in May 2000 in Denmark, "Bessie Ellen" left Svendborg in May 2001.
  • begin of a restore of the ship as close to her original sail plan and layout as possible, but taking also modern safety regulations into consideration.
  • used for private and corporate charter and sail training today.
  • "Bessie Ellen" regularly offers crew places for youth development work, to give young people from a range of backgrounds a working environment that teaches them how to integrate and work in a team, in preparation for the responsibilities of adulthood.
  • participated the Tallship Race in the Baltic Sea in 2003 and seen at the Douarnenez sailing Festival in 2004.
  • named for the two daughters of the first owner Ellen and Bessie.

Last tracked position of the ship:

Map provided by FleetMon.com

Last tracked position of the ship Bessie Ellen

Contact:

Website (English, 15 May 2005):
http://www.bessie-ellen.com/
S/V Bessie Ellen: the project, about the ship, sponsorship, news, gallery, contact address

Literature for further reading:

We recommend the following references for your further research of the ship. The references marked with have been included in the generation of the ship profile on this page.

Paul Brown
"Historic Sail. Britain's Surviving Working Craft"
The History Press 2013 ISBN: 978-0-7524-8581-2
(in Association with National Historic Ships UK)
Page: 171 Source with picture Source with history Source with technical data