The Trinity House Vessel PATRICIA on her way out to sea trials in the Firth of Forth

(photo by B.Booth - Shipwright)

THV PATRICIA seen here on the River Tyne in June 2002 (photo from Reg Mordecai)

Once a ship had been built and launched she then had to be out-fitted, and then complete sea trials
before being handed over to her new owners, who would look to have that ship at sea, as long as possible to pay for her build costs and of course to make the company good profits.

To this end one company may have had no requirement for a particular ship after a time and would then sell her on just like any other disposable commodity.
Hence a ship may have had a few owners and would go through many changes and names during what was hoped for a long and successful working life.

The next ship on the stocks was the Twin Screw THV PATRICIA officially designated as a Bouy/Lighthouse Tender, but this ship ordered by the ancient authority which is Trinity House who are responsible for the upkeep and maintenance of all the many safety devices around the coast of England and Wales. (Scotland has her own equivalent in the Northern Light House commission)

By definition they are looking after the men and ships that sail around the coast and rely on light houses and buoy's etc to help them navigate safely. 

She is a fair size ship and of course the order was very welcome at the yard during tough times for shipbuilders in the United Kingdom.

THV PATRICIA was built to the highest standards and more when you took a look around inside her, never have I seen carpet with such a thick pile on them and along with gold plated taps for the water runs she was a real ship of luxury for the time considering that she is in fact a hard working ship, doing a tough job at sea.

The story we heard at the time was that her outfitting was to such a high standard as there was the very likely possibility that the THV PATRICIA was going to stand in for the Royal Yacht Britannia as there was a lot of speculation as to what was going to happen to the Queens own personal ship.

THV PATRICIA is seen here in this photograph by Barry Booth a shipwright who worked on her at the time, edging away from the quayside on the way to do more sea trails.

Her wood teak decks were a credit to the shipwrights of the Leith yard and they just seemed to invite bare feet to walk over them.

The Trinity House Vessel PATRICIA is still working away around the coast of England, Wales and the Channel Islands and in fact such is the level of accommodation on her the ship also offers cruises for up to 12 passengers who can join her at one of her many ports and cruise around while the ship carries out her many duties.

As the Flag ship of Trinity House she also carries out a lot of official functions as well, so she is a busy ship and we hope she will continue as such for a few years to come.

(The website has tried to contact The Honourable Company but has had no reply as we would like to feature more photographs of her which could very easily be produced by Trinity House, perhaps they are just slow in reply.)

The magnificent wood deck of the after deck on THV PATRICIA (photo by B.Booth)

Note the small cradle to take a signal cannon on the aft Stbd side of the deck. 

The following is from an advert produced by Trinity House to show just how adaptable and the buzz word nowadays is Multi-Functional.

Trinity House's Multi Functional Tender (MFT) PATRICIA works around

the coast of England, Wales and the Channel Islands undertaking aid

to navigation maintenance work, towing, wreck location and marking

amongst other projects. At 86m long, PATRICIA has accommodation for

an- additional 12 people and benefits from a helicopter-landing pad.

With a 20 tonne main crane capacity and 28 tonne bollard pull and towing

winch, she is also survey capable. 

As can be seen from above she is a very adaptable ship and is very well equipped now to cater for fare paying passengers who can stay in anyone of 6 luxury staterooms (cabins) and they can be looked after by there own steward and chef.

Story will continue.

We try here to give as full an account of her history as time and research permits, if you know of missing info or you have any photographs of her, then please get in touch and we shall update her story as we go along.