View of VIC 96, a restored Victualling Inshore Craft, on display at Ramsgate Harbour.
View of VIC 96, a restored Victualling Inshore Craft, on display at Ramsgate Harbour. Ex Admiralty Victualling Inshore Craft VIC 96 was built for the Navy with economy in mind by Dunstans of Thorne in Lincolnshire in May 1945. The VICs were built for the Navy (in order to service the fleet) on a design based on the Clyde Puffers. Use of simple machinery and simplicity of construction enabled a range of modest shipyards to produce VICs during the War making them quick and economic. Most plates have curvature in only one direction and the hull has straight rather than curved frames, there being an angled bilge. They could also run on indigenous fuel rather than scarce imported oil. VIC 96 has a 14ft high 7ft diameter coal fired Cochran boiler producing steam at 120 psi for a large Crabtree compound engine. The hull is 80ft long between perpendiculars, 85ft long overall and has a beam of 20ft. Working draught is about 7ft 6in. The cargo hold is 40ft 3in long. Originally she had an armoured wheelhouse. VIC 96 served at Sheerness Dockyard from 1946 to 1959 and then at Chatham Dockyard where she was known as C668 until August 1972. Sold out of the Navy, laid up in docks in the East End of London, sold to the steam ship Museum at Maryport and then sold again to Allerdale District Council, like so many redundant ships, VIC 96 suffered from broken and stolen fixtures and general deterioration. She even flooded and sank at her moorings and had to be pumped out and raised. VIC 96 has been restored by a dedicated group of friends with one purpose, to return the ship to its former glory and maintain it as a working exhibit for all to see and experience. She is now back at her homeport of Chatham No 1 Basin, in steam and attending events, both locally and across The Channel
Size: 4064px × 2704px
Location: Ramsgate Harbour, Ramsgate, Kent.
Photo credit: © John Gaffen / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: 1945, kent, restored
