Previous name: THAMES CONSERVANCY HOPPER No.8, PORT OF LONDON AUTHORITY HOPPER No 8
Subsequent name: PORT OF LONDON AUTHORITY HOPPER No.8, JAMES No.47, ROCKSTONE
Official Number: 123847
Class: ex-PLA HOPPER
Pennant No: X 64
Signal Letters: HLFV (1907)
Laid down:
Builder: Fleming & Ferguson, Paisley
Launched: 28 March 1907
Into Service: 22 August 1916
Out of service: 1920
Fate: Returned to the Port of London Authority
Items of historic interest involving this ship: –
Background Data: As WW1 progressed, the demand for fuelling ships became more acute and the six vessels in this Class were all formerly PLA Hoppers, used for working with the dredgers in London. They lent themselves to rapid conversion into tankers by plating over the bottom sludge door joints and by installing a pipeline and a pump. They were all coal burners that had been built on the River Clyde and after acquisition by the Admiralty, they were renamed after salient features of the River Thames and their new names used the leading parts of the names of London boroughs. In 1920 they were all returned to the PLA and they resumed their previous names. They are all recorded in official records as Royal Fleet Auxiliaries
28 March 1907 launched by Fleming & Ferguson Ltd, Paisley as Yard Nr: 357 named THAMES CONSERVANCY HOPPER No: 8 for the Conservators of the River Thames, London
May 1907 completed
30 May 1907 registered in London as number 96/1907 in the Registry Book
1909 renamed PORT OF LONDON AUTHORITY HOPPER No 8 by the Port of London Authority, London
22 August 1916 chartered by the Admiralty, converted into a tanker and renamed RFA SILVEROL, The Admiralty paid for hire of this ship at £240 per month
3 October 1916 Engineer Lieutenant G J Driscoll RNR appointed as Chief Engineer Officer
6 October 1916 Lieutenant John W Finnis RNR appointed as Master until 9 February 1918
9 February 1918 Lieutenant Duncan Campbell RNR appointed as Master until 11 October 1918 on transfer to RFA DISTOL
23 September 1918 Engineer Sub-Lieutenant Robert J Laing RNR appointed as Chief Engineer Officer
5 October 1918 Lieutenant Marshall F Woodrow RNVR appointed as Master until 31 March 1920 when he was demobilised
Lieutenant Marshall F Woodrow RNVR
8 January 1919 at Dover alongside HMS EREBUS refuelling her with 475 tons of FFO
HMS EREBUS
13 August 1919 Greaser J Brady MMR 723956 logged as deserting the ship. He had signed on on 1 April 1919
29 August 1919 Able Seaman John T G Jones logged as deserting the ship. He had signed on on 3 July 1919
Able Seaman John T G Jones
1920 returned to her owners and resumed her previous name
14 March 1923 below Gravesend in collision with the steamer Hillfern. Suffering considerable damage on the port side abaft the bridge. Anchored at Erith Buoys – thence to Thames Ironworks for survey
The steamer Hillfern
1927 purchased by James Dredging, Towage & Transport Co Ltd, London and renamed JAMES No 47
March 1930 Re-engined with a T. 3 cyl 13” 21½“& 35” x 27” by A. Hall & Co Ltd, Aberdeen. 100 nhp
20 March 1933 at sea off Folkstone Able Seaman Alfred Stanley Bridgen discharged dead from heart failure
1947 purchased by James Contracting & Shipping Co Ltd, Southampton name unchanged
15 May 1950 Able Seaman John Mark Ryan discharged dead – natural causes
1952 purchased by Foremost Dredging Co Ltd, Southampton name unchanged
1955 re-engined with 2 x 12 cyl 178 x 184 mm diesel engines by Davey, Paxman & Co Ltd, Colchester
1964 was converted into a sand suction dredger and renamed ROCKSTONE by her owners.
1964 purchased by James Contracting & Shipping Co Ltd, Southampton name unchanged
December 1964 re-engined with 1 x 6 cyl 300 x 550 mm diesel engine by N.V. Smit & Bolnes, Zierikzee. 750 bhp
1967 purchased by Westminster Gravels Ltd, Southampton name unchanged.
March 1977 demolition begun by T.W. Ward Ltd at Grays, Essex