TARGET. Designed ad built by The Rowhedge Ironworks Co. Ltd., Shipbuilders and Engineers. Colchester.
Ship No. 526. 1936.
Builder's name plate from vessel built Rowhedge in 1936. The name plate came to light in a barn in Germany in 2013. The finder said:
My grandfather is 87 years old, he was a cattle dealer, however, acted also with a lot of other things and came far.
The shield lay for decades in the barn, it had got very dirty. When we it cleaned it our curiosity was stirred up...
John Collins in River Colne Shipbuilders has details of the TARGET:
"526 Target 201grt steel steam bitumen tanker for Dorman Long & Co. Ltd.
129'6"oa, 124'6"x22'x9'6", 8'draft at 260dwt. William Burrell, Gt. Yarmouth C2cyl 194ihp.
C.1936. Was originally to have been named Lodestar! (ON 164831). 19__ Acquired by John H. Whitaker (Tankers) Ltd, Middlesborough."
John added:
I think that the Target survived the war and was sold in the 1950s, but as I was, and still am, unsure of the date, I did not put it in. I never found out what became of her. It is quite probable that she was scrapped in North Germany. Steam was used to power bitumen tankers because the steam could be diverted to heating pipes in the cargo spaces to melt the tar in order to pump it out.
It is hoped the name plate will return to Rowhedge where it started. It would be great to find a photograph of the TARGET, perhaps at Rowhedge, on the Tees or in Germany...
Date: 1936