GOLDEN CROSS Photographed in Campbeltown Loch by Russ McLean on 25th April 2005

Issue 2: Article 3: The GOLDEN CROSS - A Modern Myth

Every now and then on the Clyde we find ships that were built here returning to their home river, usually these are recently built vessels, such as the Nothern Lighthouse Board's POLE STAR, built by Ferguson Shipbuilders, or warships that have been built by Yarrow's (now BAE SYSTEMS Naval Ships Scotstoun)

But occasionally, we get a real treat, and this year we see two old ladies from 1955 come up the Clyde in their 50th year.

The first is a remarkable vessel, a tug called the GOLDEN CROSS. She was launched for Tees Towing Ltd by Scott & Sons, Bowling on 24th March 1955. The second 1955 veteran is the ss SHIELDHALL, but we will cover her history in a separate article.

Now before I begin, may I say how delighted everyone is to see her up here, but some things have come to light about this vessel that are truly astonishing, and she deserves her history to be told as it was.

I have headed this "The GOLDEN CROSS - A Modern Myth" because that is exactly what she is becoming. In many reports of her, on the news sites, in press releases and in that time honoured way where an embellishment here and a little twist of the truth there snowballs, self perpetuates, duplicates and expands in each retelling, eventually all truth is lost and we are captivated by the myths. I am sure her current owners must want her true history told.

The first myth about her goes:

"She was built to tow the Royal Yacht BRITANNIA on her first overseas visit and she accompanied her to Sweden in 1956"

No matter how many times you see this elsewhere, it is total fantasy at work. She was, just like the other tugs on the Tees, a rather nice, ordinary workhorse, built for Tees Towing Ltd. What she did do was help shove the Royal Yacht about a bit when it was in the Tyne, but, so did others, and the reason she was given the job was because she was amongst the newest and shiniest. In no other way whatsoever was she connected with the Queen's yacht, and most certainly was not built to do anything other than towage jobs as they come up in the natural course of things.

The particular problem with this myth is it implies, then gets stated as fact, that she was a Royal Tug, Indeed, she is often referred to as HMRT - Her Majesty's Rescue Tug. On our sister site TugTalk, the implications of this caused much mirth! One tugman described how his tug once took the royal rubbish from BRITANNIA and wondered if the title HMRT should be put before his vessel's name.

Myth number two goes like this:

"She was the first geared-diesel tug in Europe"

CAEDMON CROSS - The first UK geared-diesel tug, built by Scott & Sons, Bowling (Photo posted by George Robinson on TugTalk)

Again, sad to say, this is not the case, though it is oft claimed. That distinction almost goes to CAEDMON CROSS of 1953 by Scott's of Bowling. When Tees Towing found she was a wonderful machine, they ordered another two from Scott's, one of them being our GOLDEN CROSS

I said that the distinction almost goes to CAEDMON CROSS, because in fact, that particular myth is a double-barrelled howler, for CAEDMON CROSS was the first UK owned geared-diesel.

Myth number three is her being described as a Standby Rescue Tug - nowhere can I find evidence to back that up! If it purports to her condition after she finished as a commercial vessel, then it is disingenuous to say the least - for the very good reason she now has no towing hook! Perhaps the Standby part of her title is the most apt - it is all she can do!

The truth is, she worked for various towing companies down the years just as many other tugs did, her life was no more extraordinary than any other tug doing their normal everyday jobs.

Yes she would have played her part in reigning in wayward vessels, just as her fleet sisters and other tugs do. That is not to say that such deeds are not heroic, of course they are, but taking all the mythology that surrounds her in the round, one would be forgiven for having the impression she is a ship of the Royal Navy and has battled her way single-handedly through the worst of incidents in a most singular manner.

Well, she most certainly was not a navy tug!

GOLDEN CROSS as DUNHERON - On the Tyne (Photo posted by Danny Lynch on TugTalk)

Then we have the following: "In 1997, by invitation of Buckingham Palace, Golden Cross went back on duty for Her Majesty the Queen’s Golden Wedding anniversary and was appointed sole Official Escort to HM Yacht Britannia on the final farewell voyage of the Royal Yacht prior to her decommission. And so the little tug’s life has come full circle. "

But even that claim has a bit of the dubious about it! The way it is reported, it sounds as though she escorted the BRITANNIA all the way - at least, it is never properly described, certainly not in the plethora of Cardiff City Council press releases. She may well have escorted the BRITANNIA down the harbour, but for a tug, newly salvaged from the breakers (and looking every inch it!) to act as an ocean escort to the most important vessel flying a British flag is about as incredible as any other claim. Again, the myth expands to incredible proportions from the tiniest of truths.

There is also another myth which is not often seen, but I have seen her described as a Cunard tug. Where the writer got this impression is beyond me (although Cunard, I am informed, did sponsor her at one point), but again, with that funnel, the myth is allowed to perpetuate. She was never owned by Cunard.

I said she was a remarkable vessel, and yes, I stand by that, remarkable in that she is 50 years old, remarkable that she has managed to have woven about her a total fantasy life, and remarkable that people will, including this author, believe almost anything without question, even though the historical records I looked at showed no sign of the wonders of her achievements as currently presented and journalled by some sections of the media and in many fantastical press releases..

The following account of her life comes from a subscriber to TugTalk (a TugTalker) Paul Hood:

GOLDEN CROSS.

Most of you will remember the visit of a "very special" tugboat last August when the Golden Cross arrived in the North-east to go on show to maritime enthusiasts. Some of you may even remember some of the claims that were made in our local papers regarding the career of the Golden Cross working off the North East Coast as a rescue ship when she saved more than 300 lives, as well as 60 ships and three oil rigs. Its was also stated that in the 1950's when she was built she was the most powerful tugboat in the world and that she was the world's first geared rescue tugboat. I have to admire anyone who takes on the job of restoring an old tug and although there may be a small grain of truth in the claims made about the vessel I thing someone should put the record straight.

In 1952 Tees Towing were looking to expand their fleet and were in a position to order new tonnage instead of buying second hand. They also took the bold step of ordering the first tug to be built for a British Owner with geared diesel propulsion. This tug was named CAEDMON CROSS and she was delivered to her new owners in November 1953 from her builders Scott & Sons, Bowling. Following a six month trial the Management of Tees Towing were so pleased with the performance of this vessel that they decided to order two more similar tugs from the same builder. These tugs, delivered in July and October 1955 were the GOLDEN CROSS and the INGLEBY CROSS. The GOLDEN CROSS was christened by Mrs Alice Fairweather and was named to commemorate Sir William and Lady Crosthwaite's Golden Wedding. All three tugs settled into life on the Tees and on the 4th June 1956 the GOLDEN CROSS and the INGLEBY CROSS had the honour of towing the Royal Yacht Britannia from No. 1 Teesport Oil Berth at the beginning of a trip to Sweden. In January 1962 the inward bound British India vessel PINJARRA (9,888/1944) stranded on the north bank of the river opposite Tees Dock and it took nearly 24 hrs of towing by the Tees fleet which included the GOLDEN CROSS to pull her off.

On the 1st November 1965 at 0300 hrs the oil drilling platform OCEAN PRINCE broke away from her moorings at Smith's Dock in an 85 mph gale. She careered down river for about 2 miles and grounded on the south side about half a mile seawards of Tees Dock. All the Tees Tugs were involved in a 36 hour struggle before the rig was finally brought under control and remoored at Smiths Dock by 1300 hrs on the 2nd. Further Salvage money was earned by the whole fleet in February 1966 when the tanker OCEANIC LIBERTY (12,482/1952) ran aground approximately 6 cables ESE of the South Gare Breakwater at 0100 hours on the 16th.

She was refloated and berthed at 1355 hrs on the 17th with a salvage award of £19,000 being shared by all nine tugs in the fleet.

In the summer of 1968 the GOLDEN CROSS was sold to the Newport Screw Towing Company Ltd., Newport and renamed DUNHERON. Tees Pilot Tony Crompton remembers taking the Golden Cross to sea in his first year as a Pilot.

"A new crew had arrived and had a few loaves of bread and an enormous joint of beef to last them all the way to Wales. We left the Tug Wharf and adjusted the compass in Ichaboe No 1 Buoy tier, returned the Compass Adjuster to the wharf and she sailed on the 13th August 1968".

In 1971 she was purchased by Cory Ship Towage Ltd., who, in 1972 sold her on to A. C. Cranes Ltd., Dublin. In 1978 she was sold to the Carmet Tug Company Ltd., of Bromborough who kept her until 1991 when she arrived on the Tyne under the ownership of Mick Devlin's Tyne Towage. Her main claim to fame during this time was her involvement with the Tall Ships Race in July 1993 when she escorted one of the big square riggers downstream. Tyne Towage sold her in 1994 to Lawrence and Company, London who resold her in May 1996 to Pounds Shipowners and Shipbreakers Ltd., Portsmouth. By July Pounds had sold her to her current owner Captain White who changed her name back to GOLDEN CROSS in 1997 and reregistered her in Guernsey.

I understand that she is now classed as a Yacht having had her towing gear removed.

Following her visit to Newcastle she moved down the east coast and arrived on the Tees on the 4th September. Two days later she moved to Hartlepool Marina where an attempt was made to lift her out of the water using straps and a 400 ton gantry crane. This attempt was quickly abandoned when it was realised that the strain on the hull would be to great and she was returned to the water. She left Hartlepool five days later to continue her journey to Whitby. Early this year on the 15th January it was reported that she had been towed into Great Yarmouth by the Cromer Lifeboat with engine trouble whilst on a voyage from the Humber to Lowestoft. It was also noted at the time that closer inspection revealed that a lot of work needed to be done on the vessel.

Paul Hood
Posting on TugTalk on 26th April

Now that you have learned her true history, you will see what I mean about how myths grow - this snippet from the BBC Bristol News website:

" Historic tug boat visits the West - A rescue tug boat with an incredible history is visiting the West Country. The Golden Cross was built to be the official escort to the Royal Yacht Britannia. But in her 50-year history, she has also saved 300 lives, 60 boats and three oil rigs. After she retired, she was scrapped, sunk, raised and restored and is currently berthed in the new Portishead marina for a week"

And from then on, it can only get worse, until people know the truth. Before long this great wee tug will become something of an embarrassment and it is saddening to think that in time people will begin to wonder if anything about her is real.

It saddens me, truly, that this tug's real life, her humbleness, is not meriticious enough, spanning 40 years, to be given the proper account of her long and industrious life. The men who worked on her (and other fleet sisters) must feel totally bewildered - and not a little insulted, to find the true story is obliterated by a series of fantasies.

However, can I say I am delighted she is in the Clyde and I look forward to seeing her. I also wish to extend my congratulations to Captain White and Suzie for saving a fine example of a Clydebuilt tug and I wish them every good wishes. Maintaining an aged vessel is not an easy task, and they deserve due credit for saving a piece of maritime history.

And that is the point of this article. History should be about facts - not myths! I hope that when her story is told when she berths for her next exhibition that it is the true one. Her real life may not have the swashbuckling appeal of the fantasy, but her real life involved real people, real events and was indeed, part of a real life.

50 years on, that is well worth the telling.

GOLDEN CROSS in her original condition ( Photo: George Robinson )

mv GOLDEN CROSS
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built by Scotts Bowling,
Yard No 407
Engines by Crossley Bros Ltd Manchester
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Last Name: GOLDEN CROSS (1997)
Previous Names: DUNHERON (1968) ORCA (1977)
Port of Registry: Newport
Propulsion: oil 2SA 4 cy Crossley, 9 knots
Launched: 24 March 1955
Built: 1955
Ship Type: Tug
Ship's Role: Harbour towage
Tonnage: 132 grt
Length: 86 feet 3
Breadth: 23 feet 11
Draught: 10 feet 3
Owner History:
Tees Towing Company
1968: Newport Screw Towing Ltd
1971: Cory Ship Towage Ltd, Newport
1972: A.C. Cranes Ltd, Dublin
1978: Carmet Tug Co, Bromborough
1991:Tyne Towage, Newcastle
1994: Lawrence & Co, London
1996: Pounds Shipowners & Shipbreakers, Portsmouth
1996: Captain White and Suzie (Wong) White
Status: Active - 2005

Remarks: Found in a derelict condition by the actress and martial arts expert Suzie Wong. She and her husband Captain Stuart White have restored her with the help of volunteers from the RAF, RNLI, Merchant Navy and the Royal Navy. She flies the RAF Ensign and is used to promote maritime heritage and safety at sea on her tours around the UK.
With thanks to Piet van Damme for much of this history and to Russ McLean for the photo of her at Campbeltown in April 2005
Previous update by Paul Strathdee
Previous update by Colin Campbell

Last updated: by Bruce Biddulph from the original records by Stuart Cameron