Thames Lighter – Plan & Article

A great addition to any Tug for towing but built especially for Tid Tug (MAR2447) – https://www.sarikhobbies.com/product/tid-tug-t-i-d-class-tug/

Barrie Griffin drew a plan with an eye to simplicity, so the only aspect of the barge, which is not completely correct, is the lack of sheer in the central part of the hull. He used his usual method of a central spine/keel and formers/ bulkheads, similar to the fuselage of a model aircraft

Adrian Brewer and his brother owned such a craft during their boatyard days, so pretty much had the dimensions in his head, since they had to know the capacity, draft etc. for the various jobs for which they used the barge. This steel lighter had a busy time in our boatyard since we used it for carrying goods and for assisting with the mooring of ships on their arrival in the river. This was a tricky and sometimes dangerous job: there were no fixed moorings in the river and the ships lay to their own anchors, which meant the chains had to be ‘broken’ and a swivel fitted so that the top half of the chain could revolve round the bottom half. Not a nice job in a force six!

This model is a scale version of the full-size and makes an ideal towage partner to the MMI plans of a TID Tug.