Forums Forums Wirral History : Chasing the Past History Information Request Dredgers

In the 50s there were two Dredgers moored in one of the docks, by Vittoria Dock I think, they were both sitting on the bottom, half full of water, very good for exploring, I can't remember their names, (Centaur and /or Leviathan spring to mind, but not sure) one of them had been rammed amidships and had a huge baulk of timber bolted to the side, bridging a gap where it had been rammed, I don't know what had happened to the other one which had a bucket system which was quite high, but great for climbing up, going down the ladders into the engine rooms which were half full of water was exciting to a twelve/thirteen year old lad, no Health and Safety in those days, does anybody have any info on these ships please

I only remember the Leviathan working in the river. A great howling and screeching of the buckets on the conveyor arrangement. A good old steamer with a tall funnel aft I seem to remember. She would take her load of mud out to the Bar, dump it and come back for more.

Confirmed the Leviathan up to now. Will possibly have more gen after next Monday's meeting. Been getting my floating crane names mixed up with dredger names. My memory is not what it used to be but luckily some of my acquaintances still have all their grey cells intact.