During this mornings dog walk, I took the opportunity to take some photos of a Cromane Trawler that has been condemned to death. The trawler, The BRU40! is currently being internally stripped of any useful components that can be used for spares, once this operation is complete, a salvage team will come in and cut up the old boat.
I must admit to having a tear in my eye, as I reflected during my photography of this old girl, the loss of an old faithful friend to a band of local fishermen, who I'm sure could tell some tales of fishing trips on her.
I personally remember my working day on board her, I asked her skipper if I could go out one day to watch the mussel harvesting process, he said yes, but forgot to tell me that I would have to work with the crew, it was a very memorable experience, adding yet another little bit of previously unknown knowledge to my brain cells, thank guys for the experience!!
I will hopefully take and add some more photos to this post during her decommissioning, and my thoughts go to her crew, who must be saddened during the decommissioning process.
PART ONE of:
'The Death of a Trawler'
The Trawler BRU40 beached and condemned to death, awaits the scrap man on the beach!
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| The old BRU40! |
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| One of the side ports below the waterline where the mussel seed is spread shot out under high pressure, the pressure is high enough to prevent water coming in during the seeding process! |
PART TWO of:
'The Death of a Trawler'
9/4/2013 The on board shots
Prior to the cutting up, I managed to get permission from the crew to go on board and photograph the internals of several areas that had been stripped out prior to the final cutting up process. It was a cold but beautiful day, ideal for photographs, the following are the photos I took!
Several areas were very dark, and required the use of my old manual Pentax 50mm F1.7 to give enough light to take photos without flash.
It is expected within a few days following this weekend, that the cutting team will turn up for the final stages, and I hope that I will be able to document this also.
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| The sea is so corrosive to components, especially when left unused for some time! |
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| The old trawl winding drums! |
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| The skeleton of the wheelhouse! |
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| Bilge area of the stern! |
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| Lots of components stripped and thrown into the bilge for removal during the cutting process! |
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| The two rudders in the stern, no longer interconnected! |
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| An old smokestack! no longer will she emit smoke. |
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| I remember well walking along these narrow deck walks during my day out on her, the deck side only came halfway up my legs, so it would be easy to go overboard, not so funny when you're at sea! I'm glad it was calm when I went out! |
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| Lots of disconnected components ready for removal! |
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| The main pump engine! |
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| Let me out of here! |
PART THREE of
'The Death of a Trawler'
10/04/2013: CUTTING DAY FOR THE IRON LADY!
Today saw one of the saddest sights, the cutting up of the BRU40. From a complete boat at 9:00am, to a tattered shell by 6:00pm. the following are my photos of the process!
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| The jaws of death, these will cut through the plates like butter! |
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| These jaws weigh 6 Tons |
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| First two cuts open up the side of the main engine room! |
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| Cuts are made at intervals along the hull, then bent down ready to scissor off |
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| A cut off section being lifted to drop on the scrap heap! |
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| Outer hull, inner hull and pipes are no problems for the jaws |
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| Jaws cutting away the starboard side of the hull. |
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| The drivers cab on the cutting machine can be elevated as required |
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| Now to remove the wheelhouse to allow access to removal of the main Caterpillar engine |
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| A piece of the hull given to me by the crew as a memento! |
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| A sad looking crew member, probably recollecting better times! |
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| The starboard side completely opened up! |
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| The wheelhouse nearly removed is pushed over the port side for removal of the main engine |
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| The Skipper, (with cap), supervising the engine removal |
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| While the crew were making ready to remove the main engine, the jaws cut other areas! |
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| Finally free, the main engine is lifted by the jaws |
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| Add caption |
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| Main Cat engine out, to be used for future spares |
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| The winding gear engine is next for removal. |
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| Whats left of the wheelhouse hanging precariously over the port side by a thread! |
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| Second engine now out! |
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| Main Cat engine on pallets! |
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| Next engine for removal another Cat used for the Pumps |
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| Pump engine out! |
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| A crew member takes a photo of yours truly! Memories for me too, I did a days work on this boat some years ago to find out what mussel trawling was all about. |
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| Start of the stern being cut off |
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| Skipper on the left, this boat I believe was jointly owned by these guys! + some not shown!, the loss shows on their faces! |
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| Maybe a few of the good times being discussed by some members of the crew! |
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| The jaws working to cut the hull into three sections for easier cutting! |
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| Mast about to go in one snip |
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| Sectional cuts now being made in the port side hull |
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| The jaws tearing another piece of the hull, and the front third of the hull is turned on its side |
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| The starboard side nearly completely gone! |
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| The power of hydraulics! just a small hand control does the work. |
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| One of the two scrap piles growing as parts are cut off. |
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| Rudders gone, the prop will be cut from the shaft tomorrow when the gas cutters arrive! |
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| A large section removed from the port side hull, lets us see right through her! |
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| My mentor Michael Herrmann, a very experienced professional photographer, based in Ballinskelligs, takes some photos with his tripod set up! |
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| The stern nearly completely cut off! |
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| Look out behind Michael or you may end up with the scrap! I bags the Canon 5D mk3 if he does....lol |
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| As evening dawns, and the tide comes in, the old boat is looking very porly now! |
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| Look out John, those jaws are right behind you! |
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| Just a few bulkheads to remove! |
PART FOUR of
'The Death of a Trawler'
11/04/2013 The gas cutting of the underside of the hull starts.
The final part of the story! after the jaws of death, the cutting torches come out to complete the job, leaving just a heap of metal to be loaded onto lorries and taken away!
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| Smoke rises from the hull of the BRU as the gas cutting starts! |
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| Gas cutting the upturned hull. |
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| The sparks fly as the old BRU still tries in vain to resist! |
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| Smoke pours from the hull, but still some cutting to do yet! |
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| One of the two final scrap heaps that once was the BRU! |
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| Nearly gone now! |
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| The gas cutting makes short work of removing the prop from the shaft! |
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| A final heap of scrap awaits the arrival of the scrap trucks to take it away! |
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The blackened bow section of the BRU! we salute you for all the good times!!!!!
I dedicate this record of the BRU40's final hours to the owners and crew that spent so many working hours on her, out in all weather! and I feel privileged to have sailed in her!!
My thanks go to the Teahan family for their help and assistance in allowing me to make this record of the second iron lady to die this week!
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All photos by Dave's Photos
Pentax k5 Pentax 28-200mm & Sigma 18-50mm
