A vessel currently moored in Ramsgate harbour was once used to transport the body of wartime PM Winston Churchill along the Thames at his state funeral.
The Havengore is a former hydrographic survey launch, originally launched in 1956 for service with the Port of London Authority. It was commissioned by the PLA in 1954 to replace its former survey vessel the Shorne Meade.
She entered service with the PLA on 4 February 1956 and, as a hydrographic survey vessel, was used for recording changes to the bed of the River Thames and Thames Estuary. She became the first survey vessel in the UK to have a computer installed to record survey data.
She served as a ceremonial vessel, including carrying the body of Sir Winston Churchill from Tower Pier to Festival Pier as part of his state funeral on January 30, 1965.
On her journey along the Thames, Havengore was saluted by a flypast of 16 English Electric Lightning fighter jets, and dock cranes were bowed as she passed. The event was broadcast live to an estimated worldwide audience of 350 million viewers.
Havengore also participated in the river pageant held to mark the Queen Elizabeth II’s Silver Jubilee in 1977 and in May 2012 it was announced that she had been selected to carry members of the Royal Family as part of the Diamond Jubilee celebrations.
The craft also participated in observances on the Thames marking Queen Elizabeth II’s surpassing of Queen Victoria as the longest-reigning British monarch on 9 September 2015. Earlier the same year she retraced her route for a wreath laying ceremony to mark the 50th anniversary of Churchill’s funeral.
Havengore performed her last hydrographic work in 1995, when she was withdrawn from service and sold.
After changing hands in 1995, Havengore was restored and refitted at the Chatham Historic Dockyard and then used by the Havengore Education and Leadership Mission (HELM) to provide excursions for underprivileged children on the River Medway.
Changing hands again in 2005 to IT business owner Chris Ryland, three further phases of extensive restoration have taken place, completed in December 2017 when she was returned to St Katherine’s Dock. She is registered as a passenger vessel for up to 40 people and is used for hospitality and event excursions.
Source Wikipedia/Fox’s marina and boatyard
