St. Boswells (tugboat)
British tugboat sunk by a mine
St. Boswells was a Saint-class Admiralty tug that was built in Scotland in 1919 and sunk by a mine in the North Sea in 1920 with the loss of 16 of her crew. The United Kingdom Admiralty owned her, but she was registered as a merchant ship, and had a civilian merchant crew.
Building and registration
During the First World War the Admiralty ordered 64 Saint-class ocean-going tugs. The number was reduced to 46 because of the end of the war. John Cran & Somerville Ltd in Leith on the Firth of Forth built St. Boswells as yard number 116, and completed her in October 1919.
St. Boswells' registered length was 135.4 ft (41.3 m); her beam was 29.0 ft (8.8 m); her depth was 13.6 ft (4.1 m); and she was assessed as 463 GRT. She had a single screw, driven by a three-cylinder triple-expansion engine that was rated at 107 NHP, and gave her a speed of 12.5 knots (23 km/h). The Admiralty registered her in London.
“St. Boswells (tugboat)” enters the record as british tugboat sunk by a mine. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Boswells, tugboat and British can confirm, complicate or overturn.
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