Ships of wood and Men of iron, them old Wivenhoe boy's

Captain and crew of the steam yacht Venitia, collecting for the Titanic disaster in 1912-3 outside the grosvenor hotel in maldon road Colchester
In 1915 the Venitia was requisitioned for the first world war , most of her crew probably volunteered to go with her.
Left click on image for super size.
picture courtesy of the Nottage institute

A grand old lady of the seas

The steam yacht Venetia.

Designed  by Cox and King and built by Hawthorn & co Shipbuilders ,Leith Scotland in 1902 for F.W.Sykes as a luxury steam yacht.  Included in her history is her time in the U.S Navy as USS Venetia and credited with the sinking of three U Boats during W.W.1.
Her dimensions were 226 feet overall beam 27feet. and gross tonnage 589 tons. She was scrapped in 1968.

Thanks to the Nottage Institute for the photo.

Wivenhoe Memories collection