Navigation Buoys
The mathematician, Charles Babbage, took note of the problems with shipping and produced ‘Notes Respecting Lighthouses‘ in 1852. This proposed an elegant system for coding lighthouses and anticipated the use of lighted buoys by more than twenty years. He was, of course, ignored by the British authorities, although the Russians1See p220 Good words, ed. by …
Both Britain and Germany deployed Refuge Floats for airmen in the North Sea and Channel. How many lives were saved is unclear. Examples still exist – see the notes. RAF Rescue Float More information: RAF Boats 1918 – 1986 and a 3D view at Scottish Maritime Museum German Air Sea Rescue Buoy – Lobster Pot …
At the start of the twentieth century the Submarine Signal Company of Boston developed a system of electric bells that could be installed below water in lightships or, potentially, buoys. These could transmit underwater signals. Using a receiver an operator could determine the range and direction of the signal.
Refuge Buoys were used in the late nineteenth century to assist shipwrecked mariners.
These notes coves from the Blackwater northwards to the Ore. The 1790 Stanier Thames Estuary chart only shows buoys on the Buxey, Spitway, Gunfleet and Roughs. By 1886, Aldbro’ Ridge to SE Maplin and the rest of the Thames Estuary and Irish Coast conformed to British Uniform Buoyage1‘The History of Harwich Harbour, … H C …
In the mid-twentieth century, there were many experiments to provide long-lasting sources of power for buoy lighting. Replacing batteries or gas at sea was hazardous and costly work Many options were tried such as seawater generators. An interesting one was the ‘Atomic Buoy’, powered by the radioactive isotope, Strontium-901U.S. Naval Institute. ‘The Atomic Buoy Experiment’, …
Anthony Deane, friend of Pepys, built ships at Harwich and help repel the Dutch. He wrote his Doctrine of Shipbuilding and was key to building the Royal Navy. He is commemorated only by the Red Buoy at Harwich.
There is a bed of stone between the Deben and the Naze which has been mined as a building material. The northern part extends seawards from Cobbolds Point to Felixstowe Ledge. The point exists because the land north and south is softer and has eroded. The rock armour installed in the 2000s aims to preserve …
Commissioning 1942 H.M. Fort Sunk Head (U2) was the second Maunsell Navy Tower to be installed during World War Two in the Thames Estuary for Air Defence. After her commissioning at Tilbury, she was towed out on June 1st 1942: unlike The Maiden Voyage of Roughs Tower, the trip to the site was quick and …
The buoys marking the Deben entrance change frequently in both position and name. West Knolls marks one of the moving mounds of shingle and may be retired for a decade or so when the channel shifts to the North. ‘Knoll’ generally refers to a small hill or mound of sand or shingle, sometimes intertidal. They …
SS Richard Montgomery on youtube. Beware the shallow water to the east at LW. There is a plan to remove the masts. See SS Richard Montgomery – Wikipedia – a United States ship named after an Irish soldier in the Revolutionary War.
The Galleon’s racing mark is most likely misnamed. The hard to the southeast was once known as Girling’s Hard. There are records of the Girling family owning land in the area as far back as 1521. So, barring a convincing Galleon tale that is probably the origin. In the late nineteenth century, …
For sailors, much of the navigational interest of the Deben is getting in and out of Woodbridge Haven: there is, however, the more prosaic topic of how the way to Woodbridge has been marked over the years. This is a tour through the sources and changes. George Arnott says the first reference to beacons was …
There are references in early pilots and charts to Sobiri, Shoe Beacon, Shoe Hole and Shoe Horse. These can cause confusion but are further north. See Essex Beacons. Could there have been another fort where the Shoe Beacon was? One explanation of the name is that the name Shoebury comes from ‘sceo’ meaning shoe and …
The Oriana Buoy This Starboard Hand Mark with the legend ‘Oriana’ opposite Wallet No.4 should logically be Wallet No.1: oddly, it is un-named on charts. The buoy has been in position for some years. The photograph below shows the buoy in 2021, it is clearly a vintage piece, note the elaborate topmark. Oriana and Medusa …
Charles Dickens featured the Thames in many of his works. As part of his research he described features along the river from source to sea and gave excellent descriptions of the buoys. This excellent website has a transcription of the most relevant parts. The original book by Dickens is available online and well worth a …
The Waverider buoy, near Felixstowe Ledge buoy on the northern edge of the Deep Water Channel, measures wave conditions and sea temperatures. Data is available from CEFAS from where it is possible to get a forecast of wave height and direction. Our local sea is, broadly speaking, the warmest in Britain in the Summer and …
TBA
The current buoys in the area mark the Roughs Tower and not the shoal. Rough Shoals were first buoyed 1776.
Rolling Ground appears on the 1686 Greenvile Collins Chart although Pitching Ground does not: possibly the area was sheltered by a sand bar at that time. The original location of the Rolling Ground was further west than today’s buoy and just south of the fort and so sufficiently sheltered and deep to ride at anchor. …
The Deben or Woodbridge River was once guarded by a Roman Fort. The channel changes as do the methods of marking it…
Off Harwich is a starboard hand buoy named for Captain John Washington. Some sailors know that he was an important figure in the history of the Haven. Washington was a sailor, explorer, cartographer, hydrographer, linguist, humanitarian, scientist, spy and engineer. His work on the port was a tiny part of what he achieved.
Stone Banck is marked n 1686 Collins Chart and buoyed in 1821 probably for cement stone dredging. Part of the Medusa Channel.
A Seasonal Buoy warning yachtsmen and destination for swimmers. Has been Felixstowe Pt., Home Pt. and Cottage Point..
This is positioned on the boundary of East Suffolk and Babergh local authorities. Not very imaginative.
Pillar replaced buoy – Tide Gauge – Wadgate meaning – Settlement – Harbour
Samuel Pepys, known for Samuel Pepys Diary is covered fully elsewhere. Of local interest is that he was M.P. for Harwich and …
1801 Nelson in HMS Medusa with Capt. Gore is guided by Spence to scrape out to sea.
Deben and Orwell have Bloody Pint – King Alfred vs the Danes – Martellos – Stone Heaps
Edward Vernon served on Admiral Sir Cloudsesley Shovell’s flagship at the capture of Gibraltar. He was later captain of the ship that avoided disaster in the catastrophic loss of Cloudesley Shovell’s fleet on the Isles of Scilly in 1707. The Rum Ration He is known for his 1740 order that rum should be diluted with …
Once we’ve realised that Port is on the left only when facing the pointy end (not Italians – see later) we take these terms for granted. However, those of a curious bent might wonder how they came about . About ninety percent of us are right handed. Since roman times , at least, we have …
Lighting is a vital area and providing fuel or power has been a difficult problem. The oil-based systems, often using whale oil, for fixed and floating lights needed an operator present so were impractical. for buoys The first successful system was the Pintsch gas light which had been developed for railway lighting; this was trialled …
Navigation buoys have existed for centuries but, by the nineteenth century, differing systems caused confusion and prompted attempts to develop a common scheme. Growing trade, steamships, ship and buoy lighting technology increased the complexity of the problem which was not resolved, due to politics and war, until the late twentieth century.