Ferro Concrete Barges (FCBs) Introduction

The first vessels of this type investigated turned out to be metal lighters: I’d been passing them for years assuming them to be concrete. It was through contacting Richard Lewis, who writes on the subject and has www.thecretefleet.com website, that the subject became clearer. Working from Northern Ireland he has identified perhaps all of the remaining examples and knows the detailed history of many. Not wanting to reinvent the wheel, I attempt to supply him with photographs for those on the East Coast and link to his comprehensive and authoritative website articles.

According to www.thecretefleet.com there were four hundred and ninety-five ferro-concrete barges (FCBs) built during World War Two. These were originally intended for use in the invasion of France.

It seems that none of the petrol barges were used for the Normandy landings as they did not perform well in a test and, in any case, better solutions were found. The open barges were utilised around the British coast. Both types had a range of uses after the War.

There were initially two types, the Ritchie design is 81’9″/21’8″ or 25.9m/6.5m length/beam and the, larger, Mouchel design at 84’/22’6″ or 25.6m/6.7m length/beam. Both types were built initially but the Mouchel design was adopted. Most FCBs had a Stem Head, this means that the bow quarters meet in a vertical ‘stem’. However, fifty were built with a ‘swim’ head where the bow is an upward facing inclined plane: these were preferred for the Thames. In total 295 open FCBs were built, an initial batch of 40, then 255 more, from which one was used as a prototype PCB, see below.

PCBs, or Petrol Concrete Barges, were adapted from the Mouchel design and had the same dimensions. There were 201 PCBs including the prototype.

Originally all had painted hull numbers, but these are long gone. Along the side of the hull were ash rubbing strakes, affixed by bolts. On some of the surviving FCBs these are still in good condition.

FCBs, despite their size, seem to hide in plain sight. The one at Titchmarsh, for example, is not obviously an example.

There are more FCBs to be covered on the Essex Rivers: at West Mersea, Fambridge, Barling Hall Creek, Burnham-on-Crouch, and Rainham Marshes as well as ‘CONCRETION’ (National Historic Ships website gives very good background) at Lowestoft. None are known on the Deben, Ore, or Alde.

There are quite a few on the Medway and at Rainham Marshes.

Other ferro concrete structures exist in the Estuary such as Roughs Tower and the Pheonix unit on Maplin Sand.