Hull’s World War II Concrete Barges Part 3

In 1947 and 1948, 17 Open Barges built in Hull by Tarran Industries between 1944 and 1945 were sold to a Danish towage company, Det Forenede Bugserselskab A/S. of Copenhagen.

Once in their ownership, they were confusingly prefixed F.B., which denoted ‘Forenede Bugserselskab’, but with new numbers. When built in Hull, the barges were originally in the range F.B. 221 to F.B. 255, but when they went to Copenhagen, they became F.B. 7 to F.B. 23.

The barges were used by Det Forenede Bugserselskab in Copenhagen Harbour for lighterage and also travelled further afield. Having largely remained in the same ownership for a number of decades, when the company was acquired by Svitzer ownership in 1981, what remained of the fleet was sold off. The Selvejende Institution Flakfortet, a sea fort in the Øresund off Copenhagen, acquired four of the barges.

Amazingly, a significant number of these Hull built concrete barges exist today, in various forms including a floating clubhouse, houseboats, coastal breakwaters, wrecks and a quay. In fact, there are far more surviving Hull built barges in Denmark, than there are in the UK!

In this final part of the trilogy, we’ll look at few of the interesting ones:

F.B. 8 – Sluseholmen Quay, Copenhagen

After many years of service in Copenhagen harbour, on 6th February 1980, F.B. 8 was sold by Det Forenede Bugserselskab A/S. Having changed hands a number of times before being bought by Copenhagen Sailing Club, F.B. 8 is now a quay located at Sluseholmen, Copenhagen at 55° 38′ 44.3” N 12° 33′ 15.2” E.

F.B. 9 – Association Skibbroen, Copenhagen

On 4^th June 1987, F.B. 9 was re-sold to Association Skibbroen of Copenhagen for use as a floating clubhouse for their members. The concrete barge provides shared facilities such as a large workshop, laundry, toilet and shower, meeting room and guest room. She is moored at 55°39’33.3″N 12°33’30.5″E.

F.B. 19 – Sakskøbing Houseboat, Lolland

In 1979, F.B. 19 was sold to engineer and entrepreneur Roland Piszczek of Sakskøbing, who used the barge in connection with the establishment of a harbour at Vejrø. Today, she is a fine houseboat at Sakskøbing, located at 54°48’11.2″N 11°38’02.5″E and now owned by two doctors that work for Médecins Sans Frontières.

F.B. 20 – Trekroner Fort – Copenhagen

On 19^th December 1972, F.B. 20 sank just outside Trekroner Fort, Copenhagen at 55°42’14.7″N 12°36’48.6″E. At low tide, the stern of the barge pops above the water.

F.B. 21 – Daniel Christensen’s Houseboat, Copenhagen

On 20^th May 1980, F.B. 21 was sold to Baron Wedell-Wedellsborgof Rosklide and renamed ‘Galleri. On her voyage to Fredrikssund, ‘Galleri Pram’ was moored in Roskildefjord. The Baron died in 1982, succeeded by his 7 year old son, and the barge just sat at its moorings until she was actually holed to stop her floating away.

In 2010, a question was raised in the Danish Parliament about the ownership of the F.B. 21 and it was held that she had become ‘res nullius’, an item of property that has no owner or has been abandoned. She was free to be salvaged by anyone that had the determination and nerve to try to salvage her. That person was a young Danish man called Daniel Christensen.

After a herculean effort, on 19^th June 2013, F.B. 21 was refloated by a Daniel Christensen and moved to Copenhagen to be rebuilt as a houseboat. Numerous attempts to pump her out failed and in the end, Daniel dived underwater, in the hold, and blocked up the hole with a temporary cast so she could be refloated. The hole was then permanently blocked with a permanent steel reinforced cast.

The up and downs of F.B. 21 continued when, on 31^st December 2016, the interior of the houseboat was ravaged by fire. Despite being devastated by the event, Daniel decided that he would start again. “I don’t want to sit at 80 and think that I abandoned my life’s work” he declared. So, he rebuilt F.B. 21 all over again, and now, Daniel and his family, live aboard her at 55°38’48″N 12°33’09.4″E.

Faxe Ladeplads Breakwater

At Faxe Ladeplads, location 55° 12′ 41” N 12° 10′ 04” E, there are three perfectly aligned FCBs, filled with rocks, acting as a ‘sand barrier’. It is not certain what the numbers of these barges are but they are three of F.B. 10, 11, 13, 16, 17 or 23 and were most likely placed where there in 1981. They are said to have last beenlast used as grain stores in Copenhagen.

Rågø Island Breakwater

Rågø is an uninhabited island, located in Småland waters north of Lolland, approximately two kilometres off Urne Havn and two kilometres west of Skalø. 66 hectares of Rågø was farmed until 1990, but is now a protected nature reserve, owned by the Aage V. Jensens Fonde. Rågø used to have a pilot service and there is a pier on the southern part of the island. The FCB is used as a breakwater, protecting the pier at 54°57’49.1″N 11°18’08.7″E.

Four of the FCBs on the list below are actually existent and visible at Faxe Badeplads (3) or  Rågø Island (1) but the pennant numbers are not known. The position of a number of the wrecks is known, but visible only to divers and the location of a number is currently unknown.

F.B. 7 – Sold to den Selvejende Institution Flakfortet, Copenhagen. Now Wreck ID 1693. Sank on 2nd February 1988 near Prøvestenen, Copenhagen

F.B. 10 – Sold to Foreningen om Nadir, Copenhagen and renamed ‘Nadir’. She is now missing, presumed sunk..

F.B. 11 – At Faxe Badeplads, Rågø Island, wrecked, sunk or missing.

F.B. 12 – 15^th November 1982, sold to Systems Aps, Rudkøping and then sold on to Kungsbacka Kommune, Kungsbacka, Sweden. Now missing.

F.B. 13 – At Faxe Badeplads, Rågø Island, wrecked, sunk or missing

F.B. 14  – Sold to den Selvejende Institution Flakfortet. On 5^th August 1988, she was wrecked at 55°42’00″N 12°38’55″E which is about 5km off the ‘island’.

F.B. 15 – Sold to den Selvejende Institution Flakfortet on 22^nd March 1982. On 5^th January 1988, she sank, position unknown.

F.B. 16 – At Faxe Badeplads, Rågø Island, wrecked, sunk or missing

F.B. 17 – At Faxe Badeplads, Rågø Island, wrecked, sunk or missing

F.B. 18 – ‘Amerikakaj’, Copenhagen – On 8^th October 1982, F.B. 18 was sold and then converted into a houseboat. She was a fine looking houseboat until, on 12^th February 2017, she sank while moored at Søndre Frihavn, Copenhagen at 55°41’45.6″N 12°35’42.3″E. She was later raised using the floating crane ‘Sanne A af Horsens’ and placed onto land at Færgehavn Nord. F.B. 18 was, however, beyond repair and so she was towed outside Copenhagen and sunk. Wreck ID 1837, located at 55°49’52.8″N 12°41’40.8″E.

F.B. 22 – Owned by den Selvejende Institution Flakfortet & sank in deep water, position unknown.

There is an unidentified wreck,  Wreck ID 2148, located at 56°04’12″N 11°36’03″E.

A wreck was reported to be at Bønnerup Strand, Djursland in 1985 but is now missing.

The above represents the current knowledge of the ‘Life & Times’ and fate of each of the 17 FCBs that came to Copenhagen from Hull in 1947 and 1948.

This research is incomplete but may be improved by visiting the Newspaper archives held at the Royal Danish Library, Copenhagen.

Remarkably, I have been able to identify, still existent, nine of the seventeen FCBs built by Tarran Industries in Hull that were sold to Det Forenede Bugserselskab A/S. and transferred to Copenhagen in 1947 and 1948. A number of those FCBs will be 80 years old this year – surely a remarkable testament to the strength and longevity of concrete barges built in Hull in World War II.

Thanks very much to Richard for the article and if you have any information regarding Ferro-concrete Barges, wherever they are, and ‘the Crete Fleet’, please get in touch with Richard at www.thecretefleet.com

Thanks to the Museum of Copenhagen for sending us the black and white photographs for us to use exclusively for this article. If anyone has any information regarding the photographers please get in touch with us.

FB21 and Daniel Christensen photographs are courtesy of Daniel Christensen and Richard Lewis.