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Imara A British Steam Tug (Built by Andy Sherman) The Builders: The vessel was built by Fleming & Ferguson Limited, of Phoenix Works, Paisley. The company was established in 1885, when they took over as successors to H.McIntyre & Co. In 1895 they were incorporated as a limited company, being reconstructed as a company with the same name. The yard was subsequently purchased in 1965 by the American Marine & Machine Company, but ceased building in 1968, when the goodwill was purchased by Alexander Stephen Engineering Ltd. The Vessel: Flemming & Ferguson Ltd were awarded the Crown Colonies contract dated 20th August 1930, specifyiing the construction of a Twin Screw Harbour Tug and its delivery to Dar-es-Salaam. The contraact price for the vessel was £29,400, which included a sum of £721 for spare gear, and the sum of £2,043 for the delivery of the vessel to Dar-es-Salaam. She was a large vessel for her day, designed to move a 12,000 ton vessel in still waters. Her main details were:- Length: 116' 9" Beam: 28' 6" Draught 13@ Displacement: 425 tons Speed: 11knots Range: 920 miles She was powered by two main triple expansion engines having a combined IHP of 1000. Additional steam driven equipment included: A steam driven induced draught fan - all boiler flue gases were drawn through this fan and expelled up the inner funnel liner via the sloping duct, forward of the funnel A steam driven fire and salvage pump of 500 gallons/ minute capacity An auxiliary steam driven lighting set for inboard lighting of 7.5 kW capacity An anchor handling windlass of vertical cylinder design A steam capstan at the stern The vessel was designed for use in the tropics, as indicated by the design of the windows, the profusion of skylights, grating, side grills and cowl ventilators. Her accommodation had to be suitable for the European Officers to live on board, so helping to keep down running costs. The Lasker crew of 6 firemen and six deckhands, was accommodated aft in a single cabin. The vessel took six months to build. She sailed for Dar-es-Salaam on 15th April 1931, arriving there on 11th May 1931, having used only one of her boilers at a reduced pressure of 170 lbs. In 1932, just one year after delivery, IMARA was purchased from the Tanganyika Railway Company, by the Royal Navy. She was renamed PERSERVERENCE. Considerable changes were made to her for service in cooler climes. She was based at Chatham under the Captain of Dockyard. In 1958 she was sold to the British Iron & Steel Corporation for breaking up. The Model Brought ready built and a further 2 months finishing off. A single prop with a Decaperm motor and gearbox and working cabin and navigation lights and fog horn A stunning Tug Scale ~ 1:32 Length ~44in ~ Beam ~12in

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