Project Description

'CIngalee' is a 28' wooden fast motor launch built by Camper and Nicholsons of Gosport in 1905. After operating in and around Portsmouth Harbour, Cingalee was transported to Orkney in July 1914 to serve as a fleet supply vessel for the British Grand Fleet that was based in Scapa Flow. Cingalee continued to operate as a supply vessel through the inter-war years and during the Second World War when the British Home Fleet was based in Scapa Flow. After the Second World War Cingalee was used mainly as a leisure vessel before falling into disrepair in the 1990s. The objectives of the project were to conserve Cingalee as probably the last surviving wooden vessel that served in Scapa Flow during the First World War and use her to educate the public about her history and role in the First World War. Cingalee was restored and put on public display at the Scapa100 commemoration event held in Orkney on 21 June 2019, which commemorated the centenary of the scuttling of the German High Seas Fleet in Scapa Flow on 21 June 1919. The project was half funded by local private and business donations and half by the Heritage Lottery Fund 'First World War: Then and Now' programme. The restoration work was performed partly by a group of around a dozen Orkney Historic Boat Society volunteers and partly by local professional boat builders.
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Organisation

Organised by

Orkney Historic Boat Society

Region

Scotland

Location

KW17 2RE

Event

Date

2019-06-21, 2019-06-23

Venue

Scapa100 Stromness, Orkney

Location

KW16 3AA

Focus and Research

Resources used for research

Naval Appropriation Book for Official Number & Registration 1905; Lloyds Register of Yachts 1906; Merchant Vessel Log Books & Crew Lists 1910-1916; Private Record 1920; Private Photographs between 1920-1990; Local population who remember the vessel or who have sailed on her; Research contacts at Royal Museums Greenwich; Research contacts at National Maritime Museum Cornwall; Visit to the National Archive at Kew; Visit to Winchester Archive for Camper and Nicholson Records; Census and War Record from Jersey.