Insect Class Fleet Tenders

[ezgo394]

A couple of years ago, I posted a drawing of the Scan Scarab, an ex-RMAS Insect Class Fleet Tender. I've since taken the drawing back to the workshop and refined it more, by looking at an extremely sparse collection of photos.

Here is the updated drawing of the Scan Scarab, after her 1997 refit:


As the title suggests, I am working on the rest of the Tenders as they were built (full list below). Interestingly, the Scarab was actually built differently than the other 6 ships, with the lifting horn, a different placement of the crane, the full width bridge, and other little details. What makes it tough for me is that there is only a line drawing of the Scan Scarab, which means that I have to look at pictures and make approximations as to where things are on the other ships.

A216 Bee

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A229 Cricket

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A230 Cockchafer
1971
Yard no. 1023

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A239 Gnat

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A253 Ladybird
Armaments Carrier
Launched 27th January 1970
Yard no. 1020

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A263 Cicala
Armaments Carrier
1972

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A272 Scarab
Buoy Tender
1971
Yard no. 1022

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Specifications:
Built: 1970-1973
Builder: Charles D. Holmes & Co. Ltd, Beverley
Length: ~34m
Draught: 3.0m
Beam: 8.99m
Propulsion: Lister Blackstone ERS8, 660 BHP @ 750 RPM, single screw
Cruise speed (Max): 8kts (10kts)
Accommodation: 10
Endurance (Fuel): 17 days at 8kts

[Rodondo]

Great work looking forwards to the others as well!

[Gollevainen]

looks really good

[ezgo394]

Thanks for the positive comments!
I have just uploaded A230 Cockchafer and placed it in the first post.

Looking at all of the ships (with what few photos I have), they all seem to be different in some little way, like for example, the Cockchafer has it's crane mounted forward of the cargo hold opening, while all the others have it behind the opening. All of the masts are different and each ship has subtle differences that prevent me from drawing a single ship to represent the whole class.

Can't complain though, it sure is fun!

[Hood]

Very nice work. Nice to see some lesser-known support vessels again.

[eswube]

Very nice, but there seem to be some double-black lines (bridge windows, radars above bridge, that tiny superstructure with mast behind the funnel and around the rudder).

[heuhen]

I do like the ship names...

[sailor82]

They look great! I really like the 'as built' version.

[ezgo394]

Thank you all for the positive comments!

@Hood: I don't think lesser known is accurate. I would probably say almost non-existent. I only have a select 2-4 pictures of each ship (except for the Scarab, which I mentioned is built differently than the rest) and every time I search for something there is very scarce information.

@Eswube: I do realize there are some double black line, but I really had no choice. With a small ship like this, it's hard to add an extra pixel here and there. I tried to separate the bridge windows and the mast behind the funnel, but it just didn't look right, so I've had to make an exception.

[apdsmith]

Hi ezgo,

Looking really nice!

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