St Helena in Aberdeen Bay during sea trials (Aberdeen City Council – Archives Gallery & Museums collection)
Almost 2,000 drawings and documents relating to the design and construction of the St Helena have recently been catalogued by volunteers from the Aberdeen-built Ships project, based at the city’s Maritime Museum.
St Helena Replacement General Arrangement 'B' Forecastle, 'A', Promenade, and Boat Decks’
The passenger/cargo ship was built to be the ‘lifeline’ for the remote British Overseas Territory of St Helena in the South Atlantic. It carried passengers and cargo between the island and the UK or South Africa between 1990 and 2017. The documents were given to Aberdeen Archives, Gallery & Museums’ (AAGM) collection in 2018 by Andrew Weir Ship Management, after the ship was sold by the Government of St Helena following the introduction of scheduled flights to the island.
The St Helena was built at the Hall Russell shipyard. Delivered in 1990, it is described as the ‘last’ major ship built in Aberdeen. It is also probably the last major ship to be built in the UK using hand-drafted drawings.
Photo of design and drawing tools at Aberdeen Maritime Museum (image: R Leavett)
Around 1,000 of the documents are paper copies of originals drawn on film by the shipyard. The larger UK shipyards were using Computer-Aided Design (CAD) in the 1980s but Hall Russell did not. Hall Russell investigated CAD in 1982 and 1987, but costs at the time were too high. This is why the St Helena was designed using pen and ink on drawing film. The AAGM collection includes many drawings and documents from the Aberdeen shipyards. Some drawings, pens and technical instruments are on display at the Maritime Museum.
Hall, Russell & Co Ltd Drawing Office 1960s (Aberdeen City Council – Archives, Gallery & Museums collection)
The 35-year-old St Helena is enjoying a new lease of life following a multi-million-euro refurbishment by Extreme-E. The off-road racing series takes place in remote locations worldwide. St Helena is ideal as a floating base and maritime transport for the championships equipment and vehicles, minimising emissions. It also supports research through the on-board laboratory on the site of the original swimming pool.
Information
Over the past 20 years the Aberdeen-built Ships database has grown through the dedication of long-standing volunteers who continue to research the histories of over 3,000 ships recorded as being built in Aberdeen, and the shipyards which built them. Visit the collections pages at www.aagm.co.uk to access the database.
