STEAM TUG: Cervia restoration and back in steam

Hopes have been voiced that the steam tug Cervia, which has been a static exhibit in Ramsgate since 1985, will be back in steam by 2013. The Steam Museum Trust (SMT) has applied for a £1 million grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund, and restoration work during the winter has centred on renovating her boiler room and forward accommodation areas. Work will continue this spring and summer on her exterior. Cervia was built by Alexander Hall at Aberdeen in 1946 for the Ministry of War Transport and was originally named Empire Raymond. She was sold to William Watkins in 1946 and spent the next 25 years working on the Thames. In October 1954 she capsized and sank with the loss of her skipper and four crewmen, but was raised, repaired and returned to service.