Ruda at War

Despite residing only a day’s motoring from the ‘Operation Dynamo’ assembly point at Ramsgate, there is no record of Ruda having taken part in the evacuation of soldiers from beaches of Dunkirk during the dark days of May and June 1940. Perhaps the organisers at the Ministry of Shipping missed out the Shoreham yard of Lady Bee Ltd. when they phoned around the south coast boatyards, or perhaps the yard decided not to send their brand new vessel, but whatever the story Ruda was eventually requisitioned in June 1940:

“… on behalf of the Ministry of War Transport under the R(T98B) Net Charterparties Agreement, from G. M. Haworth, for £27. Registered as a motor boat and employed by the Admiralty on Auxiliary Patrol Duties until 26th May, 1941. (SMBA 529) and (SSBA 500(1)).”

And then on 26th May, 1941:

“… Compulsorily acquired by the Ministry of War Transport for Admiralty service and continued to be employed on Auxiliary Patrol Duties until November 1941…”

But even an entry in the Admiralty list of serving vessels might lead to a human story. During the early days in the service of her country Leading Engine Man Horace Edwin “Jimmy” Green (b. 1911) joined Ruda and, happily for her, kept an autograph book. Clearly her crew also numbered a talented marine artist…

Night Patrol aboard Ruda

N26 is immediately recognisable as Ruda, despite her mast having now been moved aft, and her gun confiscated.

Not long after his time aboard Ruda, Jimmy Green left England on the s.s.”Orbita“ bound for New York, whence onward by train to Benton Harbour where he served on a minesweeper helping to keep Canada’s eastern seaboard open. Jimmy is pictured here in his sheepskin jacket; he talked often of the bitter cold that he experienced during his 15-months in Canada. Jimmy also spent some of his war as a lecturer at St Luke’s in Lowestoft.  There is a sketch of him in his autograph book looking extremely dapper. For more of Jimmy’s story, read ‘The Story of a Bell’

Elsewhere in Jimmy’s autograph book is this little ditty written by the Spare Engine Man, Howard Fenton, in which he is less than complimentary about Ruda’s original Ailsa Craig engines.

“It was on the good ship ‘Ruda’, her engineer’s name was ‘Green’. The engines are definitely cruder than on any other boat I’ve been”

Would he have been more surprised to find that those engines were still going strong well into the 21st century, or that he hadn’t been chosen to become the Poet Laureate?

Ruda’s original Ailsa Craig RF2 engines (along with the Ailsa Craig company’s archive) can be inspected at the Internal Fire Museum of Power in Tan-y-Groes, Wales.