There has been a fair bit of information floating around about Beta III but, to date, no plans. No plans – strangely – in the London Fire Brigade bundle when the ship was commissioned. However, the National Maritime Museum at Greenwich holds some of the Lloyds Survey Reports which – see below – seem to include some of the plans. Excellent news.
“I presume this is the firefloat BETA III (1926) built by Edwards & Co Ltd at Millwall (Yard No 816). The collection of Lloyd’s Survey Reports on loan from Lloyd’s Register does include some documents for this vessel. The first entry LSR made at the time of her construction is numbered LON 89673. There is also a later LSR numbered LON 111697. The following plans (all blueprints) are enclosed:
-Proposed T.S. Motor Firefloat for London County Council
General Arrangement (Profile & Decks), 1924
1:48 scale
-General Arrangement of Merryweather Firefloat for London Fire Brigade (Profile & Decks), 1925
1:48 scale
-Merryweather Firefloat for London Fire Brigade
Midship Section, 1925
1:12 scale
Next week we will be retrieving the above items from offsite storage. Please let me know if you wish to view them in the Caird Library reading room here at the Greenwich site of the National Maritime Museum.”
betaiiifireboat 