Bradite matches 1860 gold finish for Britain's first iron-hulled warship

Bradite matches 1860 gold finish for Britain's first iron-hulled warship

Keywords Bradite,Coatings, Marine corrosion, Ship building

Independent British paint manufacturer, Bradite, which produces performance coatings and decorative finishes at its Bethesda, North Wales plant, is always delighted to secure major refurbishment projects and substantial export orders. Yet it was equally gratified recently to play a relatively small role in preserving part of the nation's maritime heritage. It produced an anticorrosive coating in a special shade of gold for the iron-hulled, Victorian warship HMS Warrior, in its heyday the most formidable battleship the world had seen (Plate 1).

Now prominently positioned at the entrance to Portsmouth's historic dockyard, home to the Royal Naval Museum, Warrior attracts a quarter of a million visitors annually,including school parties studying for the National Curriculum and GCSE's. When she was launched in 1860 as Britain's first ever armoured battleship, she was bigger, faster and more powerfully armed than any other warship afloat. Constructed of wrought iron and powered by both steam and sail, she was sadly reduced to a fuelling hulk in the 1920s, before being fully restored in a project costing £7 million and lasting eight years, finally returning to Portsmouth in 1987.

Plate 1 The Victorian warship Warrior

This year, the custodians of Warrior decided to repaint the boot-top, the area of the hull immediately above the waterline, in the original shade of antique gold. Local independent paint distributor Brewer & Sons of Portsmouth sought the specialist help of Bradite, which enjoys a growing reputation for high quality protective and marine coatings, and the manufacturer was able to match the shade and lustre exactly, drawing upon its extensive paint colour library.

Now the Warrior's traditional boot-top finish has been reproduced in a modern, modified alkyd-based, micaceous iron oxide (MIO) coating, Bradite AM60. A high build finish, it is reported to provide excellent anticorrosive protection in a marine or dockside environment, is said to be extremely tough and abrasion resistant,and to offer excellent UV protection thanks to the high MIO content;appropriately enough, it also conforms to Ministry of Defence paint specifications.

It is believed that Bradite's golden MIO finish will grace and protect Warrior for years to come and there are now plans to match more old colours used when the warship was originally built, this time in the engine room. Bradite will be delighted to assist, especially as many of its directors and paint technicians are themselves boat owners, although it is doubtful whether their own craft will quite measure up to Warrior's 400ft long and 60ft wide hull, armoured with 41Ž2 inches of wrought iron.

For further details contact Bradite Paints. Tel: +44 01248 600315; Fax: +44 01248 602782. HMS Warrior 1860 is open daily from 10.00 a.m. at HM Naval Base, Portsmouth;Tel: +44 01705 291379.