Targets ?

Presumably these triangular things are targets under construction or repair?

I was looking for post 1925 photos of Grimsby tram sheds and spotted these



a section of this aerial photo from Britain from Above for 1950

britainfromabove.org.uk/en/image/EAW029029

Which would be about here now
goo.gl/maps/dv8GXrjAoAQ1vzJz6

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Also visible on the left hand edge of this photo


from britainfromabove.org.uk/en/image/EAW029026

That is brilliant. Yes they certainly are targets of the raft type, probably for Donna Nook and Theddlethorpe. I wonder if it was a local boatyard that had a contract as I don't think the RAF had a presence at Grimsby. I did look at Immingham, due to frequent references to it in 36 Sqn ORB post war, but neglected to look at Grimsby. They look to be of different types, hollow centres and pyramid centres, and two main sizes, 16ft and 32ft.

Targets would have been lifted regularly for cleaning and repair so I suspect a reserve was kept at a nearby harbour. I'm not sure if they were originally built there though, the ones that look to be under construction may just be having their deck boards replaced. Happy to be corrected though.

Peter wrote:

That is brilliant. Yes they certainly are targets of the raft type, probably for Donna Nook and Theddlethorpe. I wonder if it was a local boatyard that had a contract as I don't think the RAF had a presence at Grimsby. I did look at Immingham, due to frequent references to it in 36 Sqn ORB post war, but neglected to look at Grimsby. They look to be of different types, hollow centres and pyramid centres, and two main sizes, 16ft and 32ft.

Targets would have been lifted regularly for cleaning and repair so I suspect a reserve was kept at a nearby harbour. I'm not sure if they were originally built there though, the ones that look to be under construction may just be having their deck boards replaced. Happy to be corrected though.

I think that area of the dock received a lot of imported timber

I noticed that on the 1925 photos but not so much in the 1950 ones.

In the early days of the Donna Nook range, the Armament Training Camp was seasonal and the targets were lifted at the end of each season and stored until the following spring. I wonder if Grimsby was used then? Sadly this would be after the 1925 coverage in the BFA collection.

This is the same area of grimsby docks, know as the Riverhead, with the large structure behind being Victoria Mill


 

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I assume they were towed to the docks which must have been a challenge as the targets were not built for speed. The 16ft ones might fit on some larger moorings vessels but not on the standard moorings vessels used for placing buoys. Something to investigate.

I did see a modern moorings vessel at Gravesend a few weeks ago and that was quite small, then again modern buoys seem smaller anyway.