A concrete coaster built at Faversham
MOLLIETTE was one of two reinforced-concrete coasters designed by Walter Pollock and constructed at Faversham by J. Pollock & Sons as wartime demand put pressure on conventional shipbuilding materials. Work began on 2 September 1918 and the vessel was launched in November, with trials on 17 January 1919.
Like her near-sister VIOLETTE, she carried three masts and a motor. The National Historic Ships description of VIOLETTE identifies the common design as having a two-cylinder 120 bhp Bolinders engine. Unlike a concrete barge, MOLLIETTE had been designed for coastal cargo work under both motor and sail.
From cargo work to the Blackwater
Her commercial service was short. Her engine was damaged in 1922 and removed; she was used as a houseboat on the River Blackwater and moved to West Mersea in 1925. She was moored off Coast Road, opposite the Victory, and became a conspicuous feature of the waterfront.
A floating yacht-club meeting place
West Mersea Yacht Club used MOLLIETTE as club premises from 1931. The venture lasted only a few years as the structure deteriorated. Later adaptations included leisure and social use, quite different from her original cargo-carrying purpose.
The wartime target and salvage
During the Second World War the vessel was moved towards Cocum Hills, off East Mersea, and used as a target. Her remains became familiar to people working and sailing the Blackwater. Oyster dredger Douglas Stoker later salvaged spent brass cartridge cases from around the wreck and described the work in two surviving recordings.
The name lives on
Molliette remains the title of West Mersea Yacht Club's journal. The vessel's history was covered in its December 2014 issue, while the National Historic Ships entry for the related coaster VIOLETTE records construction details shared by the two ships.
Ship and club history
National Historic Ships: VIOLETTE and MOLLIETTE · 2014 yacht-club history (PDF) · Douglas Stoker's salvage recollection.