All that shined up copper and brass, that clean white paint and that clean, shiny green paint. You can tell that this is a proud bunch of guys.

Music. Really, really loud music standing there. I just love these fabulous machines.

Wow!! I don't think I've ever seen so much mechanical beauty. That old engine is huge, the injector lines are massive. So cool thank you for sharing this 🙂

George Yuill. Served my apprenticeship at British Polar Engines. Many years ago. Keep it running Well done

That's not just an engine, it's a piece of art. Fantastic.

Congratulations on restoring the tug.She looks awesome . Sailed on a few ships where the BP was used to power the Generator sets.Had a few scavenge fires with them . Also sailed on Stephenson Clarkes Pulborough which had a BP as a main engine.

There must be many thousands of hours of loving restoration gone into this tug. Congratulations on your fine work

Nice to see the old girl still going. I used to drive that engine when I was second engineer with Caledonian towage when she was based in Invergordon, along with her big sisters the Kenley and the Kestrel. Had 1 or 2 hairy moments on her when she was up in Scapa flow Orkney.

that engine room is spotless really clean.

History, dudes - pure history! Well Done, All Concerned. Fabulous Acheivement.

A few years ago, I had worked on a tug owned by Purvis Marine in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario named the "Avenger IV". The Avenger IV was built by Cochrane and Sons of Selby, England for William Watkins Ltd. and has been owned by the Elliot Steam Tug Co. and the Alexandra Towing Co. She has worked on the coast of Europe and Great Britain and also the Thames River. She was purchased by Purvis Marine Ltd. in 1985 and was sailed to Canada during the fall and early winter of the same year. She has a 9 cyl. British Polar engine just like the one in the video and is still used today to transport steel products all over the Great Lakes by barge. I always slept well when we were underway...to the sound of the old Polar! Miss her terribly!

There is obviously a bit of pride taken in keeping the brass bright on this wee ship, thank you.

Ha it made me smile to see all those people in the engine room starting her up, in the mid 1980s I used to have to go aboard her in the winter in the dark and cold and get her running on my own, but that was how it was in those days,and as for the comments on the port side radiator cooled set that was the only heating that we had in the winter,and we kept the after cabin hatch open in the summer to get a supply of cool air to it.

Beautiful and restful white noise...thanks.

Absolutely beautifully done congrats.

True dedication to quality and pride in workmanship! Tally Ho!

What a credit this machinery space is to the guys. Congratulations.

Great to see this beautifully restored tug and engine.My memories are not so good about Polar engines on one ship the polar 9 cylinder engines were on the generators . Had a tendency to lose the scavenge piston then runaway. Quick run on to the platform to slow it down and stop. Used to upset the deck crew when working cargo with winches to suddenly lose power !

There is something majestic about the mass and sound of a big engine loping along. Much like an aged relative being cared for by devoted family members here every need is seen to in a timely and proper manner.

God, that's beautiful!

Thanks dave its was music to my ears when her 2 stroke diesel fired for the first time in years regards paul.

What a big beautiful beast of an engine!

Just spectacular. Now on my bucket list of things to see in the UK :-)

Brilliant job gentlemen! She is a fine example.

It just makes me smile nice work men

Good to see matey. I didnt realise the Kent was that deep.. we share same marina! There was an old Sun tug Vanquisher that ran a polar shade bigger than this suspect.. nice resto.

Love the sounds.it brings back memories. Collenberg engine in a tug. Run the pony moter to charge up the air tank. Then let the air start the engine. Just love it. thanks for posting this video. A+ my man...

Carlos Garcia- your English is a lot better than my Spanish.

mr hunt. you all did an amazing job with her. shes perfect looking. cheers, Aaron

Beautiful boat and the power plant is gorgeous!!!

Nice clip. Amazing work on the engine restoration.

In these times it's great to see anything British starting up instead of crumbling down

Formidable motor.

Pretty cool !! Nice job boys , impressive !

I couldn't sleep. All better now!

Ever since I saw you in photon's vid about this engine I was really looking forward to hearing her run. She sounds lovely. Thanks for uploading, it's a very nice video. I am fasinated by this sort of thing.

Congratulations for restoring.

That is a beautiful piece of machinery. It looks great from every angle. Great restoration.

I love these proper engines, I have an old Kelvin T8 that I hope to get running again, what worries me is that if I'm sat at anchor, and it starts to drag, how quick can we get the engines up and running to sort it out? I have to go down the hatch to start the engine which at least means it's checked before anyone tries to start it, oil is primed, sea cock turned on etc. Yes we check our weather and anchor in a suitable place but shoot happens!

Beautiful machine.

Great video, what a beautiful engine thanks for sharing. Cheers

Just Fabulous. Well done you guys.

yes that is right there are some nice old tugs about i do like the elbe and know the man that helps running the tug

Nice tug thank you for the video 😎👏

really great camera work........ much appreciated.!\

A wonderful bit of work. I would love to crew on that tug.

Great job.

cheers its hard work but in then its worth it regards paul

a tug must have a good bollard pull by putting a line from the tug to the dockside you can get a reading of how hard it can pull and now there are so many engines you have gearboxes , new propulsion systems the lot regards paul

Great film.

gaselee tugs were mostly polar engines along with knights tugs, tayra and rana had same 5 cyl polar rated at 700hp or around that mark from ex gaselee engineer the good old days nice to hear that sound again

Excellent restoration - a "hardware enthusiast's" idea of heaven (even down to the polished injection lines!). Filmed by "The Crazy from Dartford" - Mr Photon himself (I'm surprised he hasn't "popped it!") :-D

@Atsaki13 the tug was built in 1948 for jp knght towing co.

This was filmed seven years ago, and I hope that the videographer has learned to slow down the panning. Not only does it cause the viewer some dizziness but it makes it impossible to determine what structure is being seen. As this is an entertaining, educational, and historical video about a clean and well maintained older vessel, and it generally covers its subject well (starting the marine engine) I hope my criticism is taken as intended; that is, to improve similar future videos.

Ahhh Built in the days when British naval engineering was the best in the world.

Nice engine :)

Just noticed that the auxiliary engine is radiator-cooled. Quite unusual on a ship.

Diesel powers our computer generation. This is the finest white noise generator of all.

Wonderful!

i m chief engineer from Spain i see the picture is very intereting for my the engine room the tug is old bat very beatifully and it perfect conditions for the working thanks brothers seamen . Excusme for my englis is not good

thanks very much for your comment sixmagpies regards paul

Question. Since the main engine is direct drive, was it easy to go astern from ahead at a decent speed? Was the air start system able to overcome the force of the water flowing over the propeller at speed in order to change engine direction? Magnificent restoration by the by.

yes tugs have allways had that but the tugs today well need i say more but for an old girl she still packs a punch .

Is the torque figure considered as important as the BHP in a marine engine like this one?

It would be really nice to know just what needed doing to that superb engine during it's overhaul. I have a feeling the old lady didn't need a great deal. Rather like a monstrous Lister. I'm sure it will still be around when us mere mortals are dust.

Bravo!

Fantastic bit of kit there. How old is that engine setup? Looks like its had a lot of TLC to get it looking so new. Pristine.

Do you hear a choir sing when the thing starts up? I do. Thanks

Wait a minute... Polar? The penny just dropped. :)

When I was a little kid, that was the job I dreamed about- be the engineer on a ship.

Yes very strange to have a radiator cooled generator in an engine room after a couple of hours working the engine room will be a furnace. It is not normal practice!!

Do old tugs like the Kent still earn their living as occasional tug boats?

What camera was used to film this?

Aftershock2013 the main engine is the only one with a propeller and its 7ft in diameter if you want to try it your more that welcome by the way its direct drive so you would be turning that over as well .

Very nice thank you my Deer ❤️😎

and being a 5pot two stroke the engine is balanced at speed ? which I don't think is much more than 250rpm

Lovely

That same configuration of engine they use today ! Reliable ?

Beautiful engine and engine room! What is the vintage/age of this engine and tug?

And a rather large amount of torque I imagine?

Whats with the air to start it?

Those older Diesel engines sounded lik e a real diesel should noise - noise and power to Spain

if it's photon's camera, where are the 2 purple spots!!! What is a funnel bung anyway?

Is this engine made in Britain from the past ???????

5:32 Mug of tea, naturally. :p

Marine engine are on a whole other level to land ones. "Good day, good Sir, would you perchance have designs for a motorised device capable of propelling a building?"

What starts the generators? What do the generators do?

Is it a two stroke? If so, how is it scavenged. I caught a glimpse of what might have been a turbo casing.

Sorry, did they ever get it to run?

Out of interest does the two stroke diesel have a supercharger?

Rare to see a 2-stroke in a tugboat. Does it have a reversing gearbox, or is it a direct reversing engine?

don't know it was photons camera regards paul

They would run forever those two stroke polars not by today's standards eco frendly but none of them was back then

are the engines pre-heated somehow ?

880 BHP

What happened to Photon? Is he ok?

The generators look like Lister engines, am I right?

Shouldn't someone spin the propeller manually while the other person is cranking it?

what horse power have it ?

Britons and germans always made stuff highly complicated. Old MAN, Doxford....Curse of the seas. No wonder Sulzer and B&W took over. :)