Shipbuilder’s Model of the S. C. Breifond & Aztec, Sister Ships Built to the Same Design, Launched by William Doxford of Sunderland in 1914/1915

A Shipbuilder’s Model of the S. C. Breifond and Aztec, Sister Ships Built to the Same Design, Launched by William Doxford of Sunderland in 1914/15 This finely detailed scale model, contained in its original glazed presentation case, has come by near direct descent from the commissioners of the piece itself, the Sunderland yard of Willix Doxford and Sons Ltd. The model represents a new type of screw steamer which garnered much attention at the time due to its revolutionary system for storing the oil they transported below decks. Indeed much of an issue of The Shipbuilder magazine, published in October 1915, was dedicated to the vessels and their design. In the October edition of “The Shipbuilder” there is a full description, with detailed plans, of the special oil- carrying steamers Breifond and Aztec, recently completed at Sunderland. These vessels were particularly interesting to shipbuilders as instead of carrying their oil cargoes in bulk in the holds, the norm at the time, large cylindrical tanks were built in the holds to contain the oil. The merits of the ‘new’ system, which was being fairly extensively adopted, particularly in the case of cargo steamers which were being converted into bulk-oil carriers, are discussed at considerable length. In Lloyd’s List, 21st of October 1914, a mention is made of Breifond’s successful sea trials: ‘The S. S. Breifond, built and engineered by Messrs. William Doxford and Sons, Ltd., Pallion, Sunderland, to the order of Sigval Bergesen, Esq., Stavanger, ran a successful sea trial recently, a speed of 11 knots being attained with the vessel loaded down to her marks.’ Included with the model is a photograph of the Breifond taken after she had been sold to new owners in 1922 and a selection of letters and other ephemera relating to the ships and the model itself. Made for the boardroom of William Doxford and Sons, Sunderland, and acquired directly from the firm by the previous owner who sold the model privately to us.