Churchill funeral barge fails to sell at auction

LONDON (Reuters) – The barge that bore the body of British
World War Two leader Winston Churchill down the River Thames
during his state funeral 40 years ago failed to sell at auction
on Thursday.

“Havengore” had been expected to fetch over 1 million
pounds ($1.8 million), but bidding ran aground at 780,000
pounds and it was withdrawn from sale.

“What can I say? It is disappointing. It just didn’t find a
buyer,” said a spokesman for auction house Sotheby’s.

Havengore, 87 feet long and 17 feet wide, entered the
annals of history on January 30, 1965 when it carried
Churchill’s flag-draped coffin past dock cranes with their jibs
lowered in tribute to the nation’s war hero.

Commissioned in 1954 and launched two years later,
Havengore had a dual life as a working survey boat in the
Thames estuary and a ceremonial craft carrying royalty and
overseas visitors.

Decommissioned in 1995 and completely restored, the
privately owned barge now appears only on ceremonial occasions
– most recently leading a flotilla of small ships down the
Thames in tribute to naval hero Horatio Nelson in September.