Ballon 

An Invited Friend of the Harrison Butler Association
Waterbug One Design by JW & A Upham Ltd 

  
 

Vice Admiral Sir Charles Piercy Mills, KCB, CBE, DSC 

The Waterbug of VIPs
Ballon's previous owners include an Admiral and a Vice Admiral of the Royal Navy. Both have a page on Wikipedia. I read with interest that Vice Admiral Sir Charles Mills commanded the destroyer HMS Daring (and the 2nd Destroyer Squadron) in 1959 as I remember building an Airfix model of HMS Daring as a child. I've been unable to locate Ballon's current whereabouts or a photograph of her, although I have unearthed one of the Vice Admiral.

HMS Darling

Ballon Statistics
Built : 1959 by JW & A Upham Ltd of Brixham
LOA : 24' 4"
LWL : 21' 0"
Beam : 8' 3"
Draught : 4' 5"
Displacement : 6 tons TM
Lloyd's Register : N° 300261

Ballon Custodians & Home Ports 
CP Chandler (?-1980-?) St Peter Port
P Le G Bisson (1975-1977-?) Guernsey
Vice Admiral Sir Charles Piercy Mills KCB, CBE, DSC
   & Lady Mills (1969-1974) Guernsey
Mrs HB Pearn (1967-1968) Plymouth
Admiral Sir Nigel Stuart Henderson KCB OBE (1965-1966) Plymouth
AJJ Farley (1963-1964) Plymouth
Mrs KR Tatton (1959-1962) Brixham

Ballon Links
• The Waterbug; A Derived Design?, HBA Journal, New Year 2016 
• Pedigree of The Waterbugs, HBA Journal, Autumn 2016 

Page last updated : December 2017

 
  

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