paddlesteamers.info : The Internet's leading website for
Side-Wheeled Paddle Steamers
South
Coast of England : Portsmouth - Ryde Ferry
Portsmouth & Ryde Steam
Packet Co (1827-1851)
Union (1825)
Arrow (1825)
Lord Yarborough (1826)
Earl Spencer (1833)
Portsea, Portsmouth, Gosport & Isle of Wight Steam Packet Co
(1849-1851)
Amalgamated to form :
Port of Portsmouth & Ryde United Steam Packet Co (1852-1880)
Prince Consort (1859-1882)
Princess of Wales (1865-1885)
Duke of Edinburgh (1869-1884)
Princess Alice (1869-1882)
Heather Bell (1876-1880)
Albert Edward (1878- )
Alexandra (1879-1913)
Victoria (1881-1899)
Later incorporated :
Southsea & Isle of Wight Steam Ferry Co (1873-1876)
Under Railway Ownership :
London & South Western Railway / London, Brighton & South
Coast Railway (1880-1922)
Prince Consort (1859-1882)
Princess of Wales (1865-1885)
Duke of Edinburgh (1869-1884)
Princess Alice (1869-1882)
Heather Bell (1876-1900)
Albert Edward (1878- )
Alexandra (1879-1913)
Victoria (1881-1988)
New Build :
Duchess of Edinburgh (1884- 1910)
Duchess of Connaught (1884-1910)
Duchess of Albany (1889)
Princess Margaret (1893)
Duchess of Kent (1897)
Duchess of Fife (1899)
Duchess of Richmond (1910-1915)
Duchess of Norfolk (1911)
Alexandra (1880-1913)
Built in 1879 by Scott & Co of Greenock. 171 x 20.2 ft : 235 GRT : Engines Compound - 25 and 50 x 54 inch
Purchased
from the Port of Portsmouth and Ryde United Steam Packet Co in 1880.
Sold in 1913. various subsequent owners as Alexis, Alexandra and Show
Boat. Scrapped 1934
Victoria (1881-1899)
Double ended ferry built by Aitken & Mansell of
Glasgow. 191.9 x 25.1 ft : 366 GRT : Engines Compound - 32 and 57 x 54 inch
Sold to the Southampton company (Red Funnel)
Duchess of Connaught (1884-1910)
Double ended ferry built by Aitken & Mansell of
Glasgow. 190.6 x 26.1 ft : 342 GRT : Engines Compound - 32 and 55 x 60 inch
Withdrawn and scrapped in 1910
Duchess of Edinburgh (1884-1910)
Double ended ferry built by Aitken & Mansell of
Glasgow. 190.6 x 26.1 ft : 342 GRT : Engines Compound - 32 and 55 x 60 inch
Withdrawn and scrapped in 1910
Duchess of Albany (1889)
Princess Margaret (1893)
Duchess of Kent (1897)
Duchess of Fife (1899)
Duchess
of Richmond (1910-1916, sank near the Dardanelles, Turkey in 1919 when
under tow after hitting a mine during clearing operations)
Built by D & W Henderson of Glasgow. 190.2 x 26.1 ft : Compound - 27 and 51 x 54 inch
The wreck was discovered in 2019 to the south of Imbros Island
Duchess of Norfolk (1911)
Southern Railway (1923-1947), British
Railways / British Rail
(1948-1984)
On railway
amalgamation, the Southern Railway took over the Portsmouth-Ryde
ferry and set about modernising the fleet of paddlers, introducing
seven large passenger vessels in fourteen years.
Whilst primarily providing railway connection services between Portsmouth and Ryde, occasional excursions were offered
Paddlers taken over from the joint LBSCR and LSWR Fleet in
1923
Duchess of Albany (until 1928)
Princess Margaret (until 1928)
Duchess of Fife (until 1928)
Duchess of Kent (until
1933 - sold to the New Medway SP Co)
Duchess of Norfolk (until
1937 - sold to Cosens)
New Build - Paddle
Steamers
Shanklin
(1924-1951)
Merstone (1928-1950)
Portsdown (1928-1941)
Southsea (1930-1941)
Whippingham (1930-1963)
Sandown (1934-1966)
Ryde (1937-1969 - sold for static use)
Note : During World War II, the spare vessel on the Lymington-Yarmouth ferry, paddle steamer Solent (1902) was used on occasion on the Portsmouth-Ryde service
After World War II, in which two of the vessels were lost, the
company planned to make good the tonnage. The original plan to order
new paddlers was quickly changed , to an order for ultimately two
diesel-powered vessels, which were launched in 1948 from Denny's yard
at Dumbarton. A third similar vessel was delivered in in 1951 as the
scheduled replacement for PS Shanklin, but the high capacity (of up
to 1331) of the new vessels allowed the earlier than anticipated
withdrawal of the paddler Merstone in 1948. With the market for
passenger-only vessels diminishing, the traditional crossing suffered
at the hands of the Portsmouth-Fishbourne car-ferry route and
traditional vessels were displaced from the Ryde route by the arrival
of so-called Fast Ferries in the shape of Australian
hydrofoils.These new vessels were purchased by the new private
operators who had bought the Sealink-branded operation from British
Railways, marking the end of a long association of the route with
railway ownership.
Attempts at offering cruises to other Isle of Wight ports and into
Southampton water were attempted from time to time but with little
success. MV Southsea, laid up in 1986 alongside her sister Brading,
was immediately recommisioned in one last attempt to offer cruises,
but by 1989 she was back out of service and up for sale. It was not until 2005
that she was finally sold to Danish shipbreakers after many years of lay up
with preservation attempts failing. She arrived at Esjberg on March 15th of
2005.
Return
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Historical Database
.