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Sandown

Above : Sandown by kind courtesy of the Peter Rolf collection

Built in 1934 by Wm Denny and Bros. at Dumbarton
Engines : Triple expansion diagonal  16, 25.5 and 41 in x 63 in
Dimensions : 216 ft x 29.1 ft
684 Gross registered Tons

Built for year-round service on the Southern Railway's Portsmouth-Ryde railway connection ferry service.
Also included excursion work alongside her ferry roster.
Requisitioned in September 1939, being fitted as a minesweeper and sent to Dover
Involved in the Dunkirk evacuations
Later in the war she was stationed at Lowestoft and at Granton before moving to the South Coast in 1944
After the Allied invasion of Europe, Sandown served on the River Scheldt
Back on her peacetime station in 1945
Became a summer-only vessel after the arrival of motor vessels Southsea and Brading in 1948
Withdrawn after the 1965 season and scrapped in Belgium in 1966 after being towed from her lay up berth in February.

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