paddlesteamers.info  :  The Internet's leading website for Side-Wheeled Paddle Steamers

PS Whippingham
Above : Whippingham approaching Southsea on 18th August 1937. Photo by kind courtesy of Tom Lee, from his private collection
Built in 1930 by Fairfield Shipbuilding & Engineering at Govan, Glasgow
Engines : Compound diagonal  30.5 and 59 in x 54 in
Dimensions : 244 ft x 30.1 ft
825 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.
Not initially requisitioned for war service, but attended the Dunkirk evacuations, saving 2700 troops on her only crossing.
Returned to her ferry role until requisitioned in 1941, serving as a minesweeper then anti-aircraft vessel
Involved on the South Coast and at the Normandy landings in 1944
After the Allied invasion of Europe, Sandown served on the River Scheldt
Back on her peacetime station in 1945
After increasingly less use she was withdrawn after the 1962 season
Left for shipbreakers in Belgium in May 1963
Return to
Southern Railway / British Railways
British Paddle Steamer Index