Clyde Steamers

Paddle Steamer Resources by Tramscape
The Internet's leading database of Paddle Steamers past and present

Waverley at penarth in 2009.jpg

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Unfortunately the website became too large for its original internet location and had to be moved
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CLYDE STEAMERS : EXCURSION SHIPS OF THE FIRTH OF CLYDE, SCOTLAND

Click here for .....

Summary history of Clyde Steamers with links to ship owners, operating companies and the ships
Special Report : Clyde Steamer Operations and new ships built in the 1930s
Special Report : The 1960s - the last full decade of steam - or that's how it seemed at the time......

CLYDE STEAMERS BUILT IN THE 1930s : THE ULTIMATE FLEET

FROM DUCHESS TO GODDESS : THE ULTIMATE FLEET

In the 1930s, despite the economic depression of the times, there had been a spurt in construction of new ships for the Clyde - 11 steamers, seven paddlers and four turbines - the last significant use of steam technology for new estuarine vessels anywhere in Europe. As the most modern of their class, they constituted the "Ultimate Fleet".

Amongst them was the well-loved paddle steamer Jeanie Deans (seen left in a photo by Alexander Bain) : nothing if not a conservatively designed ship, but powerful and fast, designed to get LNER railway passengers to Dunoon ahead of their rivals despite having a longer sea crossing from Craigendoran.

The Firth of Clyde, by virtue of its size, attractive scenery and potential for varied cruising possibilities, is the main area for coastal cruising in the UK. The river Clyde runs through Glasgow, Scotland's largest city, a city built on international trade and major centre for steel, engineering and shipbuilding from the industrial revolution into the present day. It soon widens into an estuary with industrial towns dotted along it's steep sided banks. Further downstream, holiday resorts developed along the mainland coast and on the numerous islands in the Firth and wealthy industrialists built homes amidst the beautiful scenery. With city dwellers always keen to get away for a holiday at one of the resorts or take in the delights of a cruise up one of the many sea lochs, and islanders keen to commute to or deliver goods to markets on the mainland, the advent of steamship technology meant that the Clyde would become one of the foremost areas for its development. With so many shipbuilding companies located along the Clyde building sea-going ships for Britain and the world, it was only natural that many of them were also involved in building the "Clyde Steamers".

The 1930s saw the final development of what began in 1812 with the pioneering vessel "Comet". The operators of the Clyde Steamers, mainly railway companies, which had fought a long and hard battle for supremacy in the trade, had severely outdated fleets and all embarked on a programme of modernisation which was the greatest since the "Golden Years" of 1890-1904. What was unusual was that the modernisation involved the use of tried and tested technology - steam, and in the case of all the ferry workhorses, paddles. Whilst this was understandable in the case of the LNER's Jeanie Deans due to draught restrictions at her home base of Craigendoran, the CSP had no such problem yet still chose paddle steamers over motor vessels. The last great paddlers for the Swiss lakes, the Rhine and the Danube and the Great Lakes of North America had long since left the slipway, leaving the Clyde Steamers of the 1930s, the "Ultimate Fleet" of modern excursion paddle steamers.

THE VESSELS : Click on vessel name for more details
For details of the Turbine Steamers : click here to go to the associated website Clyde Turbine Steamer Foundation (return link to this database from the main index)

Vessel Name	Original Owner	Engines	Propulsion	First Season	*Last Season ()**	Scrapped / Lost	Comments
Duchess of Montrose	Caledonian Steam Packet	Turbine	Screw	1930	1964	1965	Scrapped
Jeanie Deans	LNER	Triple Expansion	Paddle	1931	1964	1968	Scrapped
Duchess of Hamilton	Caledonian Steam Packet	Turbine	Screw	1932	1970	1974	Scrapped
Queen Mary	Williamson-Buchanan	Turbine	Screw	1933	1977		Moored at London
Caledonia	Caledonian Steam Packet	Triple Expansion	Paddle	1934	1969	1980	Scrapped
Mercury	LMS	Triple Expansion	Paddle	1934	1939	1940	Sunk
Talisman	LNER	Diesel-electric	Paddle	1935	1966	1967	Scrapped
Marchioness of Lorne	Caledonian Steam Packet	Triple Expansion	Paddle	1936	1954	1955	Scrapped
Marchioness of Graham	Caledonian Steam Packet	Turbine	Screw	1936	1958	1970s	Scrapped
Jupiter	Caledonian Steam Packet	Triple Expansion	Paddle	1937	1957	1961	Scrapped
Juno	Caledonian Steam Packet	Triple Expansion	Paddle	1937	1939	1941	Sunk

Click on vesssel name to go to details in the Paddle Steamer Resources by Tramscape database
On the main vessel page in the database, click on "Duchess to Juno : The Ultimate Fleet" to return here
(*) Last main season on the Clyde
Note on owners. Caledonian Steam Packet Company (CSP) was a wholly-owned subsidiary of the LMS (London, Midland and Scottish Railway) and due to legacy legislation had powers to operate vessels over a wider areas of the Clyde than vessels owned directly by the LMS itself. The Williamson-Buchanan fleet remained independent until 1935 when it became a subsidiary of the LMS and operated in close integration with the CSP. The London & North Eastern Railway (LNER) operated in direct competion with the LMS and owned its own steamers. The LMS and LNER later became part of British Railways when the railway companies were taken fully into stste control in 1948.

Special Report : Clyde Steamer Operations and new ships built in the 1930s

THERE IS ONLY ONE VESSEL SURVIVING IN PRESERVATION FROM THE 1930s NEW BUILD

Clyde Turbine Steamer Queen Mary : former fleetmate of PS Waverley

It is now believed that the former Clyde Turbine Steamer, Queen Mary (ex-Queen Mary II, ex-Queen Mary), until recently a floating pub in London has been sold and will probably leave the UK for an as yet uncertain fate. The Clyde Turbine Steamer Foundation made a serious attempt to save her for the UK but it was not to be. However, the Foundation is still hoping to have contingency plans should she become available for sale again and seeks a major benefactor, investor, corporation or maritime museum which is prepared to take ownership of her and manage her in a way which meets the Foundation's aspirations. If you are interested in this historically unique vessel, please go to the Clyde Turbine Steamer Foundation website for more details.

THE ONE SURVIVING OPERATIONAL CLYDE STEAMER

P.S. Waverley, the last Clyde Steamer to be built, entered service in 1947, but was very much a ship of the 1930s type. Old designs were dusted-down to ensure that here owners, the LNER, were able to make good their wartime losses as soon as possible.

External Webites

Hollycombe Steam Collection : owners of Caledonia's engines
Jeanie Deans : Jessica Drescher's private tribute to the LNER flier

CAN YOU HELP WITH THIS DATABASE ?

The webmaster would be delighted to receive any updates of relevant information and photographs (of which you own copyright) which could help to keep this database as up-to-date as possible and fill in gaps in the historical record.

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Please e-mail the Webmaster your information and photos or general authorisation to use photos from another website source. Thank you very much

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