Unfortunately
the website became too large for its original internet location and had to be
moved This mainly text-only version represents the website as it was up until
1st July 2009 and does not include any more recent information or updates.
It includes some photographs which were included in earlier versions of
this website. For the latest information and all the photos, click on the link
above
CLYDE STEAMERS : EXCURSION SHIPS OF THE FIRTH OF CLYDE, SCOTLAND
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)
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.
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.
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.
I
know that many of you will have photographs of paddle steamers on the internet
on photo-sharing websites such as Picasa and Flickr. No photos are used on this
website unless they were taken by the webmaster or someone who has given express
permission for their own photos to be used.
Tramscape is trying to develop
this website as the main source on the internet for paddle steamer information
and photos, so the webmaster would be very grateful if you would allow use of
your photos in this database so they can be seen by the wider paddle steamer
interest group who will be reading this website.
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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In public service,
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fate
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listed in the database plus other sites of interest (European ships) Steamships
or diesel conversions propelled by a stern wheel (Mississippi-style)
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