PS Caledonia (1934)

PS Caledonia was a paddle steamer built in 1934. She principally provided an Upper Clyde ferry service, later moving to Ayr and then Craigendoran.

Caledonia at Rothesay in 1960
Caledonia at Rothesay in 1960
History
United Kingdom
NameCaledonia
OwnerLondon, Midland & Scottish Railway
OperatorCaledonian Steam Packet Company
BuilderWilliam Denny and Brothers, Dumbarton[1]
Yard number1266
Launched1 Feb 1934
CompletedMarch 1934
Out of service1939
HomeportGlasgow
Identification161981
History
United Kingdom
NameHMS Goatfell
Commissioned1939
Decommissioned1946
IdentificationJ-125
History
United Kingdom
NameCaledonia
OperatorCaledonian Steam Packet Company
In service1946
Out of service1969
Fate
  • Used as floating restaurant
  • Damaged by fire and scrapped, July 1980
General characteristics
TypePaddle steamer
Tonnage
Length70.1 m (230 ft 0 in)
Beam18.9 m (62 ft 0 in)
Draft2.3 m (7 ft 7 in)
Installed powerHorizontal steam triple expansion 3cyl 1800 ihp
Speed
  • 14 kn (26 km/h; 16 mph) (service)
  • 17 kn (31 km/h; 20 mph) (max)
Restaurant ship Old Caledonia 1973 in London

During the Second World War, she served in the Royal Navy as a minesweeper and then an auxiliary anti-aircraft ship under the name HMS Goatfell.

Her final days were as a floating pub in London until destroyed by fire in 1980.

History

PS Caledonia was built by William Denny and Brothers of Dumbarton for the Caledonian Steam Packet Company. She was launched on 1 February 1934 and completed later that year.[2]

Layout

Built to look more like a screw turbine than a traditional paddle steamer, Caledonia and her sister Mercury had plating carried around the sponsons. They had promenade deck saloons fore and aft with observation decks above each, linked and extended forward of the forward saloon.

The navigation bridge was raised above the observation deck, forward of the single large elliptical funnel.

William Denny triple expansion three-crank engines gave a maximum speed of just over 17 knots.[3]

In 1954 Caledonia was converted from coal burning to oil fuel.

Service

Caledonia had a regular ferry programme connecting Gourock and Wemyss Bay with Dunoon and Rothesay. She also provided cruises to the Kyles of Bute and short cruises from Largs and Millport.[3]

HMS Goatfell during World War II

In 1939 she was converted to a minesweeper and renamed HMS Goatfell. Her wartime service continued after 1941 as an anti aircraft ship.

In 1946 Caledonia was returned to her owners, but in 1954 the car ferry revolution displaced her to Ayr as excursion steamer, with relief sailings from Ardrossan to Arran. In 1965 she moved up-river to Craigendoran, to replace the withdrawn Jeanie Deans, cruising round Bute for a further five years, until the disastrous economics of Clyde cruising signalled the end.

In 1969 she was retired from service and sold for scrap. Saved by subsequent sale to Bass-Charrington, she served as a floating pub and restaurant named Old Caledonia on the Victoria Embankment of the River Thames. Badly damaged by fire in 1980, she was beyond economic repair and was scrapped in July 1980 at Milton Creek on The Swale near Sittingbourne, Kent. Her place in London was later taken by stable mate TS Queen Mary, until 2009. Caledonia's engines were saved and are preserved at the Hollycombe Steam Collection near Liphook, Hampshire.[3]

See also

References

  1. "PS Caledonia 1934". Shipping Times. Archived from the original on 2 September 2004. Retrieved 13 April 2011.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  2. "Caledonia and Mercury of 1934". Clyde River and Firth. 24 July 2019. Retrieved 18 February 2023.
  3. "PS Caledonia 1934". The Clyde Steamers. Archived from the original on 30 July 2010. Retrieved 13 April 2011.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  • "PS Caledonia", Scottish-built Ships, Caledonian Maritime Research Trust
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