History
MV Caedmon was built in 1973 for Sealink by Robb Caledon Shipbuilders Ltd in Dundee, Scotland. The ship was named 'Caedmon' after the Anglo-Saxon poet Cædmon. [4]
Caedmon served on the Portsmouth to Fishbourne route for her first ten years. For several weeks in 1979, she operated as a single-ended vessel after her prow was washed away during a storm. [5]
When the Saint-class ships were put into service in 1983, Caedmon joined her sister ships, MV Cenwulf and MV Cenred, on the Lymington - Yarmouth route. [4] All three passed to Wightlink after the privatisation of Sealink in 1984.
In 2008–09, on the introduction of three new Wight class ferries on the Lymington to Yarmouth route, the three 'C' class ships were withdrawn from service. [6] They were sold for scrapping and initially laid up at Marchwood, [7] before being towed to Esbjerg, in Denmark. Cenred, Caedmon and then Cenwulf were dismantled at Smedegaarden in May 2010. [8]
Layout
The car deck had a ramp fore and aft, allowing full ro-ro operation. The under car deck passenger accommodation cabins on all three boats, was not used for the last 20 years.
Twin 6-cylinder turbocharged Mirrlees Blackstone engines mounted at 45 degrees across each engine room drove Voith Schneider cycloidal propellers.
Unlike the earlier pioneer C-class ship Cuthred, the main engines were not additionally loaded by a generator, so larger Voith Schneider units were fitted and there was considerably more propulsive power.
Electrical supply was provided by two 6-cylinder Dorman/English electric gensets.
Fuel consumption was approximately 36 imperial gallons (160 litres; 43 US gallons) per hour.
Lymington is a port town on the west bank of the Lymington River on the Solent, in the New Forest district of Hampshire, England.
Wightlink is a ferry company operating routes across The Solent between Hampshire and the Isle of Wight in the south of England. It operates car ferries between Lymington and Yarmouth, and Portsmouth and Fishbourne and a fast passenger-only catamaran between Portsmouth Harbour and Ryde Pier. It is jointly owned by Basalt Infrastructure Partners and Fiera Infrastructure.
MV Wight Light is a car and passenger ferry built for the British ferry operator Wightlink. She is in service between mainland England and the Isle of Wight.
MV St Catherine is a Roll-on/roll-off car and passenger ferry. She served the Wightlink crossing from Portsmouth to Fishbourne, Isle of Wight from 1983 to 2009. In 2010, she was sold to Delcomar and renamed GB Conte.
There are currently three different ferry companies that operate vessels carrying passengers and, on certain routes, vehicles across the Solent, the stretch of sea that separates the Isle of Wight from mainland England. These are Wightlink, Red Funnel and Hovertravel.
MV St Helen was a vehicle and passenger ferry operated by Wightlink on its route from Portsmouth to Fishbourne on the Isle of Wight. Due to her age, she was sold and was removed from service on 26 March 2015. She now operates in Sardinia with the name Anna Mur, operated by Delcomar, together with her sister ship GB Conte, the former MV St Catherine.
MV Wight Sky is a new design of roll-on/roll-off car and passenger ferry operating on Wightlink's Lymington to Yarmouth, Isle of Wight route.
MV Wight Sun is an Isle of Wight ferry built in 2008 for the British company Wightlink.
MV St Clare currently sails on the Portsmouth to Fishbourne route operated by Wightlink. She was built in Gdańsk in 2001. From her introduction in 2001 until January 2004, St Clare was the longest ship regularly crossing between the Isle of Wight and the British mainland, but was overtaken by Red Funnel's Red Osprey following that vessel's stretching.
MV St Cecilia is a vehicle and passenger ferry formerly operated by Wightlink on its route from Portsmouth to Fishbourne on the Isle of Wight, the route she took throughout her life.
MV St Faith is a vehicle and passenger ferry operated by Wightlink on its route from Portsmouth to Fishbourne on the Isle of Wight. As with former sister ship St Cecilia, there were plans to increase St Faith′s capacity by extending her length by 12 metres. Entering service in 1990, St Faith is the second youngest of Wightlink's 'St Class' ships, after St Clare. The name is taken from St Faith's Church, Cowes.
MV Cenwulf was one of Wightlink's 'C' class vehicle and passenger ferries on their route from Lymington to Yarmouth on the Isle of Wight.
MV Cenred was one of Wightlink's 'C' class vehicle and passenger ferries on their route from Lymington to Yarmouth on the Isle of Wight.
HSC Our Lady Pamela was a high-speed catamaran ferry which operated between the Isle of Wight and mainland England. She had operated on the Wightlink Ryde Pier to Portsmouth route since 1986 under Sealink along with her now scrapped sister ship HSC Our Lady Patricia. Both ships were named after the daughters of Lord Mountbatten, who had been the Governor of the Isle of Wight.
MV Lymington is a former ro-ro ferry, built in 1938 to serve the Isle of Wight. She is Britain's earliest example of a Voith Schneider driven ferry. Renamed MV Sound of Sanda in 1974, she served Western Ferries on the Upper Clyde until 1993.
MV Cuthred was an Isle of Wight roll-on/roll-off ferry built in 1969. From 1990 until 2009, she operated as Mira Praia in Portugal.
Portsmouth International Port, also known as Portsmouth Port or Portsmouth Continental Ferry Port, is a cruise, ferry and cargo terminal located in the city of Portsmouth on the south coast of England.
MV Victoria of Wight is a ship sailing on the Portsmouth to Fishbourne route operated by Wightlink. She entered service on 26 August 2018. Built by the Cemre Shipyard in Yalova for £30 million, she is the newest ship in the fleet and completed Wightlink's £45 million investment in the Portsmouth to Fishbourne route. In addition, upon introduction into service Victoria of Wight became the largest ship in the fleet and the new flagship.
TSMV Brading was a passenger ferry that operated between Portsmouth and the Isle of Wight between 1948 and 1986.
TSMV Southsea was a passenger ferry that operated between Portsmouth and the Isle of Wight between 1948 and 1988.
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