| History | |
|---|---|
| Name: | PS Orwell |
| Operator: | Great Eastern Railway |
| Port of registry: |  |
| Builder: | Lewis and Stockwell, London |
| Launched: | 1873 |
| Out of service: | 1890 |
| Fate: | Scrapped |
| General characteristics | |
| Tonnage: | 114 gross register tons (GRT) |
| Length: | 125.5 feet (38.3 m) |
| Beam: | 17.5 feet (5.3 m) |
| Depth: | 6.9 feet (2.1 m) |
PS Orwell was a passenger vessel built for the Great Eastern Railway in 1873. [1] The vessel was a paddle steamer.
The ship was built by Lewis and Stockwell in London in 1873. She was placed in excursion service on the River Orwell, between Ipswich and Harwich. [2]
On 27 May 1890 she collided with the Stour on the River Orwell at Cage Bend. The force of the impact was so great that the bow of the Orwell stoved in, leaving a large hole which resulted in water pouring into the vessel. One of the paddle boxes was carried away. Captain Coe ran the Orwell ashore, and the passengers were transferred to the Stour. [3]
Probably as a result of the damage sustained, she was sold for scrapping later that year.
A steamship, often referred to as a steamer, is a type of steam-powered vessel, typically ocean-faring and seaworthy, that is propelled by one or more steam engines that typically move (turn) propellers or paddlewheels. The first steamships came into practical usage during the early 1800s; however, there were exceptions that came before. Steamships usually use the prefix designations of "PS" for paddle steamer or "SS" for screw steamer. As paddle steamers became less common, "SS" is assumed by many to stand for "steamship". Ships powered by internal combustion engines use a prefix such as "MV" for motor vessel, so it is not correct to use "SS" for most modern vessels.
A steamboat is a boat that is propelled primarily by steam power, typically driving propellers or paddlewheels. Steamboats sometimes use the prefix designation SS, S.S. or S/S or PS ; however, these designations are most often used for steamships.
A paddle steamer is a steamship or steamboat powered by a steam engine that drives paddle wheels to propel the craft through the water. In antiquity, paddle wheelers followed the development of poles, oars and sails, where the first uses were wheelers driven by animals or humans.
PS Waverley is the last seagoing passenger-carrying paddle steamer in the world. Built in 1946, she sailed from Craigendoran on the Firth of Clyde to Arrochar on Loch Long until 1973. Bought by the Paddle Steamer Preservation Society (PSPS), she has been restored to her 1947 appearance and now operates passenger excursions around the British coast.
PS Kingswear Castle is a steamship. She is a coal-fired river paddle steamer, dating from 1924 with engines from 1904. After running summer excursions on the River Medway and the Thames for many years she returned to the River Dart in Devon in December 2012 to run excursions from 2013 onwards on the river she was built on and for. Kingswear Castle is listed as part of the National Historic Fleet of ships of "Pre-eminent National Significance".
Parkeston is a North Sea port, village and electoral ward village in Essex, England, situated on the south bank of the River Stour about one mile (1.6 km) up-river from Harwich.
PS Lincoln Castle was a coal-fired side-wheel paddle steamer, which ferried passengers across the Humber from the 1941 until 1978. She was the last coal-fired paddle steamer still in regular services in the UK. Later, she served as a pub at Hessle, and then as a restaurant under permanent dock at Alexandra Dock, Grimsby. In September 2010, the Hull Daily Mail reported that she was in an advanced state of demolition, despite the efforts of local people to buy the historic vessel and restore her. On 31 March 2011, the Lincoln Castle Preservation Society were reported to have purchased the broken up parts of the ship for restoration.
PS Ryde is a paddle steamer that was commissioned and run by Southern Railway as a passenger ferry between mainland England and the Isle of Wight from 1937 to 1969, with an interlude during the Second World War where she served as a minesweeper and then an anti-aircraft ship, seeing action at both Dunkirk and D-Day. After many years abandoned on moorings at Island Harbour Marina on the River Medina, she was purchased by the PS Ryde Trust in late 2018, with the intention of raising money for her restoration. That project was abandoned in January 2019.
TSMV Shanklin was a passenger ferry that operated between Portsmouth and the Isle of Wight between 1951 and 1980. Renamed Prince Ivanhoe she went on to become a pleasure cruiser in the Bristol Channel but in 1981 sank off the Welsh coast on her first season.
The Great Western Railway's ships operated in connection with the company's trains to provide services to Ireland, the Channel Islands and France. Powers were granted by Act of Parliament for the Great Western Railway (GWR) to operate ships in 1871. The following year the company took over the ships operated by Ford and Jackson on the route between Wales and Ireland. Services were operated between Weymouth, the Channel Islands and France on the former Weymouth and Channel Islands Steam Packet Company routes. Smaller GWR vessels were also used as tenders at Plymouth and on ferry routes on the River Severn and River Dart. The railway also operated tugs and other craft at their docks in Wales and South West England.
MV Dartmouth Castle is a passenger ship operating on the River Dart for the Dartmouth Steam Railway and River Boat Company. She is listed on the National Register of Historic Ships
PS Thomas Dugdale was a paddle steamer passenger vessel operated by the London and North Western Railway and the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway from 1873 to 1883.
PS Lily was a paddle steamer passenger vessel operated by the London and North Western Railway from 1880 to 1900.
PS Violet was a paddle steamer passenger vessel operated by the London and North Western Railway from 1880 to 1902.
PS Zealous was a passenger vessel built for the Great Eastern Railway in 1864.
PS Avalon was a passenger vessel built for the Great Eastern Railway in 1864.
PS Richard Young was a passenger vessel built for the Great Eastern Railway in 1871.
PS Ipswich was a passenger vessel built for the Great Eastern Railway in 1864.
PS Stour was a passenger vessel built for the Great Eastern Railway in 1864.
PS Stour was a passenger vessel built for the Great Eastern Railway in 1878.