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".
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 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.
Duchess of Norfolk was a 381 GRT paddle steamer built in 1911 for the London, Brighton and South Coast Railway and London and South Western Railway, who operated a joint service to the Isle of Wight. She was requisitioned by the Royal Navy for use as minesweeper HMS Duchess of Norfolk during the First World War, returning to her owners after the war ended. She passed to the Southern Railway on 1 January 1923.
PS Princess of Wales was a paddle steamer passenger vessel operated by the London and North Western Railway and the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway from 1870 to 1896.
TSS Colleen Bawn was a twin screw passenger steamship operated by the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway from 1903 to 1922.
PS Alexandra was a paddle steamer passenger vessel operated by the London and North Western Railway from 1863 to 1889.
PS/TSS Duchess of Sutherland was a paddle steamer cargo vessel operated by the London and North Western Railway from 1868 to 1908.
PS/TSS Edith was a paddle steamer cargo vessel operated by the London and North Western Railway from 1870 to 1912.
PS Eleanor was a paddle steamer cargo vessel operated by the London and North Western Railway from 1873 to 1881.
PS Earl Spencer was a paddle steamer passenger vessel operated by the London and North Western Railway from 1874 to 1896.
PS Eleanor was a paddle steamer cargo vessel operated by the London and North Western Railway from 1881 to 1902.
PS Greenore was a paddle steamer passenger vessel operated by the London and North Western Railway from 1896 to 1922.
TSS Rosstrevor was a steam turbine passenger and cargo vessel operated by the London and North Western Railway from 1895 to 1923, and the London, Midland and Scottish Railway from 1923 to 1926.
PS Jeanie Deans was a Clyde paddle steamer, built in 1931 for the London and North Eastern Railway. She was a popular boat, providing summer cruises from Craigendoran until 1964.
DEPV Talisman was the world's first diesel-electric paddle vessel. Built in 1935, she was a passenger ferry on the Clyde, seeing wartime service as HMS Aristocrat. From 1953, she served for 14 years on the Millport station.
PS Adelaide was a passenger vessel built for the Great Eastern Railway in 1880.
PS Essex was a passenger vessel built for the Great Eastern Railway in 1896.
PS Avalon was a passenger vessel built for the Great Eastern Railway in 1864.
