RMS Duke of Lancaster (1928)

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History
Name: RMS Duke of Lancaster
Owner:
Operator:
  • 1928–1948: London Midland and Scottish Railway
  • 1948–1956: British Transport Commission
Port of registry: Lancaster, United Kingdom Civil Ensign of the United Kingdom.svg
Route: 1928–1956: HeyshamBelfast
Builder: William Denny and Brothers, Dumbarton
Yard number: 1193
Launched: 22 November 1927
Maiden voyage: 30 April 1928
General characteristics
Type: Turbine steam ship
Tonnage: 3,608  GRT
Length: 360 ft (110 m)
Beam: 53 ft (16 m)
Draught: 19.5 ft (5.9 m)
Speed: 21 knots (39 km/h; 24 mph)

RMS Duke of Lancaster was a steamer passenger ship operated by the London Midland and Scottish Railway from 1928 to 1956. [1]

Passenger ship Watercraft intended to carry people onboard

A passenger ship is a merchant ship whose primary function is to carry passengers on the sea. The category does not include cargo vessels which have accommodations for limited numbers of passengers, such as the ubiquitous twelve-passenger freighters once common on the seas in which the transport of passengers is secondary to the carriage of freight. The type does however include many classes of ships designed to transport substantial numbers of passengers as well as freight. Indeed, until recently virtually all ocean liners were able to transport mail, package freight and express, and other cargo in addition to passenger luggage, and were equipped with cargo holds and derricks, kingposts, or other cargo-handling gear for that purpose. Only in more recent ocean liners and in virtually all cruise ships has this cargo capacity been eliminated.

Contents

In service

She entered service with two other ships, RMS Duke of Argyll and RMS Duke of Rothesay. Built at William Denny and Brothers, Dumbarton and completed in 1928, she was designed to operate as a passenger ferry on the Heysham to Belfast. In May 1929 she sustained slight damage after a collision with her sister ship Duke of Rothesay.

RMS <i>Duke of Argyll</i> (1928)

RMS Duke of Argyll was an Irish Sea ferry that operated from 1928 to 1956. William Denny and Brothers of Dumbarton on the Firth of Clyde built her for the London Midland and Scottish Railway. When the LMS was nationalised in 1948 she passed to the British Transport Commission.

The RMS Duke of Rothesay was a steamer passenger ship operated by the London Midland and Scottish Railway from 1928 to 1956.

William Denny and Brothers Scottish shipbuilding company

William Denny and Brothers Limited, and often referred to simply as Denny, was a Scottish shipbuilding company.

On 27 November 1931 she caught fire in Heysham Harbour, Lancashire, England, and burned for 24 hours. She capsized on 28 November. She was raised in January 1932, repaired at William Denny and Brothers, and returned to service. [2]

Lancashire County of England

Lancashire is a ceremonial county in North West England. The administrative centre is Preston. The county has a population of 1,449,300 and an area of 1,189 square miles (3,080 km2). People from Lancashire are known as Lancastrians.

In August 1932 she went aground on Copeland Island in a fog, but was refloated successfully. In September 1934 she collided with a trawler in Morecambe Bay.

Morecambe Bay estuary in northwest England

Morecambe Bay is a large estuary in northwest England, just to the south of the Lake District National Park. It is the largest expanse of intertidal mudflats and sand in the United Kingdom, covering a total area of 310 km2 (120 sq mi). In 1974, the second largest gas field in the UK was discovered 25 miles (40 km) west of Blackpool, with original reserves of over 7 trillion cubic feet (tcf). At its peak, 15% of Britain's gas supply came from the bay but production is now in decline. It is also one of the homes of the high brown fritillary butterfly.

She ran aground again at Bride at the Point of Ayre on the Isle of Man on 14 June 1937. [3] She was refloated the following day. [2]

Bride (parish) parish in the Sheading of Ayre, Isle of Man

Bride is one of the seventeen parishes of the Isle of Man.

Point of Ayre cape

The Point of Ayre is the northernmost point of the Isle of Man. It lies at the northern end of Ramsey Bay 6 miles (10 km) north of the town of Ramsey. The point can be accessed by the A16 road from Bride. Point of Ayre lighthouse, the oldest lighthouse on the Isle of Man, is located here.

Isle of Man British Crown dependency

The Isle of Man, often referred to simply as Mann, is a self-governing British Crown dependency in the Irish Sea between Great Britain and Ireland. The head of state is Queen Elizabeth II, who holds the title of Lord of Mann and is represented by a lieutenant governor. Defence is the responsibility of the United Kingdom.

On 13 January 1940 she collided with and sank the coaster Fire King belonging to Messrs. Gilchrist. [2]

Shortly after WWII, she was fitted with, and used for testing, Marconi's first civil marine radar, the 'Radiolocator 1'. [4]

Replacement

In 1956, along with her sister ships she was replaced by TSS Duke of Lancaster.

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References

  1. British nationalised shipping, 1947–1968, William Paul Clegg, John S. Styring – 1968
  2. 1 2 3 Patton, Brian (2007). Irish Sea Shipping. Kettering: Silver Link Publications. pp. 178–184. ISBN   978 1 85794 271 2.
  3. "Casualty Reports". The Times (47711). London. 15 June 1937. col E, p. 28.
  4. SIMONS, R.W.; SUTHERLAND, J.W. (1998). "Forty Years of Marconi Radar from 1946 to 1986" (PDF). GEC Review. 13 (3): 173.