SS Hodder

History
Name	1910-1956:SS Hodder
Operator	1910-1922:Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway 1922-1923:London and North Western Railway 1923-1948:London, Midland and Scottish Railway 1948-1956:British Railways
Port of registry
Builder	William Dobson and Company, Walker Yard
Yard number	166
Launched	10 January 1910
Out of service	15 November 1956
Fate	Scrapped
General characteristics
Tonnage	1,016  gross register tons  (GRT)
Length	240.2 feet (73.2 m)
Beam	34.2 feet (10.4 m)
Draught	15.4 feet (4.7 m)
Speed	13 knots

SS Hodder was a freight vessel built for the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway in 1910. ^[1]

History

She was built by William Dobson and Company in Walker Yard for the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway ^[2] and launched on 10 January 1910. ^[3] In an inauspicious start to her career she was in a collision on 2 March 1910 in the River Elbe with the Union and Castle Line ship Avondale Castle. ^[4]

In 1922 the ship was transferred to the London and North Western Railway and in 1923 to the London, Midland and Scottish Railway.

On 3 February 1925, Joseph Rockett, aged 53, was assisting in moving the steamer in the Goole Docks. He stepped into the spiral of a wire rope, which became taut, and his right foot was torn off, above the ankle and his left leg was fractured. ^[5]

On 21 December 1936, the Hodder arrived in Goole from Hamburg with four elephants. The elephants were disembarked from the ship, and led to a waiting railway van. Three of the elephants were successfully loaded into the railway van, but the fourth refused. It appeared that the same elephant had had an accident at Goole docks two years previously when it stepped into a railway wagon and part of the floor gave way. Eventually it was tethered to one of the other elephants and persuaded into the van. The train left five hours late. ^[6]

In 1946 she was transferred to the Holyhead to Dublin route.

She was broken up on 15 November 1956 by Clayton & Davie at Dunston on Tyne.

References

1. Duckworth, Christian Leslie Dyce; Langmuir, Graham Easton (1968). Railway and other Steamers. Prescot, Lancashire: T. Stephenson and Sons.
2. "1128872" . Miramar Ship Index . Retrieved 15 December 2009.
3. "New L & Y steamer for Goole" . Sheffield Daily Telegraph. England. 14 January 1910. Retrieved 24 October 2015– via British Newspaper Archive.
4. "Collision on first voyage" . Hull Daily Mail. England. 4 March 1910. Retrieved 24 October 2015– via British Newspaper Archive.
5. "Foot torn off by wire rope" . Yorkshire Post and Leeds Intelligencer. England. 5 February 1925. Retrieved 24 October 2015– via British Newspaper Archive.
6. "Animal remembered – for 5 hours" . Yorkshire Evening Post. England. 21 December 1936. Retrieved 24 October 2015– via British Newspaper Archive.