TSMV Shanklin was a passenger ferry that operated between Portsmouth and the Isle of Wight between 1951 and 1980.[2] 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.[3]
Following World War II, Southern Railway, that provided passenger and vehicle ferry services to the Isle of Wight, decided to supplement and replace the existing coal burning paddle steamers that operated on the Portsmouth to Ryde route with modern twin screw diesel powered vessels (TSMV).
Initial plans, incorrectly based on a predicted downward trend in passenger numbers, were to order the construction of two such vessels. These were to be the identical ships Southsea and Brading built by William Denny & Brothers in Dumbarton on Clydeside. They were launched in 1948 and went into service with the now nationalised British Railways. One of the existing paddle steamers, Merstone, was replaced (two having been sunk during World War II) and four were retained.
Increasing numbers of passengers quickly led to the order for a third similar ship. Shanklin, designed to replace the paddle steamer Shanklin. Again built by William Denny & Brothers, the new Shanklin was launched on 22 February 1951. The ceremony was performed by Mrs V. M Barrington-Ward whose husband was a member of the British Railways executive.[4]
As a result of experience gained from building and operating Brading and Southsea, Shanklin was designed slightly differently from her sisters. She had a taller funnel, raised lifeboats and increased passenger deck space.
Ferry service
Shanklin went into service with British Railways on 18 June 1951.[5] At this time there were three main activities for the passenger ferry fleet
The regular ferry route from Portsmouth to Ryde Pier head.
The summer only ferry route from Southsea (South parade pier) to Ryde pier head.
The withdrawal of the paddle steamers in 1970 resulted in the two ferry routes being combined as a three stage Portsmouth to Southsea (Clarence Pier) to Ryde route for some sailings.
Shanklin underwent a major refit over the winter of 1966/67. This resulted in an extended bridge deck and modernised lounge and saloon.
Shanklin's career was punctuated by a number of accidents. She collided with Ryde Pier on three occasions – on Saturday 5 June 1954, 9 March 1973, and 12 June 1979. The 1973 accident was the most serious. At 12:35 in the morning, in heavy fog, she struck the pier's roadway destroying 40 feet (12m) of its length. A taxi being driven up the pier fell into the gap and sank. Fortunately the driver escaped.
In 1978 it was decided that only two vessels were needed on regular services. As Shanklin was by then regularly suffering engine problems it was decided to place her in reserve. She was finally withdrawn on 7 March 1980 and put up for sale.
Prince Ivanhoe
As Prince Ivanhoe
In October 1980 Shanklin was bought by the Firth of Clyde Steam Packet Company, who already ran the paddle steamer Waverley on coastal excursions, and renamed Prince Ivanhoe.
After renovations on Clydeside over the winter of 1980/81 she began public and private pleasure sailings in the Bristol Channel starting in May 1981.
Sinking
A ticket from the day the Ivanhoe sank
On 3 August 1981 Prince Ivanhoe began a pleasure trip starting at Penarth with stops at Minehead and Mumbles and then a cruise along the Gower coast. By the time she left Mumbles she had 450 passengers on board.
She navigated close to the shore around Oxwich Point into Port Eynon Bay at 15:35. Whilst emerging from this bay she hit a submerged object, probably rocks or a wreck, tearing a 60-foot (18m) gash in her hull. Realising that she was sinking her captain, David Neill, sailed her about one mile (1.6km) to Horton, Swansea where she was beached.
An RAF air-sea rescue helicopter and RNLI life boats from Horton, Port Eynon and Mumbles went to her assistance and all of the passengers were saved, mainly by being ferried to the shore in life boats. One passenger died from a heart attack on the beach after being rescued.[6]
The wrecked ship remained where it had come to rest. There were several salvage attempts, which had varying degrees of success, until the hull was finally removed in July and August 1984.
The Island Line is a railway line on the Isle of Wight which runs along the island's east coast and links Ryde Pier Head with Shanklin. Trains connect at Ryde Pier Head with passenger ferries to Portsmouth Harbour, and these ferries in turn connect with the rest of the National Rail network via the Portsmouth Direct Line. The line also connects to the Isle of Wight Steam Railway, a heritage railway, at Smallbrook Junction. For much of its length the line runs alongside the A3055, criss-crossing this road by means of the Ryde Tunnel and bridges at Rowborough, Morton Common, Lake Hill and Littlestairs.
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.
Red Funnel, the trading name of the Southampton Isle of Wight and South of England Royal Mail Steam Packet Company Limited, is a ferry company that carries passengers, vehicles and freight on routes between the English mainland and the Isle of Wight. High-speed foot passenger catamarans, known as Red Jets, run between Southampton and Cowes, while vehicle ferries run between Southampton and East Cowes.
The Isle of Wight Railway was a railway company on the Isle of Wight, United Kingdom; it operated 14 miles of railway line between Ryde and Ventnor. It opened the first section of line from Ryde to Sandown in 1864, later extending to Ventnor in 1866. The Ryde station was at St Johns Road, some distance from the pier where the majority of travellers arrived. A tramway operated on the pier itself, and a street-running tramway later operated from the Pier to St Johns Road. It was not until 1880 that two mainland railways companies jointly extended the railway line to the Pier Head, and IoWR trains ran through, improving the journey arrangements.
Shanklin railway station is a Grade II listed railway station serving Shanklin on the Isle of Wight. It is the present terminus of the Island Line from Ryde, although the line used to continue to Wroxall and Ventnor. The station now has one platform with a ticket office and a small shop, the second platform is now in use as a flower bed. The former subway has been filled in.
Ryde Pier Head railway station is one of three stations in the town of Ryde on the Isle of Wight. Situated at the end of the town's pier, it is adjacent to the terminal for the Wightlink fast catamaran service connecting the island with Portsmouth on the English mainland. Passengers can use this to connect with the rest of the National Rail network at Portsmouth Harbour station, which is adjacent to the Portsmouth terminal. Through rail tickets for travel via Pier Head station are available to and from other stations on the Isle of Wight. These include travel on the catamaran service to or from Portsmouth as appropriate.
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.
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.
HSC FastCat Shanklin is a high speed catamaran ferry which operated between the Isle of Wight and mainland England. She operated on the Wightlink Ryde Pier to Portsmouth route from 2000 to 2009 along with her sister ship HSC FastCat Ryde. Prior to working for Wightlink, the ship worked in Singapore and was named Water Jet 2. In 1999, the year before it was sold to Wightlink, its name was changed to Supercat 18.
HSC FastCat Ryde is a high speed catamaran ferry. The vessel was originally built in Singapore for service in the Philippines as Water Jet 1. She was bought by Wightlink in 2000 and following an extensive refit entered service on the Ryde Pier to Portsmouth route in August of that year along with her sister ship HSC FastCat Shanklin.
There once existed a 55+1⁄2-mile (89.3 km) network of railway lines on the Isle of Wight, which operated both as a self-contained railway network, and as links to ferry services between the island and the South coast of Great Britain. The routes were opened by several companies between 1862 and 1901 and modernised after The Grouping in the 1920s. Most of them were permanently closed between 1952 and 1966, whilst the 8+1⁄2-mile-long (13.7 km) Island Line was temporarily closed in 1966 and rebuilt for electric train services, introduced in 1967. Replacement trains were introduced in 1990, and again in 2021 along with a major renewal of the line. A further 5+1⁄2 miles (8.9 km) have reopened as a heritage line known as the Isle of Wight Steam Railway and there have been several proposals to expand the network further since the 1960s, either with conventional heavy rail or by conversion to light rail.
HSC Wight Ryder I is one of two high-speed passenger catamarans operated by Wightlink on the Ryde to Portsmouth ferry route.
The Stokes Bay line was a short railway branch line in Hampshire, England, near Gosport. Associated with a new pier, it was intended to give direct and easy access from trains to steamers to the Isle of Wight in comparison to the conventional route through Portsmouth, which required a road transport connection though the town. Railway operation to the Stokes Bay pier started in 1863.
This article describes the shipping services of the London and South Western Railway and the vessels employed.
PS Duchess of Albany was a passenger vessel built for the London and South Western Railway and London, Brighton and South Coast Railway in 1889.
PS Shanklin was a passenger vessel built for the Southern Railway in 1924 for use on the Portsmouth Harbour to Ryde Pier route.
PS Southsea was a passenger vessel built for the Southern Railway in 1930. Requisitioned by the Royal Navy for war service, she was wrecked after hitting a naval mine in 1941.
PS Whippingham was a passenger paddle steamer built for the Southern Railway in 1930 for the ferry route to the Isle of Wight. After distinguished war service, she returned to ferry work until she was scrapped in 1963.
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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