TSS Cambria (1897)

Postcard of Cambria
History
United Kingdom
Name	1897–1919: TSS Cambria 1919–1925: TSS Arvonia
Namesake	Latin name for Wales
Owner	1897–1923: London and North Western Railway 1923–1925: London, Midland and Scottish Railway
Operator	1897–1925: London and North Western Railway 1923–1925: London, Midland and Scottish Railway
Port of registry	Dublin
Route	1902–1923: Holyhead – Dublin 1923–1925: Holyhead to Greenore and Heysham to Douglas
Builder	William Denny and Brothers, Dumbarton
Yard number	574
Launched	4 August 1897
Out of service	11 June 1925
Fate	Scrapped 1925
General characteristics
Tonnage	1,842  gross register tons  (GRT)
Length	329 ft (100 m)
Beam	39.1 ft (11.9 m)
Speed	21 knots (39 km/h)

TSS Cambria was a twin screw passenger steamship operated by the London and North Western Railway from 1897 to 1923. ^[1]

History

She was built by William Denny and Brothers of Dumbarton for the London and North Western Railway in 1897 in response to the competition launched by the City of Dublin Steam Packet Company who had launched a steamer in 1896 capable of 24 knots and a Holyhead to Dublin crossing time of 2¾ hours.

She was requisitioned by the Admiralty as an Armed boarding steamer in 1914 and became a hospital ship after August 1915.

She was renamed TSS Arvonia in 1919. In July 1922 she was again requisitioned as a troopship, this time by the Irish Free State ^[2] along with Lady Wicklow

During the Battle of Limerick in July 1922, The Arvonia landed in Limerick Docks bringing troops and equipment to the Free State Troops in Limerick City. ^[3] . She then sailed to Dublin as she was on a list of vessels sent to Michael Collins to be used as troopships to land sea born troops in the rear of Anti-Treaty strongholds in Munster. The Arvonia was fitted in Dublin with some 400 troops under Colonel-Commandant Christopher (Kit) O'Malley to land in Westport, County Mayo. She steamed around the Northern Coast and landed in Clew Bay at dawn on Monday 24 July ^[4]

On Monday 7 August troops left the North Wall in Dublin under Generals Emmet Dalton and Tom Ennis sailing on the Arvonia and Lady wicklow and made a surprise landing at Passage West near Spike Island on 8 August. ^[3]

On 28 August, the Arvonia sailed from Limerick Docks with prisoners from Limerick Prison including Cornelius McNamara. The ship was under the command of Frank Bolster (a former member of Michael Collins’s counter-intelligence assassination 'Squad’). The prisoners were disembarked at Dun Laughaire Port on 9 September on their way to Gormanstown Internment Camp. ^[3]

At 3.45pm on 17 December 1922, Captain Henry Robinson was the last British soldier to leave Ireland when he boarded the SS Arvonia at Dublin Port.

In 1925 she was scrapped.

References

1. Railway and Other Steamers, Duckworth. 1962
2. McIvor, Aidan (1994). A History of the Irish Naval Service. Dublin: Irish Academic Press. p. 46. ISBN   0-7165-2523-2.
3. Jim Corbett (2025). Not While I Have Ammo. ISBN   978-1-80399-904-3.
4. Harrington, Niall (1992). Kerry Landing. Dublin: Anvil Books. p. 41. ISBN   978-0-947962-70-8.