On Friday 24th July 1964 the Clyde turbine steamer Queen Mary II was taken out of service with boiler trouble so her sailing “Down the River”, or as it was more commonly called “Doon the Watter”, from Glasgow to Dunoon, Rothesay and the Kyles of Bute was taken instead by the paddle steamer Jeanie Deans.
It was one of those days when if something goes wrong then everything goes wrong as Jeanie Deans was herself in trouble on the return leg with a rope becoming wrapped around one of the paddle wheels disabling the ship and necessitating the calling of two tugs to tow her in alongside the King George V dock at Govan where the passengers were disembarked. The rope was removed and Jeanie Deans returned to service the following day.
Kingswear Castle returned to service in 2023 after the first part of a major rebuild which is designed to set her up for the next 25 years running on the River Dart. The Paddle Steamer Kingswear Castle Trust is now fund raising for the second phase of the rebuild. You can read more about the rebuilds and how you can help if you can here.
John Megoran
This article was first published on 24th July 2019.
