11th December 1941:
Shanklin
On Thursday 11th December 1941 the starboard sponson of Shanklin suffered considerable damage when the ship was thrown heavily alongside Ryde Pier by the excessive wash from a fast naval craft
10th December 1937:
Duke of Devonshire
On 10th December 1937 Cosens signed the Bill of Sale to buy the Duke of Devonshire from her then owner, Mr Alexander Taylor of Torquay. Built in 1896 the Duke, along
9th December 1903:
Cleethorpes
Cleethorpes had arrived on the Humber from her builders in Dundee on 21st November and had spent the next couple of weeks lying alongside at New Holland whilst receiving the
8th December 1949:
Embassy
It was unusual for an excursion paddle steamer to be out and about in steam in December. There were exceptions of course and one of these was December 1949 when the
7th December 1956:
Britannia
On Friday 7th December 1956 P & A Campbell’s Britannia was towed by two Cardiff tugs from Penarth Docks to the breaker’s yard in Newport. Built in 1896 she was
6th December 1957:
Shall We Convert to Oil?
By Thursday 6th December 1956 discussions were well in hand in Gourock about converting Jeanie Deans, Jupiter and Waverley from coal to oil firing. After the War coal was still
5th December 1969:
Eppleton Hall (Part 6 of 11)
On Friday 5th December 1969 Eppleton Hall reached the midway point in her crossing of the Atlantic. She had set off from the Tyne in September. After making calls at
4th December 1930:
Alexandra
By Thursday 4th December 1930 Cosens’s Alexandra was on the sales list. In November she had been hauled out of the water onto Cosens’s own slipway at Weymouth for survey. She
3rd December 1968:
Balmoral
On Tuesday 3rd December 1968 Balmoral made her last voyage for Red Funnel from the Royal Pier Southampton round the corner to lay up on the River Itchen at Northam
2nd December 1895:
Dover
On Monday 2nd December 1895 the paddle steamer Dover was launched from the yard of Denny of Dumbarton on the Clyde. She and her sister Calais, also on the stocks in the
1st December 1940:
Her Majesty
On Saturday 1st December 1940 Red Funnel’s paddle steamer Her Majesty was sunk in a German bombing raid on Southampton. It was a devastating air attack which did much damage
30th November 1933:
Sandown & Caledonia
On Thursday 30th November 1933 the Southern Railway placed an order with Denny of Dumbarton to build a new paddle steamer for their Portsmouth to Ryde route and for summer
29th November 1935:
Talisman
On Friday 29th November 1935 Talisman was, as usual that winter, scheduled to run the LNER ferry services connecting the north bank of the Clyde at Craigendoran to the Holy Loch,
28th November 1951:
Lorna Doone
On Wednesday 28th November 1951 Lorna Doone was slipped at Southampton for survey. She had been built as HMS Atherstone in 1916 as one of thirty-two paddle steamers specially commissioned during
27th November 1903:
Cleethorpes
Around the low water on Friday 27th November 1903 a diver was sent down alongside the railway pier at New Holland to try to retrieve the port gangway door which
26th November 1903:
Barry Railway Company
On Thursday 26th November 1903 the Barry Railway Company sent out a press release announcing their intention to run passenger steamers on the Bristol Channel. This was taken up by
25th November 1967:
Queen of the South
Former Clyde paddle steamer Jeanie Deans had been bought by Don Rose in the autumn of 1965. Renamed Queen of the South he had tried to run her on a programme of
24th November 1969:
Eppleton Hall (Part 5 of 11)
On Monday 24th November 1969, Eppleton Hall was on her first day out after leaving Mindello in the Cape Verde Islands on her voyage across the Atlantic to Georgetown Guyana.
23rd November 1937:
Corfe Castle
On 23rd November the Board of the Southampton, Isle of Wight and South of England Royal Mail Steam Packet Company (otherwise known as Red Funnel) met in Southampton and decided
23rd November 1971:
Caledonia
Caledonia closed her operational Clyde career by filling in on the Gourock to Tarbet mail service between 1st and 8th October 1969. She was then laid up in Rothesay Dock
22nd November 1962:
Mrs Cecile Beckett
On Thursday 22nd November 1962 Mrs Cecile Becket, one of the most regular passengers on the Bournemouth paddle steamers after the Second World War, was ensconced as a lodger with
21st November 1961:
Alumchine
With the introduction of the paddle steamer Cleddau Queen in 1956 for the short Pembroke/Neyland ferry service, the paddle steamer Alumchine, of 1923, became second vessel on the route spending much of her subsequent
20th November 1903:
Cleethorpes
Around lunchtime on Wednesday 20th November 1903 the paddle steamer Cleethorpes left the yard of her builder, Gourlay Brothers, in Dundee for the 241 nautical mile run down the east coast in
19th November 1969:
Eppleton Hall and Old John (Part 4 of 11)
On Wednesday 19th November 1969 Eppleton Hall was alongside at Mindello in the Cape verde islands. Her master Captain Scott Newhall recounted in his excellent book about the voyage from the Tyne
18th November 1969:
Eppleton Hall (Part 3 of 11)
On Tuesday 18th November 1969 Eppleton Hall was alongside at Mindello in the Cape Verde Islands on her voyage from Newcastle, which she had left in September, to San Francisco. She had
17th November 1966:
Talisman
Talisman’s last day in passenger carrying service was Thursday 17th November 1966 when she relieved the Maid of Skelmorlie on the Holy Loch run. By 1966 the large numbers of holiday making passengers
16th November 1898:
Captain William Cosens
On Wednesday 16th November 1898 Captain William Cosens, brother of Captain Joseph Cosens who had founded Cosens & Co, was buried in Melcombe Regis cemetery having died three days earlier
15th November 1962:
Sandown
On Thursday 15th November 1962 Sandown left Weymouth for Portsmouth under her own steam after completion of overhaul work on her engine and boiler by Cosens & Co. She had
14th November 1965:
Jeanie Deans (Part 13 of 13)
After a fast run along the South Coast, Jeanie Deans reached the Medway and eventually tied up on the buoys off Thunderbolt Pier at Chatham on Sunday 14th November 1965. She had
13th November 1962:
Bristol Queen
Bristol Queen arrived in Weymouth around 8am on Tuesday 13th November 1962 in calm conditions for attention to her engine and boiler by Cosens & Co. having left Barry around
12th November 1965:
Jeanie Deans (Part 12 of 13)
Having already topped up her bunkers at Holyhead and Falmouth on her way from the Clyde to Chatham, Jeanie Deans made a call at Southampton on Friday 12th November 1965 to fill
11th November 1963:
Caledonia
On Monday 11th November 1963 Caledonia came close to being blown ashore on the rocks in Millport Bay. She had spent the previous night stormbound at Millport. The weather moderated
10th November 1965:
Jeanie Deans (Part 11 of 13)
With bunkers, fresh water and food topped up Jeanie Deans set off from Holyhead on the morning of 10th November 1965 on her voyage from the Clyde to the Medway with the