
If you had wanted to travel between Southampton and West Cowes in 1956 you could have done it by paddle steamer aboard Princess Elizabeth but you would have had to hit it lucky or done some research in advance as the particular sailings she took were not flagged up in the steamer notices and she wasn’t on the service every day by any means.
In 1956 Red Funnel owned six passenger ships including the twin screw motor vessels. Balmoral, Vecta, and Medina plus the paddle steamer Princess Elizabeth, all of which could carry cars and so at one time or another were rostered on the Southampton/West Cowes ferry service, and the paddle steamer Bournemouth Queen which couldn’t carry cars and in any case was thought unsuitable to visit the pontoon at West Cowes. In addition they ran the converted tank landing craft Norris Castle on a vehicle service between Southampton and East Cowes.

If you had specifically wanted to take a trip on the Norris Castle, which started on the route in 1948, that would have been easy. Her sailings were advertised in the steamer notices against her name. As a result we know that she was billed for just one round trip for “Articulated and Heavy Vehicles” as well as cars on weekdays throughout the year (apart from her annual refit) leaving Southampton at 11am and returning from East Cowes at 2.30pm (or later by previous arrangement).
On Saturdays that jumped up to three round trips with departures from Southampton at 7.45am, 12.15pm and 4.30pm and from East Cowes at 9.45am, 2.15pm and 6.30pm.
Norris Castle was slower than other vessels in the fleet with the advertising pointing out that her journey time to East Cowes was an hour and a half compared with just 55minutes to West Cowes.

During the previous winter and up to 5th May 1956 the Southampton/West Cowes service required only two ships on weekdays and Saturdays with departures from Southampton at 8am, 10.45am, 12.30pm (Saturdays only), 2.30pm, 4.30pm and 6.30pm and returns from West Cowes at 7.55am, 9.25am, 1.5pm, 2.5pm (Saturdays only), 4.35pm and 6.5pm. On this schedule one ship finished her day in Southampton and the other in West Cowes.
On Sundays during the winter only one ship made three round trips away from West Cowes at 9am, 1pm and 5pm and with returns from Southampton at 10.30am, 2.30pm and 6.30pm.
From 6th May up to 16th September again only two ships were needed for the weekday service with an extra round trip being fitted in away from Southampton at 9.30am returning from West Cowes at 11.5am. A second ship was also needed on Sundays with an earlier start for the first boat away from Southampton at 9.30am and the last departure of the day to West Cowes at 7.30pm.
It was summer Saturdays which were the busiest days requiring three ships with the first departure away from Southampton at 6.50am and the last return from West Cowes at 9.20pm.

At this time Red Funnel and the other Solent operator British Railways had an agreement providing “Interavailability of motor car tickets. The return halves of tickets for motor cars and accompanying passengers will be accepted by the British Railways Services between Portsmouth – Fishbourne or Lymington – Yarmouth, as will also the outward portions of books of motor car tickets, subject to accommodation being available. This arrangement will also apply to motor cycle combinations and motor cycles.”

It is hard to known which ships were scheduled on which rosters for the Southampton/West Cowes service but there are some pointers which we do know which can help to give us a feel for how the service was operated. For example we know that in 1956, as in other years from 1952 to 1968, the then seven year old Balmoral was Red Funnel’s principal excursion vessel running during the summer from May to September generally on the longer day excursions away from Southampton at 9am to Ryde, Southsea, Sandown, Shanklin and Ventnor. Sometimes she retraced her route back up to Southampton to view the liners. Sometimes she carried on around the Ise of Wight. Once a week she proceeded on to Bournemouth so we know that she wasn’t on the ferry service on these dates.
However we also know that she was built as a multi-purpose vessel and could carry cars at the aft end of her main deck so she sometimes also took her place on the Southampton to West Cowes ferry including on some summer Saturdays, when not rostered for excursions, and at other times of the year outside her main excursion season to suit.

We know that in the peak weeks of the 1956 season Bournemouth Queen generally took the second excursion of the day away from Southampton at 10.45am to Ryde and Southsea. From there she would run a “Cruise Through the Solent”, or “To Southampton Docks giving a good view of shipping”. Often this was billed to see one of the great ocean liners of those days including Queen Elizabeth, Queen Mary and United States. When there weren’t any great liners in the port this cruise was alternatively advertised to see the “Esso Oil Refinery” at Fawley. It was quite new then and was a good symbol of how the world was being modernised in the aftermath of the Second World War. Back then Fawley was thought to be a noteworthy attraction worthy of a viewing in its own right.

I don’t believe that Bournemouth Queen ever sailed on the Southampton/Cowes ferry service not least because she could not carry cars. She did call at Cowes in the pre-war days when the Victoria Pier still existed at the entrance to the harbour but I don’t believe that she was ever thought suitable to go on up the harbour to the pontoon at West Cowes. Of course she could have steamed in well enough. It was the getting her out again which was the hurdle not least because she was not known for her ability to follow the rudder faithfully when proceeding astern.
That leaves a further three ships in Red Funnel’s fleet in 1956 Vecta, Medina and Princess Elizabeth. What did they do? Remember that apart from summer Saturdays which needed three ships the Southampton/Cowes ferry generally needed only two. So what about the third vessel? Was there regular work for her too?


The answer to that is “Yes there was”. Well some work anyway sometimes. And that work was twofold. Firstly, as in other summers, in 1956 Red Funnel offered fifteen two hour cruises from the Royal Pier at Southampton to view the arrivals and departures of great ocean liners as shown in the steamer notice above including to see the Queen Elizabeth, Queen Mary, United States, Athlone Castle, Edinburgh Castle, Cape Town Castle, Stirling Castle, Arundel Castle and Carnarvon Castle. Departures were timed to suit with some scheduled for the mornings and some for the afternoons.

In addition they also offered half hour cruises away from the Royal Pier at Southampton at 3.30pm back 4pm to view the Queen Elizabeth or Queen Mary in their berths on forty dates during the season.

Secondly in 1956 there was still a fair bit of work tendering liners anchored in the Solent and bringing their passengers and luggage to and from Southampton. Of course Red Funnel also had their tug tenders Calshot and Paladin but for larger volumes of passengers and luggage from the bigger liners they needed one or other of their larger ships. We know that Vecta in particular is reported to have done quite a lot of that in between her regular stints in her main role on the Southampton/West Cowes Service. And we know also that she was particularly favoured by the large liners of the French Line including their magnificent Liberte.

Medina had an unusual hull shape with a pronounced flare towards the bow which made her not so suitable for work alongside piers and liners. She is reported to have called at Ryde at suitable states of the tide occasionally but her main work for the majority of her career was backwards and forwards between Southampton and Cowes. ferry.

Princess Elizabeth lost her sea going Class III Passenger Certificates after the 1952 season but the company felt that they still had a use for her as well as for Vecta and Medina to provide sufficient capacity on the Southampton/Cowes ferry at its busiest times, for the liner tendering if and as required, for the other local excursions to view the liners and so on and as a back up to cover breakdowns, refits and so on. However by this stage in her career Princess Elizabeth was seen as the spare boat and as a consequence spent a lot of her time alongside the Royal Pier Southampton with her boiler quietly simmering waiting to be called into action as and when.

Bournemouth Queen was withdrawn at the end of the 1957 season. As a result Princess Elizabeth was given a new but temporary lease of life taking over her excursion programme within Southampton Water and the Solent for the 1958 season only.

Then in May 1959 the new Carisbrooke Castle arrived as the the first purpose built car ferry for Red Funnel. She provided a much greater capacity on the ferry service for both passengers and cars. On her arrival Vecta took over the second vessel summer excursion programme from Princess Elizabeth which was withdrawn and put up for sale.
And so it went on over the next decade with the arrival of three more car ferries Osborne Castle in 1962, Cowes Castle in 1966 and Norris Castle in 1968 displacing Medina, Vecta and Balmoral one by one. After that it was modern car ferries all the way and Red Funnel excursions passed into history.
But in 1956 and on up to the spring of 1959 you could still have had a paddle steamer take you on the crossing between Southampton and West Cowes if you had hit it lucky or had done your research in advance to find out when the Princess Elizabeth was actually rostered to be sailing on the route.
Tiny Point of Detail 1:

Tiny Point of Detail 2:

Tiny Point of Detail 3:

Tiny Point of Detail 4:

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