MV SOUTHSEA, Portsmouth Harbour, Hampshire - July 22, 1978

MV SOUTHSEA seen at the lay over pontoon at Portsmouth Harbour. Following the Second World War, Southern Railway, which operated 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. 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 and Brothers in Dumbarton on Clydeside. They were launched on 11 March 1948] and went into service with British Railways, SOUTHSEA being the first to enter service, on 1 November 1948. Increasing numbers of passengers quickly led to the order for a third similar ship, SHANKLIN, in 1951. She entered service as a one-class ship and her two sisters became one-class at the same time. The ships all received a major overhaul in 1967 with an extra passenger deck, as a continuation of the bridge deck, and improved seating and catering facilities. BRADING and SOUTHSEA outlasted their newer sister on the Portsmouth to Ryde run, being replaced in 1986 by new Incat built ferries, OUR LADY PAMELA and OUR LADY PATRICIA. SOUTHSEA was retained until 1987 as a backup, after which she operated pleasure cruises for two seasons. She was then earmarked for potential preservation, being laid up first at Falmouth and later at Drivers Wharf on the Itchen in Southampton. Ultimately the preservation attempt failed and she was eventually scrapped in 2005 in Esbjerg.

MV FISHBOURNE, Portsmouth Harbour, Hampshire - July 22, 197

FISHBOURNE (2) was built in 1961 by Philip & Son Ltd, Dartmouth for British Railways Southern Region. She entered service between Portsmouth and Fishbourne. Registered owners became Sealink UK in 1984. Sealink were bought by Sea Containers Ltd in 1984. Fishbourne was sold in 1984, passing to Seagull Marine, Famagusta in Turkish Cyprus, for a service between Kyrenia and Mersin, linking the island with mainland Turkey. Unfortunately she was lost on 5th February 1985.

MV SHANKLIN, Portsmouth Harbour, Hampshire - July 22, 1978

SHANKLIN seen inbound for Portsmouth Harbour. TSMV Shanklin was a passenger ferry that operated between Portsmouth and the Isle of Wight between 1951 and 1980. Renamed Prince Ivanhoe she went on to become a pleasure cruiser in the Bristol Channel for Waverley Excursions but in 1981 sank off the Welsh coast on her first season. SHANKLIN was the third of the ships built for British Railways Southern Region by William Denny of Dumbarton, Clydeside. SHANKLIN went into service with British Railways on 18 June 1951. The ship’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 (12 m) 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. 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 was 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. 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 (18 m) gash in her hull. Realising that she was sinking her captain, David Neill, sailed her about one mile (1.6 km) to Horton 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. 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 Weymouth Quay Tramway

Sealink EARL GODWIN at Weymouth Quay on September 03, 1982. The sale of Sealink to Sea Containers was still a couple of years away.