MV Princess Victoria (1939)

MV Princess Victoria was the first British stern-loading cross-channel car ferry. After two months it was requisitioned by the Admiralty and converted to a Minelayer. It was sunk by a mine on 19 May 1940.

This article is about the 1939 roll-on/roll-off ferry which was converted to a minelayer. For the steamship built in 1902, see SS Princess Victoria. For the 1947 roll-on/roll-off ferry, see MV Princess Victoria.

History
Name:
  • 1939–1939 MV Princess Victoria[1]
  • 1939–1940 HMS Princess Victoria
Owner: 1939–1939: London Midland and Scottish Railway
Operator:
  • 1939–1939: London and North Western Railway
  • 1939–1940: Commissioned fleet
Port of registry: Stranraer
Route: Stranraer - Larne
Builder: William Denny and Brothers, Dumbarton
Yard number: 1333
Launched: 21 April 1939
Identification: Official number: 34674
Fate: Mined and sunk 19 May 1940
General characteristics
Type: Steel Motor Vessel
Tonnage: 2197
Length: 322.0 feet (98.1 m)
Beam: 48.1 feet (14.7 m)
Depth: 13.0 feet (4.0 m)
Installed power: 2 Sulzer 7TS48
Propulsion: 2 screw
Speed: 19 kn
Capacity: 875 (1st), 542(3rd), 24-64 cars
Armament: 244 Mines
Notes:
  • 1st stern-loading cross channel car ferry
  • Fitted with bow rudder

Construction

The ship was built as a purpose built car and passenger ferry by William Denny & Bros of Dumbarton, Scotland for the London Midland and Scottish Railway. She is understood to have been the first stern loading cross-channel car ferry with a capacity variously quoted at between 24/64/80 cars and with two 20 feet (6.1 m) turntables to assist loading and unloading.[1][2] Passengers and livestock could be loaded via sidedoors.[2]

The ship and special berthing facilities at Larne and Stranraer cost nearly £200,000.[2]

Service

The ship way allocated to the Stranraer - Larne route and entered service on 8 July 1939.[2][3]

In September 1939, after just two months service, Princess Victoria was requisitioned and converted to an auxiliary minelayer. She was commissioned as HMS Princess Victoria and given the pennant number M03. She had a capacity of 244 mines.[1] During her short service she laid 2756 mines.[4]

Fate

After laying a minefield off the Dutch coast she struck a mine on the voyage home at the entrance to the Humber Estuary on 19 May 1940 and sank with 36 crew lost and 85 rescued.[1][5]

Successor

Following the Second World War it was replaced by a near identical ship of the same name built in 1946 which was to sink in 1953.[1]

References
  1. "Scottish Built Ships". Caledonian Maritime Research Trust. MV Princess Victoria - 1939. Retrieved 28 February 2018.
  2. MacHaffie, Fraser G (18 January 2017). "The Short Life and Sudden Death of HMS Princess Victoria". Sea Breezes. Sea Breezes Publications Ltd.
  3. "Loading cars onto a ferry at Stranraer, about 1939". National Railway Museum. 1997-7409_LMS_8995. Archived from the original on 2 March 2018. Retrieved 1 March 2018.
  4. Cocker, M (1993). Mine Warfare Vessels of the Royal Navy 1908-date. Shrewsbury: Airlife. p. 54. ISBN 1853103284.
  5. Smith, Peter (2005). Into the Minefields: British Destroyer Minelaying 1918–1980. Barnsley: Pen & Sword Books. pp. 144–146. ISBN 1-84415-271-5.
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