TSS Princess Maud (1934)

TSS Princess Maud was a ferry that operated from 1934 usually in the Irish Sea apart from a period as a troop ship in the Second World War and before being sold outside the United Kingdom in 1965. She was built by William Denny and Brothers of Dumbarton on the Firth of Clyde for the London Midland and Scottish Railway (LMS).[1] When the LMS was nationalised in 1948 she passed to the British Transport Commission and onward to British Rail in 1962. She was sold to Lefkosia Compania Naviera, Panama in 1965. Renamed Venus she was for service in Greek waters.[3] It is understood she saw use as an accommodation ship in Burmeister & Wain, Copenhagen.[3]

This article is about the ship built in 1934. For the ship built in 1902, see SS Princess Maud (1902).

History
Name:
  • 1934–1966 TSS Princess Maud[1]
  • 1966–1969 Venus[2]
  • 1969–1973 NYBO[2]
Owner:
Operator:
  • 1928–1947: London Midland and Scottish Railway
  • 1948–1962: British Transport Commission
  • 1962–1965: British Rail
  • 1966–1969: Cyprus Sea Cruises[2]
  • 1969–1973:
Route:
Builder: William Denny and Brothers, Dumbarton[1]
Yard number: 1265[4]
Launched: 19 December 1933[4]
Fate: Scrapped Bilbao, Spain 1973[5][4]
General characteristics
Type: Turbine steam ship
Tonnage:
Length: 330 ft (100 m)[1][6]
Depth: 25 ft (7.6 m)[6]
Speed: 21 knots (39 km/h)[1]
Capacity:

Construction

As well as having mechanical stokers and all deck machinery mechanically driven she was the first British ship to have a fire protection automatic sprinkler system.[6] As built she had places for 80 cattle and was on occasion referred to as a cattle boat.[7]

Service

Pre-war service

The LMS ordered Princess Maud and she was completed by William Denny and Brothers of Dumbarton in 1934. She was a development from the slightly smaller Princess Margaret from the same builders, in 1931. Both ships worked the Stranraer - Larne crossing in the 1930s.[6]

Second World War service

In the Second World War, Princess Maud served as a troop ship[1] and initially operated the Dover—Boulogne route to France from January 1940.

Princess Maud assisted in Dunkirk evacuation but was shelled in the engine room, taking fatalities on 30 May 1940.[8] On 4 June 1940, following repairs, she was able to return to the evacuation, rescuing 1270 in a single trip, being the penultimate ship away from Dunkirk. She subsequently assisted the evacuation of British and French troops from Veules-les-Roses around 12 June 1940, at the time of the surrender of the 51st Highland Division at Saint-Valery-en-Caux, a few miles to the west, transporting 600 British and French troops of the 2,280 rescued.[9][10][11]

She then reverted to serving on the Stranraer-Larne route on behalf of the Admiralty until, in 1943, when she received modifications for D-Day landing operations to turn her into an infantry assault trip capable of launching six Landing Craft Assault (LCA) boats via hand hoists.[2]

For the D-Day landings, she was attached to the US Task Force Operation Neptune Force O at Omaha beach.[12]

For the remainder of 1944 and into 1945, she worked various cross-channel routes well past the end of the war in Europe.

Post-war Service

Following a refurbishment after the second world war including a conversion to oil burning she resumed on the Stranraer – Larne route on 1 August 1946. The following year saw her reallocated to the Holyhead — Dún Laoghaire route when the TSS Hibernia and TSS Cambria were laid up due to coal shortages. With the coming of the MV Cambria and MV Hibernia to the route in 1949 she became the relief ship also covering other routes on the Irish Sea.[5][2] She had a brief return to the English channel on Southampton Guernsey St Malo for a couple of months in 1951 before returning to Anglesey.[2] By 1963 a British Transport Commission indicated Princess Maud was becoming increasing costly to maintain and passengers were known to avoid travelling on her, she was therefore marked for disposal with an estimated credit of £32,000.[13]:156–157

Mediterranean

In 1966 she was sold to Lefkosia Compania Naviera, Panama and underwent a refit emerging painted white with a new name Venus with widened doors for loading cars. She was operated by Cyprus Sea Cruises of Limassol serving in Mediterranean waters until 1969. Her route included the ports of Brindisi, Ancona, Piraeus, Limassol and Haifa.[5][14][2]

Accommodation Ship

Her final service was as a static accommodation ship known as the Nybo in the Burmeister & Wain shipyard, Copenhagen from 1969.[5]

Fate

In 1973 she was taken to Bilbao, Spain and scrapped.[5][4]

Miscellaneous

An earlier ship of the same name, the SS Princess Maud (1902), operated ferry routes in Scotland. It was torpedoed and sunk on 10 June 1918 by a U-Boat.[15] The Southend Motor Navigation Company Company operated four craft named Princess Maud overlapping the lifespan of the TSS Princess Maud, one was lost at Dunkirk in 1940.[16]

References
  1. "Princess Maud - Venus". Simplon Post Cards. Retrieved 4 February 2018.
  2. Greenway, Ambrose (30 November 2013). Cross Channel & Short Sea Ferries: An illustrated History. Seaforth Publishing. p. 131. ISBN 978-1848321700.
  3. "Princess Maud". Sea Breezes. 20 May 2012. Retrieved 4 February 2018.
  4. "Princess Maud (5284912)". Miramar Ship Index. Retrieved 1 October 2020.
  5. Merrigan, Justin P.; Collard, Ian H (15 November 2010). Holyhead to Ireland: Stena and Its Welsh Heritage. Amberley Publishing. pp. 8, 40, 54, 58, 138. ISBN 978-1848689589.
  6. Winchester, Clarence (18 August 1936). "LMS Steamship Services". Shpping Wonders of the World. No. 28. Amalgamated Press. Famous Island Port. Archived from the original on 11 February 2017. Retrieved 4 February 2018.
  7. Rogers, Joe (15 March 2011). From an Irish Market Town. America Star Books. p. 75. ISBN 978-1456043087.
  8. Mace, Martin (1 June 2017). The Royal Navy at Dunkirk - Commanding Officers' Reports of British Warships in Action During Operation Dynamo. Frontline Books. ISBN 9781473886728. Whitehall.
  9. Herald, Lennox (26 January 2018). "Memory lane: Amazing tales of two Dumbarton-built ships". Daily Record. Retrieved 6 February 2018.
  10. Walsh, Tony (15 October 2004). "WW2 People's War - From Mold to St Valery, Egypt and Italy (Part One)". BBC. Archived from the original on 5 April 2017. Retrieved 25 February 2018.
  11. Innes, Bill, ed. (2004), St Valery The impossible Odds, Birlinn, ISBN 9781843410393
  12. "Normandy Invasion - RN and allied units supporting the western naval task force" (PDF). MOD(Royal Navy). Retrieved 5 February 2018.
  13. Moses, William (October 2010). The Commercial & Technical Evolution of the Ferry Industry 1948–1987 (PDF) (PhD). University of Greenwich. Archived (PDF) from the original on 11 September 2018. Retrieved 11 September 2018.
  14. Deayton, Alistair; Quinn, Iain (15 September 2013). Turbine Excursion Steamer: A History. Amberley. ISBN 9781445619552.
  15. "Scottish Built Ships". Caledonian Maritime Research Trust. PRINCESS MAUD. Retrieved 26 February 2018.
  16. "Princess Maud". Simplon Postcards. Retrieved 26 February 2018.

See also
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