London and South Western Railway: Ships
Note: This is a sub-section of the London and South Western Railway
‘Cross-Channel and Coastal Paddle Steamers’ by George Frank Burtt
SOUTHAMPTON, HAVRE, AND CHANNEL ISLANDS SERVICES.
BEFORE the end of the 18th century, communication between England and the Channel Islands was of a very casual nature, but about 1781, the Government established a regular fortnightly packet service, by means of fast sailing cutters. This packet service ran from Southampton to Guernsey only, the other islands being catered for by small craft; but, as the islands came to be better known, there were more frequent sailings by smacks, some of them by legitimate fishermen, but more often by smugglers, while well-to-do travellers sometimes chartered their own vessel and made the crossing with the family coach securely lashed on deck.
About 1803 the service was greatly improved, but it was not until after the Napoleonic wars and the introduction of steam power, that it was in any way satisfactory. Previous to the year 1814, it is recorded that there were four cutters running, named the CRACKER, DILIGENCE, AEOLUS, and BRILLIANT. From old records, it appears that the last boat was captured in 1813 by an American privateer, and despatched to a French port, but the prizemaster, mistaking the Isle of Alderney for the coast of France, gave the helm over to a seaman of the BRILLIANT, who, keeping up the deception, steered the vessel into Alderney harbour, where she was recaptured.
It is further recorded that, after the year 1814, the Admiralty, working in conjunction with His Majesty’s Post Office, ran three steam packets, named the COCKATOO, DASHER, and WILDFIRE.
In 1826 there was a private steamer running from Southampton, named the IVANHOE, which sailed with fair regularity.
A company was formed in the year 1835, styled the South of England Steam Navigation Company, which ran a service of steamboats from Southampton to Havre, and to the Channel Islands. It is also believed that there was another company, known as the British and Foreign Steam Navigation Company. Various writers, dealing with the early history of the Channel Islands steamboat services, have referred to these companies and have allocated certain boats to them, but, as there is a strong element of doubt as to which of the two companies each individual boat belonged, it is thought better, in the interests of recording history, unless it is absolutely known to which company the ships belonged, not to make any definite statement; but it is known with accuracy what boats were running, and they will be mentioned in chronological order.
When the South of England Steam Navigation Company commenced operations, a regular service was maintained, using faster and more reliable vessels than had hitherto run. This company maintained a regular schedule of four sailings weekly in each direction.
So far as can be ascertained, the British and Foreign Steam Navigation Company commenced to run a service from Southampton to Guernsey about 1836, their boat doing the trip in about ii hours.
As time went on, it was felt that a more satisfactory service was required than that provided by the two existing steamship companies, and by the rival service running from Weymouth.
In 1845, the shareholders of the London and South Western Railway demanded a better service to the Islands, and, as the company was unable to own steamships itself, under its Parliamentary Act, a company was formed, known as the South Western Steam Packet Company, for the purpose of maintaining steamship services between Southampton, Havre, and the Channel Islands. As soon as the company had received sanction to commence operations, the mail service was withdrawn from the Weymouth route and transferred to their ships.
The London and South Western Railway, having received Parliamentary sanction, in August, 1862, bought out the South Western Steam Packet Company, and their boats were then owned by that railway. The connection between the two companies actually dated from 1846, whilst in 1849 the railway company agreed to lease and maintain the steam boats of the Steam Packet Company.
PS Ariadne and PS Lord Beresford - From March to October, 1823, two steamers, the ARIADNE, a boat of 218 tons, and the LORD BERESFORD, ran between Southampton and Guernsey and Jersey, the former leaving on Tuesdays, and the latter on Fridays. The fares in the main cabin were a guinea and a half.
PS Camilla - In 1835, a paddle steamer named CAMILLA of 186 tons ran from Southampton to Havre, and was probably owned by the South of England Steam Navigation Company. As late as 1847, she was running to St. Malo and Granville.
PS Lady De Saumarez. On 6th June, 1836, the LADY DE SAUMAREZ made her maiden trip to Jersey; she was a very fine ship owned by the British and Foreign Steam Navigation Company, built by Ditchburn and Mare, of Blackwall, and engined by Seaward. The LADY DE SAUMAREZ had sleeping accommodation for 42 passengers. She did the passage from Southampton to Guernsey in iiy4 hours, with another 3^4 on to Jersey; but her reign was short, as a few months afterwards she was replaced by the ATALANTA.
PS Atlanta - The ATALANTA was a handsome two-masted clipper paddle steamer of 380 gross tonnage, built of wood, by Thomas White, of Cowes, in 1836. She was 142 feet long, 23.10 feet beam, and 13 feet deep. She was fitted with two side-lever engines of 60 nominal horse power; the boiler and funnel were aft of the engines. Sleeping accommodation for 150 passengers was provided. At a later date the ATALANTA was lengthened amidships, with the view of increasing her speed. Before she had been long on the Channel Islands service, she had a rival in the shape of another steamer named the WATER SPRITE, which was in all probability the same boat as the WATER SPRITE originally on the Weymouth service
PS Monarch - In 1836, Messrs. Ruble and Blaker, of Northam, Southampton, built a wooden paddle steamer, named MONARCH. She was a boat of 360 gross tonnage, 140 feet long, 23 feet beam, and of 120 indicated horse-power. The MONARCH ran at first on the Southampton-Havre route, but was eventually put on the Islands service.
PS South Western - The next steamer to be put on the Channel Islands service was the SOUTH WESTERN, which was built in 1843 by Ditchburn and Mare, of Blackwall, the predecessors of the famous Thames Ironworks, who built many equally famous paddle boats. The engines were made by Maudslay’s, and had paddle wheels 18 feet in . diameter. She was 143 feet long, 18 feet beam, and 10.8 feet deep, which gave her a gross tonnage of 204; and the Admiralty of the day considered that she was capable of carrying two guns in the event of war. She was the first iron steamer that had been built for the Channel Islands trade, and made quite a sensation at the time. Although she was soon outclassed by later ships, she ran with tolerable regularity until the ’sixties. Her speed was 12 knots.
PS Transit - The SOUTH WESTERN was soon followed by the TRANSIT, a ship of 267 tons, which had been built on the Thames in 1843, and was scheduled for four guns in time of war. She had previously been running on the Weymouth service. The TRANSIT had the misfortune to log the first accident of the company, by crashing into the quay at Southampton soon after her arrival at the port in January. She had entered the dock and was taking up her berth when the captain ordered the engineers to “ back her,” in order to place her properly at her berth: the paddles instead were put “ ahead,” and, in spite of the exclamations of the captain to “ stop her,” she was worked against the North Quay wall, and her bowsprit and figure-head and bows smashed. It appeared on enquiry being instituted, that the second engineer, who had never taken a watch before, did not know how to reverse or stop the engines. The first engineer had left at Guernsey, having been taken ill when the TRANSIT commenced her passage home, this only becoming known to the captain after the vessel had sailed.
The TRANSIT must have been an exceedingly slow boat, for passages of 17 and 18 hours between Southampton and Guernsey are reported of her. She also lasted until the late ’sixties, when she finished up as a coal hulk.
PS Wonder - In 1845, a famous little steamer named the WONDER was put to run on the Havre service. The vessel was built in the previous year by Ditchburn and Mare, at Blackwall, and was an iron built paddle boat, 158 feet long, 20.6 feet beam, and 10 feet deep. She was fitted with powerful condensing engines on Seaward’s atmospheric principle. These engines had three vertical fixed cylinders with open tops, the down stroke of the pistons being consequently due to atmospheric pressure. The cylinders were 53 inches in diameter, with a piston stroke of 3 feet 6 inches. The paddle wheels were 19 feet in diameter.
The WONDER was one of the fastest steamers in the Channel at the time of her running, maintaining the exceptionally high speed of 14 knots. She had also for a time been on the Weymouth route, and as she had already proved herself so speedy, it was naturally expected that she would give a good account of herself when put 183 on a trip from Southampton to the Islands, and do the passage in seven hours. There was, therefore, great excitement on the first occasion on which she tried it, but unfortunately she hit some smashed one of her paddles, arranged that the WONDER Majesty’s steam yacht FAIRY, beating by about a mile and a half from the Brambles to Southampton. In 1854 she was transferred to the Weymouth-Channel Islands service, and in 1858, was seriously damaged in collision with the HAVRE. In 1875, she was broken up.
PS Dispatch, PS Courier and PS Express - In the year 1847, a great improvement was made in the facilities for trading with the Islands by the introduction of three nearly identical ships, the COURIER, DISPATCH, and EXPRESS. They were iron paddle steamers. The COURIER was 167 feet in length, 22.5 beam, and a depth of hold of 10.8 feet, which gave her a gross tonnage of 265. The DISPATCH was a little larger than the COURIER, her dimensions being 171 ft. x 23.7 x 10.9 ft., n.h.p. of engines 200. They were all built on the Thames by Ditchburn and Mare, and the engines by Maudslay’s, of Deptford. The building of the EXPRESS was something of a record, for she ran her trials just six weeks after she was laid down, although in this she was helped by the fact that her engines were already built to a Government order which had not been carried through. Her first conspicuous service was in 1848, when she was taken across to Havre under the command of a naval captain, to fetch the fugitive King Louis Philippe of France to Newhaven. To commemorate this escape, a brass plate was affixed to the sofa on which he slept on the way across. On 30th September, 1859, the EXPRESS, while carrying 200 passengers, struck a rock in Jailer Passage, off the Corbiere Lighthouse, and was beached in a sinking condition, becoming a total wreck.
The COURIER proved herself a fast boat, for on her record voyage she maintained nearly 17 miles an hour between Southampton and Guernsey. She ran until the middle ’seventies, but a good deal of her time was spent on the Southampton-Havre service.
The DISPATCH had a less eventful career, running steadily and satisfactorily until 1870, when she was given new boilers. In 1885 she was withdrawn from service, and used as a coal hulk.
PS Grand Turk - Following the EXPRESS came another steamer on the Havre route, named GRAND TURK, a boat of 500 tons. Unfortunately little information appears to be extant of this ship, but it is known that in 1854 she was sold out of the service and replaced by a more up-to-date vessel.
PS Alliance - In 1855, Ditchburn and Mare built the paddle steamer ALLIANCE, at a cost of £19,460. She was fitted with Seaward’s three cylinder atmospheric engines, and two tubular boilers forward of the engines. The paddle wheels were 21 feet diameter ; her indicated h.p. was 857. The over-all dimensions of the ALLIANCE were, length 175 feet, beam 23.7 feet, depth 14.6 feet, speed 13 knots. She was a handsome boat, having clipper bows and sprit. After working on the Havre service for some years, she was transferred to the Jersey, Granville and St. Malo services.
In 1878, Messrs. Day, Summers & Co., Southampton, fitted her with new compound oscillating engines having cylinders 34 in. and 57 in. diameter, stroke of pistons 54 in. The same firm fitted her again with new boilers in 1888. In 1900 she was sold for breaking up.
PS Havre - In 1856 came the HAVRE, from Ditchburn and Mare’s, a paddle boat of 184.7 feet length, 24 feet beam, and 14.6 feet depth. She was fitted with atmospheric engines of 225 n.h.p. made by Seaward & Capel, of the Canal Iron Works, London. These engines had three open top cylinders 62 in. diameter, the stroke of the pistons being 54 in., the engines making 29 revolutions per minute. Her speed was 13 knots.
On 15th February, 1875, the HAVRE was wrecked in the Little Russell Channel, Guernsey, and became a total loss. The mails, however, were saved, and brought to England by H.M.S. DASHER.
- PS Southampton - In 1860 the SOUTHAMPTON was ordered, which was to make the Southampton service far more efficient than the rival route from Weymouth. She was the largest ship on the service, for her dimensions were 215.5 feet long, 25.4 feet beam, and 12.7 feet depth of hold, making her gross tonnage 475, while she had oscillating engines of 250 n.h.p., which gave her a speed of 13 knots.
Her construction attracted a good deal of attention, for she was regarded as the most strongly built ship of her size that had been constructed in England at that date, and Palmers, of Jarrow-on-Tyne, her builders, were extremely proud of her. After three years’ service, she was taken in hand by her builders and thoroughly refitted, after which she attained 15 knots.
In 1875 she was given new boilers, and in 1880 she was again fitted with new boilers and new engines, and at the same time was lengthened some 200 feet by the firm of Day and Summers, of Southampton, while her two funnels were replaced by a single one behind the engines. From that date onwards she did most of her service on the Havre run, and in 1889 she was again re- boilered.
In July, 1897, she was chartered to carry a large party round the Fleet for the Diamond Jubilee Naval Review, and was afterwards put on the Channel Islands service. Shortly afterwards she was purchased by Yarrows, the shipbuilders, as a floating hostel for non-union men during the engineers’ strike. In March, 1898, she was sent to Rysdijk, Holland, and was scrapped.
PS Normandy - The Channel Islands at this time began to cater for tourists from Great Britain, and the Railway Company therefore decided to improve the service by providing more commodious boats. This resulted in the building of the NORMANDY, a boat of 600 tons register, in 1863, by Messrs. John Ash & Company, of Cubitt Town, London, and engined by J. Stewart, Poplar. She was provided v/ith berths for 130 passengers, and maintained an average speed of 15.5 knots.
It is recorded that on one occasion in 1868 she earned a very nice salvage in the case of the French schooner PAUL ET Louis, which was dismasted on her way out to the Grand Banks, and was towed to Jersey by the NORMANDY. On 17th March, 1870, the NORMANDY was run down in a dense fog by the Grimsby steamer MARY, homeward bound from the Black Sea. The captain, unfortunately, with the mate, engineer and thirty others, were drowned, while thirty-one survivors were taken on board the MARY, which reached port very badly damaged. A memorial to the gallantry of the crew of the NORMANDY stands facing the entrance to the harbour at St. Helier.
PS Brittany - Following the NORMANDY came the BRITTANY in 1864, also built by J. Ash and Company, on the Thames. She was put on the new daily service to Havre. Her length was 215.6 ft., 25.6 ft. beam, and 13.i ft. deep; registered tonnage 333 net and 529 gross. The engines which were two-cylinder oscillating had cylinders 60 in. diameter by 60 in. stroke, and a boiler pressure of 26 lb. The engines were made by J. Stewart, of Poplar. The n.h.p. was 250. The BRITANNY had two funnels and resembled the SOUTHAMPTON in many respects when built. Like the SOUTHAMPTON, her boilers gave a good deal of trouble, being renewed in 1871. In 1873, the BRITTANY was lengthened, but she was still left with her two funnels. Her new length was 236 feet, thus increasing her tonnage to 678 gross. In 1883 she was fitted with new compound engines by Day, Summers & Co., Southampton. These engines were oscillating compound having cylinders 40 in. and 68 in. by 60 in. stroke. The n.h.p. was increased to 298. In 1893 she was again fitted with new boilers. With the SOUTHAMPTON she was employed at die Diamond Jubilee Review. The BRITTANY continued at work until October, 1900, when she was sold out of the service, and finally broken up at Preston, Lancashire.
PS Waverley (I) - There was also another paddle steamer belonging to the London and South Western Railway, named WAVERLEY, but beyond the fact that she struck the Platte Bone rock in the Little Russell, Guernsey, on 5th May, 189 1873, during a fog, and became a total wreck, no further information is available.
PS Dumfries - In 1865, the DUMFRIES was purchased to inaugurate a new service from Southampton to Honfleur. A considerable amount of poultry and agricultural produce was imported to England by this route at one time. This service was withdrawn in September, 1932.
PS Granville late PS Comet (II) - In 1867 the Railway purchased the French iron paddle steamer COMET, which had been running an opposition service to the Channel Islands and had been causing a great deal of trouble. She was originally built in 1841 at Blackwall, and was a boat of 131 tons gross, and very similar in type to the Thames steamers of that period. When the Railway Company bought her, they re-named her the GRANVILLE, and commenced a regular service between Jersey, Granville and St. Malo.
In 1872 she was sold out of the service and went to South Wales, where she ended her days soon afterwards.
PS Alice and PS Fannie - In 1870 were purchased two interesting ships, the ALICE and the FANNIE, which had been among the most successful of the blockade runners in the American Civil War. They were sister ships, built by Caird and Company, Greenock, in 1857 and 1^59 respectively, but there is some doubt as to their original purpose. They were 231.6 feet long, 26.2 feet beam, and 13.4 feet deep, and of 250 n.h.p., net tonnage 359 and gross 635.
With two funnels and a clipper stem, they were fine looking little ships, propelled by oscillating engines which drove them at a speed of 15 knots when on their trial, but they were only relied upon for 12 during their blockade running activities. The cylinders of the ALICE were 60 in. diameter by 72 in. stroke. Boiler pressure 20 lb. per sq. in. The stroke of the pistons of the FANNIE was 66 in. They were owned by the Bee Company. Most of the ALICE’S runs were from Nassau in Bermuda, the port to which she went being chosen according to the circumstances of the moment. When she was under a commander named Smith she was so successful and ran the blockade so many times, that he was paid 5,000 dollars for each trip. In July, 1863, she was employed under a flag of truce for the exchange of wounded prisoners during the bombardment of Fort Wagner, and in the following year she successfully ran out of Wilmington with well over a million dollars in gold on board.
After the war she was owned by one James Carlin, of Nassau, then by Carlisle owners, and finally in 1870 by the London and South Western Railway, who bought her as the result of the Franco-German war. She carried horses and provisions to St. Malo, running backwards and forwards at the highest possible speed with the quickest possible turn-round.
The FANNIE had a very similar experience in the Civil War, contriving to elude the blockading forces time and again, although they were specially on her track. After the war, she was bought by Glasgow owners, who sold her to the railway.
In 1874, both the ALICE and the FANNIE were given new boilers, and owing to their high speed and their very spacious decks and cabins, they were great favourites on the service.
The FANNIE ran until she was withdrawn for breaking up in 1890. The ALICE was sold out of the service in 1898 for scrapping. THE WOLF.
In 1871, the Railway Company purchased from Messrs, G. & J. Burns, of the Burns Line of steamers, the iron paddle steamer WOLF for the Southampton-Cherbourg run. Originally built in 1863, by Napier’s of Glasgow, she was a handsome boat with a straight stem, high raised forecastle and a well deck forward of the engines, the funnel being behind the paddles. She also had a spacious saloon deck. The WOLF was 242.7 feet long, 27.2 feet beam, and 13.8 feet depth. The n.h.p. of the engines was 255 and the tonnage 345 net and 767 gross. Her engines were 2-cyl. compound, the cylinders being 33 in. and 60 in. by 72 in. piston stroke. New boilers were fitted in 1873 and 1891. The WOLF was the last paddle steamer purchased for the London and South Western Railway’s Cross-Channel services, and was scrapped about 1902.