PS Great Western
1867 Built
Owned by the Great Western Railway
‘Cross-Channel and Coastal Paddle Steamers’ by George Frank Burtt
The GREAT WESTERN was a two-funnelled boat with both funnels aft of the engines, like the CYGNUS and AQUILA. This arrangement was rather unusual for a paddle boat, though curiously many of the Great Western boats were so built. She had her name painted three times on each side, twice at the bows and also around the paddle boxes.
The GREAT WESTERN was built at Renfrew in 1867 by W. Simons and Co, and was 220.4 feet long and had a beam of 25.2 ft. and a depth of 12.4 ft. The engines, which were of the oscillating type, had two cylinders 48 inches diameter by 45 inches stroke, were of 190 n.h.p., boiler pressure 20 lb. per sq. in. The registered tonnage 447 gross and 250 net. She was transferred to the Weymouth- Cherbourg service in 1878.§ In 1891, the GREAT WESTERN was sold to D. McBrayne and Co. of Glasgow and re-named LOVEDALE, and was broken up in 1905.