PS Koh-i-Noor
1892 Built by Fairfield Shipbuilding and Engineering Co and worked London Bridge to Clacton route for the Victoria Steam Boat Association and then for Palace Steamers. 884 tons.
Steamers of the Thames and Medway by Frank Burtt
Built by the Fairfield Shipbuilding and Engineering Co., Govan. At the time, this vessel was by far the largest paddle steamer on the Thames, and also the fastest. Her cost was £50,000. On 19th May, 1892, she was officially tried on the measured mile at Skelmorlie, on the Clyde, covering the course four times. The mean speed developed was 19.499 knots.
The KOH-I-NOOR was built entirely of steel, and was 300.4 ft. long (310 o.a.) by 32.1 ft. beam (58 ft. over paddle-boxes) by 10.6 ft. from main deck. The engines were two-cylinder diagonal compound and placed forward of the paddle wheels. The cylinders, placed side by side, had flat or D-shaped valves, actuated by link motion, and were designed to indicate 3,500 H.P. The cranks were set at an angle of 90 degrees, the H.P. cylinder being 45 inches diameter and the L.P. cylinder 80 inches, with a 66-inch stroke.
Steam was supplied by four navy type boilers working at 120 lb. per sq. in. The paddle wheels were fitted with curved floats. The two funnels one forward and the other aft of the engines were made telescopic, so that they could be lowered to pass under London Bridge, as the passengers embarked at the Old Swan Pier, above the Bridge. The one mast was hinged for the similar purpose of clearing the Bridge.
The funnels were painted the standard V.S.A. colour: red, with black top and two white bands.
The KOH-I-NOOR was divided into water-tight compartments, which made her practically unsinkable. This division necessitated the first-class dining saloon being sub-divided into two. Two deck saloons, one at each end of the machinery space, supported an unbroken promenade nearly 300 feet in length and extending the full width of the vessel. She was fitted with a complete electric light installation, a post office, a hair-dressing establishment, two bathrooms, book and fruit stalls. The second- class saloon was of generous proportions.
Two rudders were fitted to the KOH-I-NOOR, one at the bow—in addition to the ordinary one aft—to facilitate the manoeuvring of the vessel. The aft rudder, which was of large area, was nine feet long. The bow rudder, which took the form of the run of the ship, was completely within the stem.
When the KOH-I-NOOR was built, she left the Clyde for the Thames on 23rd May, 1892, but owing to the stress of weather put into Belfast Lough for two days. Proceeding thence on her voyage, she stranded on Forth gain Rock - off St. David’s Head, on the coast of Pembroke - in a dense fog on the night of the 26th, causing considerable injury to the bow and a general straining throughout. After being backed off the rocks, she proceeded under her own steam with the tug ERNEST in attendance to Milford Haven where she was beached, later being put on the G.W.R. gridiron at Neyland. When the tide receded, the full extent of the damage was evident; and although the most serious damage was done to the bow, the injury was by no means limited thereto, as for a distance of about twenty feet from the bow the sides had collapsed like a concertina.
The KOH-I-NOOR was temporarily repaired and on leaving the gridiron was found to be perfectly tight. She then returned to the builders under her own steam. An entirely new bow was built and fitted to the vessel, which was finished and floated out of the dock in six working days an exceptionally smart piece of work.
The KOH-I-NOOR took up her running from the Old Swan pier to South end and Clacton on 3rd July, 1892, and such a luxurious and handsome boat naturally met with instantaneous success. She was, however, soon put on the Thanet service, and for some years was the Saturday “ Husbands’ Boat ” making two trips daily from Tilbury to Margate. After 1903 she ran to Dover.
When the 1914-18 War broke out, the Thames services naturally came to an end. The KOH-I-NOOR had gone to the Clyde just before to have new boilers installed, but subsequent events prevented the work being done. She was transferred to the Gareloch - an inland arm of the Firth of Clyde and a haven for vessels out of commission - and remained there until 1918 when she was sold to Messrs. Ward for £6,200. She was cut up at Morecambe in 1919.