PS Mona's Isle (1882)
1882 Built by Caird and Co. 1,564 tons. Owned by the Isle of Man Steam Packet Co
‘Cross-Channel and Coastal Paddle Steamers’ by George Frank Burtt
In 1882, the Company returned to paddle steamers and made a notable advance by placing the very fine steamer, the MONA’S ISLE, on the station. Not only was this vessel some three-quarters of an hour faster than any of her predecessors—she made the Liverpool-Douglas run in three hours and thirty-five minutes—but she was much larger and had much more luxurious accommodation for passengers. Moreover, she was the first ship to be built of steel for this Company, of which material all its ships were subsequently made.
She had a promenade deck the whole length of the ship, and she was schooner rigged and had two funnels. The MONA’S ISLE was constructed by Caird’s, and was 338 feet in length overall, beam 38 feet 1 inch, depth 256 moulded 15 feet 1 inch, gross tonnage 1,564, n.h.p. 1,983 and indicated h.p. 4,500. Speed 17^ knots.
The oscillating engines gradually developed from low-pressure jet condensing to high pressure surface condensing, and the MONA’S ISLE was the first ship to have high pressure engines of this latter type and which were adopted by the Isle of Man Steam Packet Company. They were compound oscillating cylinder engines, working at a boiler pressure of 90 lb. per square inch. The diameters of the cylinders were h.p. 65 inches, l.p. 112 inches, stroke 90 inches. The l.p. cylinder was said to be the largest and heaviest ever fitted in a paddle steamer. Twin piston rods, 10 inches in diameter, were fitted to each piston, and at a speed of 18 knots the engines made 30 revolutions per minute.
On service the MONA’S ISLE was one of the fastest cross-channel steamers afloat. On 6th September, 1892, she ran ashore having 500 passengers on board. Due to the master’s skilful handling all the passengers were taken off without any mishap, the vessel being refloated two days later.
In 1915 the MONA’S ISLE was purchased by the Admiralty and engaged as a net layer in defence against submarine attack, and she operated all round the coasts of Great Britain and Ireland. At one time she patrolled the west coast of Ireland, in readiness for an expected attempt to land arms there; on another occasion she assisted in salving guns from the torpedoed ship-of-war ARETHUSA. She acted as the base ship in the operations which resulted in the salving of ^86,000 from the wreck of a Dutch steamer which had been torpedoed outside the Cork lightship.