Great Western Railway ships

The Great Western Railway's ships operated in connection with the company's trains to provide services to Ireland, the Channel Islands and France. Powers were granted by act of Parliament for the Great Western Railway (GWR) to operate ships in 1871. The following year the company took over the ships operated by Ford and Jackson on the route between Wales and Ireland. Services were operated between Weymouth, the Channel Islands and France on the former Weymouth and Channel Islands Steam Packet Company routes. Smaller GWR vessels were also used as tenders at Plymouth and on ferry routes on the River Severn and River Dart. The railway also operated tugs and other craft at their docks in Wales and South West England.

History

Isambard Kingdom Brunel, the GWR's chief engineer, envisaged the railway linking London with the United States of America. He was responsible for designing three large ships, the (1837), (1843; now preserved at Bristol), and (1858). The plans for the transatlantic routes from Bristol failed to materialise but the ships found other uses. Although they were never owned by the Great Western Railway Company, several shareholders and officers of the railway also had interests in the ships.

The company's first vessels were two tugs working on the River Dee that were acquired with the Shrewsbury and Chester Railway in 1854. Two years later a service between Neyland in Wales and Waterford in Ireland was established in connection with the railway. This was operated by Ford and Jackson until 1 February 1872 when they were transferred to the railway company under powers obtained by the (34 & 35 Vict. c. cxii) of 13 July 1871. The act also allowed operation to the Channel Islands and France. These services were eventually provided from Weymouth, although the French services were only operated on a regular basis from 1878 to 1885. After this only cargo services were provided, often on a seasonal basis. The Channel Islands services were operated for the GWR by the Weymouth and Channel Island Steam Packet Company until August 1889 when the railway took on the operation of the route.

Meanwhile, the New Passage Ferry of the River Severn had become a GWR service when the Bristol and South Wales Union Railway was amalgamated in 1868. Another operation taken over by the GWR was the Plymouth Great Western Docks in 1876. The South Devon Railway Company held the majority of shares in the docks and was itself amalgamated with the GWR early in 1876. The docks used a fleet of tenders to land passengers and mails from transatlantic liners moored off-shore; the lighters also operated excursions to coastal towns in Devon and Cornwall. Some cargo services were later operated form Plymouth to Nantes in France. Also in Devon, in 1901 the GWR took over the Dartmouth Passenger Ferry that linked Kingswear railway station with Dartmouth. The GWR also acquired a large shareholding in the West Cornwall Railway which itself owned a part of the West Cornwall Steam Ship Company; GWR ships were occasionally used on its route from Penzance.

On 30 August 1906 the GWR's Welsh terminal was moved to a new harbour at Fishguard. It was hoped that transatlantic liners would also call en route to Liverpool but few did, Liverpool being forsaken for Southampton within a few years but this increased the number of liner calls at Plymouth. A similar change saw Rosslare become the principal railway harbour on the other side of Irish Sea although some services were still provided to Waterford. This work was undertaken in a joint venture with the Great Southern and Western Railway of Ireland known as the Fishguard and Rosslare Railways and Harbours.

Although it had a reputation as the "Great Way Round", the GWR opened several new lines to shorten its traditional main lines to the ports. The Severn Tunnel opened in 1886 to avoid a lengthy detour via Gloucester, although this saw the end of the company's ferry service across the River Severn. Further improvements to the route between London Paddington station and Neyland came in 1903 when the South Wales and Bristol Direct Railway bypassed the congestion around , and again in 1913 when the Swansea District Lines allowed trains to avoid . In the meantime, trains to Weymouth had been speeded up following the opening of the Stert and Westbury Railway in 1900, and the special trains carrying passengers and mails off the transatlantic liners at Plymouth used this and the Langport and Castle Cary Railway which opened in 1906.

The Railways Act 1921 brought a number of additional railway companies into the GWR, several of which operated docks and several had small vessels operating in these. The companies concerned were the Barry Railway, Cardiff Railway, Taff Vale Railway, Alexandra (Newport and South Wales) Docks and Railway, Port Talbot Railway and Docks and the Swansea Harbour Trust. The GWR was nationalised on 1 January 1948 to become part of British Railways but the shipping services continued much the same as before for several years.

Sea-going ships ShipBuiltSold/ScrappedGRTNotes18891913596One of three ships built by Lairds of Birkenhead in 1889 for the GWR's newly acquired Channel Island services. She was sold to a Greek owner in 1913, who renamed her Antromitos.19071923577Built in 1907 for the London and South Western Railway (LSWR), she was sold to the GWR in 1910 when the LSWR stopped providing tender services at Plymouth. She was used by the GWR at both Fishguard and Plymouth. From 1915 to 1919 she was hired by the Admiralty and operated as a rescue tug around the Isles of Scilly, named Atalanta III. She returned to Plymouth after the war but was laid up out of use until sold to the Royal Mail Steam Packet Company in 1923.SS Bretonne189319111,635Formerly the Great Eastern Railway’s Chelmsford. She was purchased in July 1910 to replace the on French cargo services, but those from Weymouth, Dorset were withdrawn at the end of September 1910 and the Bretonne was sold.18631912387A former Mersey ferry, this paddle steamer was added, in 1905, to the fleet of ship's tenders at Plymouth.SS Fishguard190819332,495See St Andrew (1908).18671912403This paddle steamer was launched in 1867 and spent most of its years in Scotland. She was bought in 1884 and operated by the GWR, mainly on its Weymouth routes but also for a time at Milford Haven and for a short while at Penzance.18891925596One of three ships built by Lairds of Birkenhead in 1889 for the GWR's newly acquired Channel Island services. In 1907 most of the passenger accommodation was removed and she was then operated on cargo services. She served as a minesweeper in the Mediterranean Sea during World War I and was finally broken up after 36 years service in 1925.190219341,339A twin to the Great Western, this ship was intended for the Irish Sea route but also operated from Weymouth.Duckworth and Langmuir (1968), page 193.18671891466A paddle steamer built for Ford and Jackson in 1867 by William Simons & Co., Renfrew. Not to be confused with Isambard Kingdom Brunel’s SS Great Western of 1837: she was a twin-funnel sister to the South of Ireland. She was acquired in 1872, and like that ship she mainly worked out of Weymouth from 1878 to 1885. Six years later she was sold to David MacBrayne Ltd and sailed on routes off the west coast of Scotland as the Lovedale.190219331,339The Great Western name was revived after a gap of 11 years for a twin-screw steamer for the Irish Sea ferry service although she also operated at Weymouth for some time. In 1933 she was renamed GWR No. 20 but she was sold for scrap in September that year.193319661,726The replacement Great Western was built by Cammell Laird as a cargo carrier with limited passenger accommodation. She saw service as a troop ship from April to August 1944 and was finally taken out of service in 1966.Duckworth and Langmuir (1968), page 200.PS Helper18731910173See Sir Francis Drake (1876).189119251,160An enlarged version of the three ships launched in 1889, Ibex joined them at Weymouth. She struck the Noirmontaise rocks off Jersey on 16 April 1897 and was beached in Portlet Bay. Less than three years later, on 5 January 1900, she struck a reef at St Peter Port, Guernsey, and sank. One passenger and one crewman died. She was raised on 21 July 1900 and returned to service the following April after repairs. In 1916 a 12-pound gun was mounted on her stern; and on 18 April 1918 she fired on and sank a U-boat for which the crew received a £500 reward. She was cut up at Sharpness in 1925.18731874961One of an order for three paddle steamers built by William Simons & Co. of Renfrew in 1873, she was lost very early on and was replaced by a similar ship that was given the same name. Some sources suggest this is the same ship as the PS Limerick of 1874 (see below).18741902961A replacement for the 1873 ship of the same name. She was not broken up until 1902.18891925596One of three ships built by Lairds of Birkenhead in 1889 for the GWR's newly acquired Channel Island services. Most of the passenger accommodation was removed in 1910, after which she was operated as a cargo vessel. She served as minesweeper HMS Lynn in the Mediterranean during World War I and was finally broken up after 36 years service.18511884699This paddle steamer was originally launched in 1851 for the Antwerp Steam Navigation Company as the Baron Osy. She later undertook work for the British government during the Crimean War when she was renamed Malakhoff. She became part of Ford and Jackson's fleet in 1856. She was acquired in 1872 and broken up in 1884.Duckworth and Langmuir (1968), page 186.19051912412A 13-year old Scottish single-screw cargo ship acquired for services between Weymouth and the Channel islands, and also from Plymouth to Nantes. Her next owner intended to use her for a treasure hunt in the Cocos Islands and she was later registered in Vancouver.18731901961One of three paddle steamers ordered from William Simons & Co. of Renfrew in 1873 She was badly damaged in a storm and broken up in 1901.SS Pembroke18801925927976 (when rebuilt)This was the first of many ships built for the GWR by Laird's in Birkenhead. She operated as a paddle steamer from 1880 to 1895; the following year returning to service with twin screws and new boilers, all this time on the Irish Sea. In 1916 Pembroke was transferred to work from Weymouth as a cargo boat but on 24 September she was attacked by a U-boat so the following January she was fitted with a gun for defence. She was sold for scrap in 1925.19121927168A paddle tug for tender operations at Fishguard when the GWR was hoping to attract calls from transatlantic liners. She was sold to a Sunderland owner who renamed her Ingleby Cross but was renamed a second time to Elle when sold on to Scotland.Duckworth and Langmuir (1968), page 196.189719281,281One of a pair of vessels built by the Naval Construction and Armaments Company in Barrow-in-Furness for the Weymouth fleet in 1897. She operated as a minesweeper in the Mediterranean during World War I and returned to Weymouth afterwards. She was broken up at Briton Ferry.189719151,281The second of the vessels added to the Weymouth fleet in 1897 proved unlucky. On 26 January 1905 she caught fire while moored at Milford. The weight of water used to put out the fire caused her to sink but she was raised nine days later and returned to service in June. She ran aground after leaving St Helier on 19 July 1911, refloated on 28 July and returned to service four months later. In 1914 she was converted for minesweeping and renamed HMS Roebuck. On 13 January 1915 she dragged her anchor at Scapa Flow and sank following a collision with , the first railway ship to be lost on war service.19251965776The old name was revived in 1925 for a new Weymouth-based cargo vessel built by Swan, Hunter and Wigham Richardson on Tyneside; she was followed by the identical Sambur.