Paddle Steamer Resources by
Tramscape
Firth
of Clyde,
Scotland
Caledonian
Steam Packet Company Ltd
The ultimate winner in the fight for supremacy on the
Clyde, the "Caledonian" name was retained throughout the
years of state ownership and remains the dominant name in
Clyde ferry services in the modern era, even painted in bold
white letters on the black hulls of the Caledonian-MacBrayne
vessels.
The Caledonian Steam
Packet Company provided the continuous thread throughout much of the
history of Clyde cruising, being formed in 1888 by the Caledonian
Railway to operate its steamer services and later being the operating
subsidiary of nationalised railway. On January 1, 1969 it was
transferred to the Scottish Transport Group, divorcing it from the
railways and into a new future which led to the merger with the STG's
other new subsidiary, David MacBrayne Ltd in 1973 to form
Caledonian-MacBrayne.
Probably the most recalled anecdote about Clyde Steamers is the
suggestion of Captain James Williamson, son of steamboat owner
Captain Alexander Williamson, that instead of relying on private
owners to provide connections to the new railway services reaching
the coast, the Caledonian should operate its own fleet. The
Caledonian decision led to the introduction of new vessels, matched
by their competitors, the Glasgow & South Western Railway and the
start of a ruinous struggle for supremacy on the Clyde. The last
decade of the 19th century led the great improvements in the quality
of vessels and the provision of fast, frequent, but ultimately
uneconomic, services.
Throughout the 20 th century a constant battle was fought against
rising costs and, after the Second World War, declining demand.
Amalgamation of the Caledonian and G&SWR in 1923 and
nationalisation, incorporating her L&NER competitors from 1948,
allowed the end to the wasteful duplication of services but changing
travel patterns led to the need for a radical reassessment of service
patterns. The era of passenger-only ferries was over by the time that
the CSP passed to STG control on Jan 1st 1969. The withdrawal of
Caledonia (1969), Duchess of Hamilton (1970), Waverley (1973) and
Queen Mary (1977) signalled the rapid end for the traditional Clyde
steamer in favour of highly efficient car ferry links across the
Firth. Happily, Waverley has shown that, suitably marketed, there is
still a role for cruising, albeit against all the expectations of
Caledonian MacBrayne.
Click on vessel name below to see
further details
Note : For details about turbine steamers (designated TS),
please go to our associated website : Clyde
Turbine Steamer Foundation
Steamers purchased in 1888
from Captains Peter & Alec
Campbell
PS Meg
Merrilies (until 1902)
PS Madge Wildfire (until
1911)
New Build 1889-1922 (prior to
amalgamation with G&SWR into the LMS
Railway)
PS
Caledonia (1889-1933)
PS Galatea
(1889-1906)
PS Marchioness of
Bredalbane
(1890-1935)
PS Marchioness of Bute (1890-1914
- not recomissioned after World War
I)
PS Duchess of Hamilton
(1890-1914 - lost in 1915 on wartime duty in World War I)
PS Marchioness of Lorne
(1891-1914 - not recommisioned after World War I)
PS Duchess of Rothesay
(1895-1939 - not recommisioned after World War II)
PS Duchess of Montrose
(1902-1914 - lost in 1917 on wartime duty in World War I)
PS Duchess of Fife
(1903-1953)
TS Duchess of Argyll
(1906-1952)
Steamer Purchased second
hand
PS
Ivanhoe (1897-1911)
New Build
1923-1935 (excluding vessels registered with LMS and not Caledonian
Steam Packet Co)
TS
Duchess of Montrose (1930-1965)
TS Duchess of Hamilton
(1932-1971)
PS Caledonia (1934-1969)
PS Marchioness of Lorne
(1935-1955)
New Build from
1936-1939
TS
Marchioness of Graham (1936-1958)
PS Jupiter
(1937-1960)
PS Juno (1937-1939 - lost in 1941 on
wartime duty in World War
II)
Vessels originally registered
with LMS transferred to Caledonian Steam Packet Co by 1938. Vessels
were operated by LMS in association with the CSP, but under separate
parliamentary powers.
PS Glen
Rosa (until 1939)
TS Glen Sannox (until 1954)
PS Mercury (until 1939 - lost in 1940
on wartime duty in World War
II)
Vessels transferred from
Williamson-Buchanan Steamers (1936) Ltd in 1943 after brief direct
ownership in
1935.
TS King
Edward (until 1952)
PS Queen-Empress (until 1939 - not
recommisioned after World War II)
TS Queen Mary
Vessels transferred from the British
Transport Commission (British Railways) on
5/11/1951
PS
Jeanie Deans (until 1965)
DEPV Talisman (until 1967)
PS Waverley
Paddle Steamer Built for Loch Lomond
Services
PS
Maid of the Loch (from 1953)
Motor Vessels :
MV
Maid of Ashton
MV Maid of Argyll
MV Maid of Skelmorlie
MV Maid of
Cumbrae
Major
Car Ferry Motor Vessels Built for CSP Clyde Services
1951-1968
MV
Arran
MV Cowal
MV Bute
MV Glen Sannox
(III)
Some
Other Passenger Motor
Vessels
MV
Countess of
Bredalbane
MV Arran Mail
MV Ashton
MV Leven
MV
Keppel
Bibliography
To
The Coast : One Hundred Years of the Caledonian Steam Packet
Co
By Ian McCrorie
Published in 1989 by The Fairlie Press, 8, Montgomerie Crescent,
Fairlie, Ayrshire, KA29 0EB, Scotland
ISBN 1-871209-01-3
Highly illustrated and readable summary of 100 years of the
CSP
Caledonian
Steam Packet Co Ltd
Alistair Deayton
Published in 2002 by Tempus Publishing Ltd
Excellent album of black & white photos with authoritative
captions covering the ships of the famous CSP Fleet
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Firth of
Clyde