Paddle Steamer Resources by
Tramscape
Historical
Database
South
Devon Coast
Despite the
area being a major tourist and holiday destination, excursion
services remained reasonably undeveloped. Without the potential for
ferry traffic, excursions were offered often by private individuals,
smaller companies with limited capitalisation, or established
operators from other areas making short-lived attempts to capitalise
on the tourist potential.
The area also suffered from the lack of any significant number of
piers and local practice became to run vessels on to the beach,
supported by strengthened bow plating and stern anchors to hold the
vessels firm. This manoeuvre was not without its difficulty, as
illustrated by the wrecking of PS Duchess of Devonshire at Sidmouth
beach in 1934. This problem limited the suitability of the area for
many vessels. Campbell’s large turbine steamer Empress Queen was
placed at Torquay in the early 1950s with little success, having to
undertake longer trips such as to the Channel Isles rather than the
more lucrative coastal day trips.
One ambitious attempt to place a steamer at Plymouth, the region’s
largest city and an important naval centre, led to the building of PS
Plymouth Belle in 1895, by far the largest vessel built for service
in the area. Again, her main sailings were to the Channel Isles and
she never established a position in the coastal cruising market.
The last attempt to base a paddler in South Devon was in 1960 and
1961 when Torbay Steamers Ltd ran the ex-Solent paddler PS Princess
Elizabeth from Torquay. Smaller paddlers continued to serve the River
Dart in south Devon until 1965 and coastal cruising was left in the
hands of the local motor launch owners. The one sizeable motor vessel
used was MV Devoniun (formerly P&A Campbell's MV Devonia) in
1982.
Main Operators and
vessels
Ellett & Matthews / Devon
Steamship Company / Devon Dock, Pier & Steamship Co.
(1891-1932)
Operated the ex-Wemounth paddler PS Prince in 1891 from
Exmouth and established the Devon Steamship Company to develop the
enterprise. A new steamer, PS Duchess of Devonshire was delivered in
1892 to replace the much smaller Prince, and four years later took
delivery of a similar vessel, named Duke of Devonshire. The company
became the Devon Dock, Pier and Steamship Company in 1898. Services
were suspended during World War I and resumed in 1920. The Duchess
was laid up for the 1930 season. After the 1932 season, both ships
were put up for sale. The Duchess went to the South Devon & West
Bay Steamship Co, remaining in the area, the Duke being sold to
operators at Cork in Ireland.
Prince (1891)
Duchess of Devonshire (From
1892)
Duke of Devonshire (From
1896)
Cosens & Co (on station
1925-1927)
Weymouth operators Cosens stationed PS Alexandra at
Torquay for three seasons between 1925 and 1927 with little
success.
Alexandra (1925-1927)
P & A Campbell (on station 1932-1933 and 1951)
The well established Bristol Channel operators who also
stationed an number of their fleet on the Sussex coast for the summer
season, sent PS Westward Ho to the south Devon coast in 1932 and 1933
offering escursions along the Devon, Dorset and Cornwall coasts.
The Campbell company made a second attempt at establishing profitable
trade in south Devon when the turbine steamer Empress Queen was based
at Torquay in 1951, but she was too large for coastal cruising and
was unable to call at the beaches of resorts where no formal port
facilities existed. The longer cruises, including to the Channel
Islands were unprofitable and the enterprise was not repeated.
Westward Ho (1932-1933)
Empress Queen (1951)
South Devon & West Bay Steamship
Company (1933-1934)
The Duchess of Devonshire was taken over from her
long-term operators and under new management cruised from Exmouth in
1933 and Torquay in 1934. The ship was wrecked after being swept on
to Sidmouth beach in August 1934, a tragic casualty of the dangerous
beach landing method, following the failure of one of her kedge
anchors to keep her in position.
Duchess of Devonshire
(1933-1934)
Alexander Taylor (1936-1937)
Purchased the Duke of Devonshire from Irish exile and
operated cruises in the 1936 and 1937 seasons before selling the
vessel to Cosens & Co in early 1938, after which the vessel
became the well-known PS Consul and was to enjoy a further 25 years
of life.
Duke of Devonshire
(1936-1937)
South Western Steam Navigation Company
(1947-1948)
In 1947, the Essex Queen, previously operating on the
Thames and Medway was purchased to restore excursion services to
Devon and given the name PS Pride of Devon. Operated for the1947 and
1948 seasons before being laid up and eventually scrapped.
Pride of Devon
(1947-1948)
Torbay Steamers Ltd
After being withdrawn from her duties in the Solent as
part of the Red Funnel fleet, PS Princess Elizabeth came into the
ownership of Mr E Rhodes who formed Torbay Steamer Ltd to operate her
out of Torquay in the 1961 season. It is difficult to judge whether
this attempt to re-establish services in Devon would have been
successful. Mr Rohodes took his vessel to Bournemouth after a dispute
with the Torquay town authorities.
Princess Elizabeth (1961)
Plymouth Belle Steamship Company
At 654 gross tonnes, Plymouth Belle, delivered in 1895
for a company established specially to operate her by local
businessman Mr W Dusting, was an exceptionally large steamer.
Primarily offering over-night or longer trips to the Channel Islands
and the Isles of Scilly, she was entering a market with little demand
and was herself unsuitable for what might have been a more lucrative
coastal excursion market. The vessel left the area on charter in 1896
and sailing opportunities at Plymouth were left in the hands of the
small railway-owned tug tenders that frequented the harbour and
Plymouth Sound.
Plymouth Belle
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