SS Train Ferry No. 1

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SS Train Ferry No. 1 - Wikipedia

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

(Redirected from SS Essex Ferry (1917))

History
As Princess Iris
Name	1917–1940: TSS Train Ferry No. 1 1940–1942: TSS Iris 1942–1946: TSS Princess Iris 1946–1956: TSS Essex Ferry 1956–1957: TSS Essex Ferry II
Operator	1917–1924: War Office 1924–1934: Great Eastern Railway 1934–1940, 1946–48: London & North Eastern Railway 1940–1946: Royal Navy 1948–1957: British Railways
Port of registry
Builder	Armstrong Whitworth
Yard number	921
Launched	3 August 1917
Completed	November 1917
Out of service	26 February 1957
Fate	Scrapped 1957
General characteristics
Type	Train ferry
Tonnage	2,683 gross register tons (GRT)
Length	350.6 ft (106.9 m)
Beam	58.7 ft (17.9 m)
Depth	15 ft 6 in (4.72 m)
Installed power	403 nhp
Propulsion	2 x triple expansion engines
Speed	12 knots

TSS Train Ferry No. 1 was a Roll-on/roll-off freight vessel built for the British War Office in 1917 to transport rail freight to Europe during World War I.^[1] After the war, it was used for civilian purposes until World War II when it was converted to carry and launch landing craft

After the war, it returned to ferry use and scrapped in 1957.

History

The ship was built by Armstrong Whitworth, Newcastle upon Tyne and launched in 1917. Along with her sister ships SS Train Ferry No. 2 and SS Train Ferry No. 3, they were the first vessels to offer regular transport between Britain and continental Europe for rail freight vehicles. They were ordered by the British Army to provide rail freight transport from the military Port Richborough to the continent to sustain the war effort eing quicker to load and unload in port. They had four sets of rails along the train deck and used a link span to load when in harbour.

After their use by the British Army ended in 1922, they were purchased by the Great Eastern Railway and moved to Harwich where the landing stage was re-erected^[a] to provide a service to Zeebrugge in conjunction with the Belgian Government through a joint company, the Great Eastern Train Ferry Company. The Great Eastern Railway was taken over by the London & North Eastern Railway (LNER) in 1923 with its interest in the Great Eastern Train Ferry Company. The new service was inaugurated on 24 April 1924 by the Duke of Kent.^[2]

On 13 December 1924 she collided with two lighters in the river near Antwerp but the incident was without loss of life.^[3]

In 1934, the Great Eastern Train Ferry Company was liquidated and she was bought by the LNER.

In 1940 she was requisitioned by the Royal Navy and renamed Iris. She assisted with the evacuation of the Channel Islands. In 1941 she was converted to a Landing Craft Carrier, and the twin funnels were incorporated into a single stack. In 1942 she was renamed again to Princess Iris.

Princess Iris could carry fourteen landing craft on the train deck and four more on the upper deck. Those on the train deck were launched down a chute at the stern (hence classified as "Landing Ship Stern Chute"); those on the upper deck were unloaded by crane, During the war she was mostly used for transporting landing craft.^[4]

In 1946 she returned to the LNER and renamed Essex Ferry. She was in service with British Railways from 1948 until 1956 when she was withdrawn from service, renamed Essex Ferry II and then scrapped at Grays in 1957.^[5]

Notes

^ The original Port Richborough portal frame is still in service, 2019 ^{[citation needed]}

References

^ Duckworth, Christian Leslie Dyce; Langmuir, Graham Easton (1968). Railway and other Steamers. Prescot, Lancashire: T. Stephenson and Sons.
^ "LNER Train Ferry". Hull Daily Mail. Kingston-upon-Hull. 25 April 1924. Retrieved 4 November 2015 – via British Newspaper Archive.
^ "Harwich Train Ferry No. 1". Chelmsford Chronicle. Chelmsford. 19 December 1924. Retrieved 4 November 2015 – via British Newspaper Archive.
^ "Train Ferry No 1 1917". www.tynebuiltships.co.uk. Retrieved 8 August 2022.
^ Train Ferry to be Broken Up Railway Gazette 8 March 1957 page 200

Bibliography

Anderson, Richard M. (1990). "Re: Mystery Photo No. 97". Warship International. XXVII (2): 107. ISSN 0043-0374.
Atherton, D. (1990). "Re: Mystery Photo No. 97". Warship International. XXVII (2): 108–110. ISSN 0043-0374.
Dittmar, Fred (1990). "Re: Mystery Photo No. 97". Warship International. XXVII (2): 107. ISSN 0043-0374.
Heine, Paul J. (1990). "Re: Mystery Photo No. 97". Warship International. XXVII (2): 107–108. ISSN 0043-0374.

Ships operated by the Great Eastern Railway

Ships

v t e Ships operated by the London and North Eastern Railway
Ex GCR ships	Accrington City of Bradford City of Leeds Dewsbury Lutterworth Macclesfield Nottingham Staveley
Ex GER ships	Amsterdam Antwerp Archangel Bruges Cromer Felixstowe Malines Roulers St Denis
Ships built for, or acquired by, the LNER	Amsterdam Arnhem Brightlingsea Prague Suffolk Ferry Train Ferry No. 1 (renamed Essex Ferry in 1946) Train Ferry No. 2 Train Ferry No. 3 Vienna
Humber Ferries	Grimsby Cleethorpes Brocklesby Killingholme Tattershall Castle Wingfield Castle Lincoln Castle

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