PADDLE STEAMERS
Jim Shaw
SHIPS
WORLD OFFROM THE PUBLISHERS OF SHIPS MONTHLY21st CENTURY PADDLERS A COMPLETE GUIDE£6.95No.THE AUTHOR
Russell Plummer became hooked on paddle
steamers after fi rst sailing as an 11-year-old on
Red Funnel’s coal-fi red veteran Bournemouth
Queen during a South Coast family holiday,
encounters with members of the Portsmouth
railway fl eet and Cosens vessels at Bournemouth
quickly following. He had started a career in
journalism by the end of the decade and nearly
60 years later has had articles in every issue
of Ships Monthly since May 1976, and also
organised more than 50 readers’ tours taking in
travel with ferries, inland vessels and cruise ships.
This publication is a logical follow-on to Russell’s
books Paddle Steamers in the 1970s and Paddle
Steamers in the 1990s, and he has also produced
titles on the role of paddle vessels in both the
First and Second World Wars, together with
the hardback ‘The ships that saved an Army,’
a comprehensive record of the role of paddle
steamers, passenger ferries and the famous
‘Little Ships’ in the Dunkirk Evacuation of 1940.
He also had a 25-year stint as editor of the
Paddle Steamer Preservation Society’s quarterly
magazine ‘Paddle Wheels’.COVER Two famous paddlers: Waverley from the
UK and Unterwalden from Switzerland.Editor • Nicholas Leach
Art Editor • Mark Hyde Proofi ng • Peter Bendall
Published • Kelsey Media Ltd, Cudham Tithe Barn,
Berrys Hill, Cudham, Kent TN16 3AG
Tel 01959 541444, http://www.kelsey.co.uk
Printed • William Gibbons & Sons Ltd, West Midlands
© 2018 All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part is
forbidden except with prior permission in writing from the publisher.
The publisher cannot accept responsibility for errors in articles or
advertisements. The views expressed are not necessarily those of the
editor or publisher. ISBN 978-1-910554-18-KELSEY media
INTRODUCTION
H
undreds of vessels
propelled by side
paddles have been
built since commercial
operations fi rst began
in the early 1820s.
The 60-plus craft
remaining in Europe and Scandinavia now
have much more secure futures, with retention
rather than replacement becoming the order
of the day. Many lake or river operators have
invested heavily to keep steamers running,
often with support from enthusiast bodies
or historical groups, and several new diesel
vessels have been brought into service in
recent times, including the paddle-powered
French river cruise ship Loire Princesse.
Existing steamers in areas such as the
lakes of Switzerland and rivers and lakes
of Germany and Austria include around 40
vessels with over a century of service to their
names, and at the top of the list is Danish
steamer Hjejlen, little changed for summer
trips on the Silkeborg Lakes since 1861.
Introduced even earlier in 1856 on Norway’s
Lake Mjosa, Skibladner was lengthened and
fi tted with a new engine in 1888. Even in
Britain, in addition to the world’s last sea-
going paddle steamer Waverley and the
1924-built River Dart veteran KingswearCastle, with an engine dating from 1904, two
further steamers, Loch Lomond’s Maid of the
Loch, built in 1953 and last used commercially
in 1981, and Dunkirk veteran Medway
Queen, which came through World War II
service to run on the Thames Estuary into the
1960s, are on course to eventually return to
operation under steam.
A number of vessels at home and abroad
have gained national historical recognition and
some normally used in restaurant or hotel roles,
particularly in Eastern Europe, are available
for charters or special sailings. It is highly
encouraging to report in the following pages just
how many vessels have had large sums spent on
both machinery and passenger area upgrades.
Long may their operations continue.Acknowledgements
Information sources include the Paddle
Steamer Preservation Society’s journal
‘Paddle Wheels,’ and the Coastal Cruising
Association’s ‘Cruising Monthly’. Another
invaluable news and picture source has
been the website http://www.paddlesteamerinfo/
PaddleSteamerList.htm. Photographers,
where known, are credited; special thanks go
to Myra and John Allen for photographs from
their regular trips to view vessels on the rivers
and lakes of Europe.00 Paddlers_contents_NL.indd 4 17/04/2018 14: