World of Ships – May 2018

PADDLE STEAMERS

Paddle Steamers I World of Ships I 73

XVI style, with a smaller second class restaurant

forward. Laid up along with most of the other

large steamers during World War II, she

returned to service in 1948, and 1960 brought

conversion to burn heavy oil, while the upper

deck was partially covered.

With La Suisse’s boilers getting towards the

end of their working lives, the steamer had to be

nursed through several summers before being

laid up in 1968. A single new boiler of higher

steam capacity was fitted, together with other

improvements, including the introduction of

hydro-electric steering, before a return to service

in 1970. After operating from Geneva from

new, there was a switch to Lausanne and Upper

Lake services in 1975, with passenger capacity

brought down to 1,200. In 2008 another major

renewal involved changes in appearance to a

more traditional styling. La Suisse returned to

service in time for summer 2009 with gilded

scrollwork at the bow.

SAVOIE

BUILT 1914 by Sulzer Brothers, Winterthur.

DIMENSIONS Length 63.0m, width 87.2m (hull),14.3m

(over paddles)

MACHINERY Compound diagonal by builders, 900hp

SPEED 27.4kmh (14.8 knots)

PASSENGERS 1,000

Savoie and sister Valais were part of a prolific

CGN building programme in the early years

of the 20th century and showed a strong

resemblance to Montreux and General Dufour,

introduced in 1904-05, and to Vevey and Italie

of 1907-08. While Valais was withdrawn in

1966, Savoie has always been regarded as one

of the fleet’s most economical units, but boiler

defects caused lay-up from 1962, and it was

four years before a decision to start a thorough

restoration was taken. This saw the steam

engine retained and a new boiler installed.

Work costing more than a million Swiss

Francs was spread over two years before a

return to service from Geneva in June 1967

with new boilers, electrically controlled

steering and passenger areas extensively

upgraded, including the Louis XVI main

restaurant. The vessel then alternated with

Montreux on a two-day roster, day one

bringing a trip to the Upper Lake, returning as

far as Lausanne, before day two saw a return

ABOVE Savoie maintains the CGN Sunday tradition of flying from the foremast the flags of the three Swiss cantons surrounding Lake Geneva. (Russell Plummer)

ABOVE Builders Sulzer Brothers provided a

910hp compound diagonal engine to Savoie that

continues to give reliable service. (Russell Plummer)

sailing from Lausanne to Geneva. Savoie was

given another major overhaul starting in July

2004 and returned to service in 2006. In

recent times she has been at Geneva for the

main summer season, running regular trips to

Hermitage and Yvoire.

SIMPLON

BUILT 1914-20 by Sulzer Brothers, Winterthur.

DIMENSIONS Length 73.8m, width 8.5m (hull),15.9m

(over paddles)

MACHINERY Compound diagonal by builders, 1,400hp

SPEED 29.4kmh (15.9 knots)

PASSENGERS 1,500

A semi-sister of La Suisse, but with engines in

front of the boiler, was ordered from Sulzer

in 1914, with a launch the following year.

But construction was halted after the start of

World War I, as tourist numbers had reduced

to a trickle. Simplon finally entered service in

1920 to figure in principal services alongside

fellow 1,500 capacity vessel La Suisse, with

ABOVE Simplon after returning to service in 2011

following a major overhaul funded entirely by

public donations.

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