MV Leinster (1937)

MV Leinster was a passenger ferry operated across the Irish Sea between 1937 and 1966. She was renamed Ulster Prince to replace the 1929 motorship of that name, lost during WWII.

For other uses, see Leinster (disambiguation).
History
Name:
  • MV Leinster (1937-46)
  • MV Ulster Prince (2) (1946-66)
  • MV Ulster Prince 1 (1966-67)
  • MV Odysseus (1967-80)
Namesake: Leinster
Owner:
Port of registry: Liverpool[1]
Route: Liverpool-Dublin (1937-1946)
Builder: Harland and Wolff
Yard number: 995
Launched: 24 June 1937
Completed: 2 November 1937
Identification: Official No.164343
Fate: scrapped in 1980
General characteristics
Tonnage: 4,302 GRT
Length: 345 ft (105.2 m)
Beam: 50 ft (15.2 m)
Draught: 4.13 m (13.5 ft)
Installed power: Single acting diesel
Propulsion: Twin screws
Speed: 17 knots (31 km/h; 20 mph)
Notes: [1]

History

MV Leinster was a passenger ship built by Harland and Wolff for the British and Irish Steam Packet Company in 1937.[2] She was initially chartered to Belfast Steamship Company for the Belfast - Liverpool service, until a new terminal was completed at Dublin.[2] Leinster and her sister MV Munster took up their intended service between Liverpool and Dublin in 1938. They were the largest vessels in the Coast Lines fleet and were to prove too large for that route.[3] Their original buff hulls were later changed to dark green.[2] The new ferries did not have capacity for cattle that was important on the Dublin route. Two cattle carriers were built in 1937: Kilkenny (1,320 tons from the Liffey Dockyard), and Dundalk (630 tons from Ardrossan, Scotland). [4]

Shortly after the outbreak of World War II, the B&I ships were removed from their normal routes. Leinster was converted into a hospital ship and then a troop carrier.[4] After the war, she was refitted and renamed Ulster Prince (2) for the Liverpool - Belfast service, along with Ulster Queen, the only one of the 1929/30 trio to return from war service.[2]

In 1966, she was renamed Ulster Prince I to make way for her replacement Ulster Prince. Withdrawn in October 1966, the service was provided by MV Irish Coast and MV Scottish Coast until the new car ferries arrived.[2]

In 1967, she was sold to Epirotiki Line, renamed Odysseus. By 1976, she was used as accommodation at Kyle of Lochalsh, and later at Glasgow. She was scrapped at Faslane in 1980.[2]

Service

References
  1. "Leinster". The Yard/Harland & Wolff. Retrieved 19 August 2018.
  2. "1937 Leinster (3) (British and Irish)/Ulster Prince (2) (Belfast SS)". Ian Boyle/Simplon Postcards. Retrieved 19 August 2018.
  3. Ian Collard (2015). Coast Lines: Fleet List and History. Amberley Publishing Limited. ISBN 978-1445646756. Retrieved 19 August 2018.
  4. "B&I Line". Irish Ferries Enthusiasts. Retrieved 19 August 2018.
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