PS Tattershall Castle

The PS Tattershall Castle is a floating pub and restaurant moored on the River Thames at Victoria Embankment. It served as a passenger ferry across the Humber estuary from 1934 to 1973, before being towed to London in 1976.

The PS Tattershall Castle on the River Thames at the Victoria Embankment in London
History
United Kingdom
Name: The Tattershall Castle
Namesake: Tattershall Castle, Lincolnshire
Owner:
Route:
Ordered: 1934
Builder: William Gray & Company, Hartlepool, England
Launched: 24 September 1934
Commissioned: 24 September 1934
Decommissioned: 1974
Identification: IMO number: 5353804
Status: Restaurant and bar moored on the River Thames
General characteristics
Type: Paddle steamer
Tonnage: 556 GT
Length: 209 ft (64 m)
Beam: 56 ft (17 m) (including paddle box)
Propulsion: Triple expansion, diagonal stroke, reciprocating steam engine, 1200 ihp.
Speed: 12.0 knots (22.2 km/h; 13.8 mph)

History

The steamer was built by William Gray & Company in 1934[1] as a passenger ferry on the Humber for the London and North Eastern Railway (LNER). She plied the Humber Ferry route between Corporation Pier in Kingston upon Hull, Yorkshire, and New Holland Pier in New Holland, Lincolnshire.[2]

During the Second World War she found service as a tether for barrage balloons and to ferry troops and supplies along the River Humber to wherever they were required. Due to the heavy fogs often encountered on this river, she was fitted with radar becoming one of the first civilian ships to have this facility.[3] After the war, with the nationalisation of the railways in 1948, she became part of British Rail's Sealink service.

In 1973, after long service as a passenger and goods ferry, she was retired and laid up. In 1976 the ship was towed to London.[4] Repairs on the ship were deemed too costly and she was retired from service. The opening of the Humber Bridge made the ferry service, known to have existed since at least Roman times,[5] redundant.[6]

PS Tattershall Castle was first opened on the River Thames as a floating art gallery until her eventual disposal to the Chef & Brewer group. Before opening in 1982 as a restaurant,[7] she was sent to the River Medway for further repairs.[1] Tattershall Castle returned temporarily to Hull for a refit at MMS Ship Repair in 2015, at a cost of several million pounds.[8][9]

A sister ship also launched in 1934, the PS Wingfield Castle, is preserved at Hartlepool's Maritime Experience.

A third similar Humber ferry, the PS Lincoln Castle, built in 1940, was scrapped in Autumn 2010.

Tattershall Castle in front of Whitehall Court.

References
  1. "PS Tattershall Castle, London". The Heritage Trail, Maritime. Archived from the original on 5 October 2015. Retrieved 25 November 2015.
  2. Catford, Nick; Dyson, Mark. "Hull Corporation Pier". Disused Stations. Retrieved 25 November 2015.
  3. "Tattershall Castle". This is Hartlepool. Retrieved 25 November 2015.
  4. "Tattershall Castle". National Historic Ships. Retrieved 25 November 2015.
  5. 'Broomhill – Brougham', A Topographical Dictionary of England (1848), pp. 405–409. http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=50836 Date. Retrieved 25 March 2009.
  6. Baker, Clive (December 2017). "Railway Steamers". British Railway Modelling. Warners Group. p. 83. ISSN 0968-0764.
  7. "About us". Tattershall Castle. Retrieved 25 November 2015.
  8. "Humber ferry the Tattershall Castle returning to Hull". Hull Daily Mail. 22 January 2015. Archived from the original on 25 November 2015. Retrieved 25 November 2015.
  9. "Former Humber ferry back in Hull". Hull Daily Mail. 23 January 2015. Archived from the original on 28 June 2015. Retrieved 25 November 2015.
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