Builders: J Reid & Co Port Glasgow 1889
Propulsion type: Paddle compound diagonal
Owners: The Caledonian Steam Packet Co Ltd
Service dates: 1889 - 1933
Tonnage: Gross 244
Comments:
Caledonia (I) was the first Clyde steamer to have mooring telegraphs and she was the smaller of a pair of steamers built for the company by Reids, the other being the Marchioness of Breadalbane. She had an operating speed of around 16 knots and was licenced to carry 1093 passengers. Her first master, a gentleman named Duncan Bell, did not believe in the new telegraph machinery and continued to convey his orders by voice. Caledonia was converted to oil burning in 1893, but this experiment was not a success due to the high cost of the fuel oil. She was reboilered in 1912 and her bridge was brought forward of the funnel. A year later she gained a ticket office and covered companionway. She was returned to the company after war service and performed the Gourock-Holy Loch service until she was withdrawn for scrapping after the 1933 season. She was broken up at Ward's yard in Barrow.