Builders: Société Cockerill 1896
Propulsion type: Paddle compound diagonal
Owner: Belgian State Railways
Service dates: 1896 - 1928
Tonnage: Gross 1474
Comments:
This luxurious steamer sailed between Dover and Ostend and was a large boat of 341 feet in length and a speed of over 22 knots. At the time she was introduced she was regarded as the finest cross channel steamer to date and she served on the thrice a day mail service. Princesse Clementine was the first vessel on this route to be fitted with wireless telegraphy. In 1902 she and her sister, Marie Henriette, were involved in what has been described as one of the worst storms ever to rage in the English Channel. The crossing normally took around three hours. Marie Henriette left Dover with 18 passengers in the afternoon of Friday 31 January, although 18 hours later she was sighted out of control and at anchor off the North Foreland, as her starboard paddle wheel had become disabled. She was able to travel at only one knot. She was still in difficulties on the Sunday and high seas had prevented assistance being rendered so Princesse Clementine sailed in mountainous seas from Ostend with food and fuel for her sister. She was unable to help the Marie Henriette, despite several tries but Marie was eventually taken in tow by a Belgian Government tug. Fuel and provisions were low on both vessels, as the journey was still hazardous, but the Marie Henriette eventually limped into Ostend on Monday morning, sixty four hours after she left Dover. I am glad I missed that one!
Princesse Clementine did not have a long working life and was scrapped at Dunkirk in 1928, although she was a reserve steamer for the latter part of her life.