Builders: Caird & Co, Greenock 1877
Propulsion type: Paddle: Single diagonal
Owners: Messrs Shearer & Richie, The Thames & Channel Steamship Company, The London Steamboat Company, The River Thames Steamboat Company, The Victoria Steamboat Association, The Hastings, St Leonards & Eastbourne Steamboat Company, Alec Campbell, P & A Campbell Ltd
Service dates: 1877 - 1919
Tonnage: Gross 254
Comments:
Glen Rosa had a varied career, being built for the Clyde, but spending little time there as her first owners failed financially. She soon moved to the River Thames and became the first excursion steamer to make the London to Clacton trip in the same day. As a result of favourable winds and tides she achieved a speed of 21 knots, which gave her good publicity although somewhat flattered her normal operations. In her early days she was not the most reliable of steamers and was frequently later than her advertised arrival times. In addition her surging single diagonal machinery did not make her suitable for long trips as this caused discomfort for the passengers. In 1897 she was bought by Alexander Campbell and later was absorbed into the the White Funnel fleet. She sailed for them on the South Coast and in the Bristol Channel, although could not carry out the Cardiff - Weston service as her paddle wheels reached below her hull, but this was later rectified. She sailed from Eastbourne and Hastings until the First World War when she was requisitioned by the Admiralty for minesweeping out of Swansea. Whilst she survived, she was in a poor condition and after being laid up, she was scrapped at Bristol by Pugsley & Co. in 1921.