Builders: J Samuel White & Co, Cowes 1923
Propulsion type: Independent paddle wheels, simple condensing engines.
Owners: London County Council
Service dates: 1923 - 19??
Tonnage: Gross 609
Comments:
Whilst not an excursion ship, I have included Gordon following an e mail from a visitor. The Woolwich Free Ferry was opened by Lord Roseberry on 23 March 1889, when Gordon (the predecessor of the boat shown here) made the first trip. The trip took about nine minutes and the service operated from 5.00 am to midnight. There were four ferries in action when this picture was taken and they could carry 100 tons of freight, including motor and horse drawn vehicles, as well as foot passengers. The machinery was unusual in that the paddle wheels could operate independently of each other, which permitted greater accuracy in the short 350 yard trip. Operating speed was 8.5 knots, but as a lot of the trip was made sideways into and out from the floating pontoons to which they berthed, such speed was not obtained for long.