Builders: Russell & Co, Port Glasgow 1897
Propulsion type: Paddle compound diagonal
Owners: Hastings, St Leonards & Eastbourne Steamboat Co Ltd, Glasgow & South Western Railway, Capt John Williamson, Williamson-Buchanan Steamers Ltd and caledonian Steam Packet Co Ltd.
Service dates: 1897 - 1940
Tonnage: Gross 319
Comments:
Kylemore's history is interesting. Built for Capt John Williamson, she was sold off the river, for £13750, before delivery to the Hastings, St Leonards & Eastbourne Steamboat Co for use on the South Coast and renamed Britannia (not to be confused with the Campbell's steamer of the same name). At an operating speed of 14 knots, she was used for excursion trips from Hastings to Brighton and Dover. In 1904 she was sold back north, this time to the Glasgow & South Western Railway for £5070. She was again renamed, being called Vulcan. After four years she was sold once more, this time to Capt John Williamson, for whom she was originally built and was at last named Kylemore, which was to be her original name. From the 1908 season, she sailed from Glasgow to Rothesay and the Kyles of Bute and saw service in the Great War as a minesweeper. She continued without major incident until the Second World War, when she was again requisitioned for minesweeping duties. She survived the Dunkirk evacuation, making three trips, but was not so lucky later in 1940, when she was sunk in the Wash on the 21 August by an enemy plane.