Builders: Caird & Co Greenock 1882
Propulsion type: Paddle Compound Oscillating
Owners: Isle of Man Steam Packet Co Ltd
Service dates: 1882 - 1915
Tonnage: Gross 1564
Comments:
This graceful steamer was the first steel paddler built for the IOMSP Company and was launched on 16 May 1882 after achieving over 18 knots on her trials. She was the largest steamer that the company had owned up to that time and proved very popular with her passengers, for which she had a capacity of 1561, comfortably the largest of any of the company's ships until the introduction of Empress Queen some 15 years later. On 6 September 1892 she was stranded with 400 passengers on board when she ran aground at Scarlett Point in the Isle of Man on a trip from Dublin. She was refloated after assistance from Tynwald two days later, her passengers having previously been landed onto the rocks by way of a rather precarious ladder from her bows! For a picture from the 17 Sept 1892 Illustrated London News showing this please click here. She was present on the South Coast of England briefly in 1902, being on charter for the Fleet Review at Spithead for the coronation of King Edward VII. She continued in service for the company until purchased by the Admiralty for net laying, after fitting out by Vickers at Barrow. After the end of the First World War she was not fit for reconditioning and despite being offered for sale by the Admiralty, no bids were forthcoming and she was broken up by T W Ward & Co at Morecombe in September 1919.