Builders: Southampton Naval Works Ltd, Woolston, Southampton
Propulsion type: Paddle: Compound diagonal
Owners: Southampton, Isle of Wight and South of England Royal Mail Steam Packet Co. Ltd.
Service dates: 1891 - 1937
Tonnage: Gross 280
Comments:
This picture shows the Prince of Wales early in her career, with her bridge aft of her funnel. She is sailing in Southampton Water and you can see a couple of interesting steam yachts in the background. She was not an initial success and suffered from poor speed and excessive vibration; one trip from Southampton to Cowes taking an hour and a half to complete. After a couple of years she was refitted and her paddle wheels were changed and fitted with wooden floats, which reduced the vibration and raised her speed to over 15 knots.
Prince of Wales suffered a number of mishaps during her time with the company. In fog in 1896 she collided with Clarence Pier, damaging both herself and the pier. In 1901 she jammed her rudder after fouling a buoy. In 1903 she collided with a submarine in Portsmouth Harbour. She was extensively damaged this time (although the submarine was not) and took on a considerable amount of water. She was just kept afloat and was taken back to the harbour for repairs, but not before the water had reached her engine room. In 1927 she was in collision with a yacht and in 1934 she collided with PS Princess Helena. The following year she hit and sunk the yacht Robin, whose skipper was sadly drowned. After a somewhat precarious career the Prince of Wales was scrapped in Wales in March 1938.