Builders: Ditchburn & Mare, Blackwall 1843
Propulsion type: Paddle,
Owner: Mr Maudsley, The Admiralty, and others(?)
Service dates: 1843-1878
Tonnage: Gross 270
Comments:
From 1837, the Admiralty were responsible for the carriage of mail between Dover and Calais, but found that this service did not really dovetail with their principal purpose. It also became increasingly expensive for the Admiralty to undertake mail duties. The work was put out to tender and in 1854 Messrs Jenkins and Churchward were awarded the contract. PS Princess Alice was the sister ship to the other "Post Office Steamers", PS Onyx and PS Violet who were built in the same year and which were owned originally by Mr Maudsley, who had engined the vessels when they were built. Mr Maudsley sold PS Princess Alice (the longest of the three vessels at 144 ft) on 23 January 1844 to the Admiralty for use as a cross channel mail steamer, where she remained until 1857 (the latter years under contract to Jenkins & Churchward). In that year she was lent to a Mr Chads for the Dover packet service. Her commander as at 11 Jan 1848 was Lieutenant Commander Thomas Swain Scriven. Princess Alice had an operational speed of 12.5 knots, which was quite respectable for her time and whilst under Admiralty service sported a gun for protection. The latter years of her career are not recorded except to record that she was broken up at Devonport in 1878.
My thanks go to George Robertson of Riversea for supplying this image and for additional information on this steamer.