Builders: William Denny Bros, Dumbarton 1911
Propulsion type: Direct drive turbines
Owner: South Eastern & Chatham Railway, Burns & Laird Lines Ltd
Service dates: 1911 - 1957
Tonnage: Gross 1674
Comments:
This twenty plus knot steamer had a comparatively long life, which is a testament to the popularity of the Denny built turbine ships of the time. Launched on 1 April 1911, she was built for the Dover-Calais service and could cross the English Channel in a time of one hour. She and her sister, the Engadine, also had deck space for motor cars and can be seen as the fore-runners of today's cross channel car ferries. In the Great War she carried seaplanes across the Channel. In 1932 she was sold to the Burns & Laird Line and was renamed Lairds Isle, being purchased for the Ardrossan to Belfast daylight, summer service. She saw action again in the Second World War as a Dover Patrol vessel and was returned to her owners after the cessation of hostilities. She was finally withdrawn from the Belfast service in 1957 and scrapped.