Builders: Softley & Co North Shields 1877
Propulsion type: Paddle lever engine
Owner: Hastings, St Leonards & Eastbourne Steamboat Co Ltd
Service dates: 1877 - 1896
Tonnage: Gross 107
Comments:
This charming image comes from a Victorian stereoscope card and shows PS Seagull leaving Hastings Pier.
Seagull was built as a paddle tug and was a small iron steamer of 121 ft in length. As may be seen from the picture, she was registered at the port of Rye and was purchased second hand in 1891, after service in her port of building. Records show that in 1886 she had operated the Wemyss Bay and Toward service on the Clyde during Glasgow Fair Week. It is also said that as a tug she had travelled as far as the Baltic, but on the South Coast she undertook short excursions. She appears to have lasted about five years in this role and then was presumeably scrapped. The gentleman standing on the starboard paddle box is thought to be either Capt. Hurdman or Capt. Wolfe who were her skippers for the Hastings, St Leonards & Eastbourne Steamboat Co Ltd.