Duke of Lancaster (ship)

Duke of Lancaster

The Duke of Lancaster launched in Llanerch-y-Mor, 2010

Ship data flag  United Kingdom Ship type Passenger ferry Callsign GVDY home port Lancaster Owner Empirewise Shipyard Harland & Wolff , Belfast Build number 1540 Launch 1955 Commissioning 1956 Whereabouts Decommissioned in 1978, launched in 1979

Ship dimensions and crew length 114.63 m ( Lüa ) width 17.46 m Draft Max. 4.54 m measurement 4,450 GRT

Machine system machine 2 × Parmetrada steam turbines Top speed 21 kn (39 km / h) propeller 2 × propellers

Transport capacities Load capacity 849 dw Permitted number of passengers 1800

Others Registration numbers IMO no. 5094496

The Duke of Lancaster is a former passenger ferry , in 1956 for the English was placed British Transport Commission in service and Mostyn in for a long time Liverpool hook.

period of service

The Duke of Lancaster in 1961

The passenger ship , along with her sister ships Duke of Rothesay and Duke of Argyll, was the last ferry built for the British Transport Commission that only carried passengers. It replaced the Duke of Lancaster of the same name from 1928. It was built by Harland & Wolff in Belfast and completed in 1956. It was mainly used on the Heysham – Belfast route. In 1963 she was sold to the British shipping company Sealink, which she continued to use on the Heysham – Belfast route. From the mid-1960s, however, ships like the Duke of Lancaster were considered obsolete. In 1969 the ship was modernized anyway. The two sister ships were decommissioned in the 1970s and then scrapped. The Duke of Lancaster was initially used on the Fishguard- Rosslare route and decommissioned in 1978 and launched in Barrow-in-Furness .

The "Fun Ship"

In 1979 the disused ferry was sold to the Liverpool- based company Empirewise and towed to Mostyn in North Wales. The company planned to operate the ferry as a floating hotel, mall, and museum called the Fun Ship . However, because of the high costs, nothing came of these plans.

Future use

The ship is still on the beach at Llanerch-y-Mor near Mostyn. Despite its apparently poor condition, the interior of the ship is very well preserved. There are no precise plans for the further use of the Duke of Lancaster . In March 2013 the ship was painted with art motifs by several artists. Among other things, there was a portrait of the first captain of the Duke of Lancaster , John "Jack" Irwin , on the hull of the ship . However, the hull of the ship was painted completely black in 2017.

Web links

Commons : Duke of Lancaster (ship, 1956)  - collection of images, videos and audio files

• The Duke of Lancaster
• Duke of Lancaster , HHV Ferry

Coordinates: 53 ° 18 '23.4 "  N , 3 ° 14' 8.5"  W.