Hebrides class
Hebrides (1973 in Tarbert , Isle of Harris )
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The Hebrides class is a former three-unit ferry class belonging to the British shipping company Caledonian MacBrayne .
The only remaining ship in the class is the Hebridean Princess, built as Columba and converted into a cruise ship in the late 1980s .
history
The ships were built at Hall, Russell & Company shipyard in Aberdeen . The client was the shipping division of the Department of Agriculture and Fisheries for Scotland. Legally, the ships belonged to the Secretary of State for Scotland. They were initially operated by David MacBrayne in Glasgow , and from the 1970s onwards by the newly founded Caledonian MacBrayne, which emerged from the merger of David MacBrayne and the Caledonian Steam Packet Company. The combined cost of building the ships was around £ 2 million .
The ships sailed under the flag of the United Kingdom . Home port was initially Leith . In early 1973 the ships were registered in Glasgow.
The ships were part of the British government's Python plan and were intended to help maintain or restore order in the event of a nuclear exchange between the Soviet Union and the West. In the event of war, around 130 people should remain on board the ships that were supposed to seek shelter along the Scottish coast or in a hole . The car decks of the ships could be locked with the help of stable gates and an overpressure could be generated in the ships to prevent the penetration of nuclear , biological or chemical warfare agents from the ambient air into the ship's interior. The superstructures were fitted with sprinkler systems to wash away weapons and fallout. Locks and rooms for decontamination were available on board .
description
The drive was carried out by two two-stroke - eight-cylinder - diesel engines of the manufacturer Crossley Bros. in Manchester (type: HRP 8/47). The engines contributed together 1,765 kW and worked on two propellers . Although the ships had two propellers, they were only equipped with one rudder . The ships reached a speed of 14 knots . For the electrical supply, four Gleniffer diesel generators, each with an output of 140 kW, were housed in a separate generator room. The docking and casting off maneuvers could be supported with a bow thruster from Brown Brothers & Company, which was a novelty for the shipping company's ferries. In addition, the ferries were equipped with stabilizers , which also came from Brown Brothers & Company.
The ships had five decks . The engine room was on the lower deck . Cabins for passengers and crew members were set up in front of and behind the engine room . On the main deck above was the ro-ro deck, which extended over the entire length of the aft deck superstructure and over part of the fore section.
The ships were loaded and unloaded using ramps on both sides of the ships in front of the superstructures , with the help of which vehicles were brought into the vehicle deck on the main deck. The ramps led to a hydraulically height-adjustable platform with turntables that reached across the entire width of the ship and was used when the main deck was below the level of the pier due to the tide or load. Another turntable was located in the rear area of the vehicle deck. With their help, vehicles without their own drive, such as B. carts , are rotated so that they can then be pulled to the ramps. Parts of the vehicle deck could be equipped with crates for the transport of cattle.
The facilities for the passengers were on the upper, promenade and boat deck. On the upper deck there was a cafeteria and a restaurant with a galley and pantry behind it in the rear area and a lounge in the front area of the superstructure. Furthermore there were u. a. housed the reception and a small shop. The "Obervation Lounge" was located in the front area of the promenade deck, and an open sun deck in the rear area. In between were u. a. Crew cabins housed. Further cabins for the crew and the bridge were located on the boat deck. In the rear part of the deck there was another sundeck that was accessible to passengers.
The ships were approved for 600 passengers (in the winter months the passenger capacity was reduced to 400 people). 51 people could be accommodated in the passenger cabins on the lower deck.
Ships
| Hebrides- class | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Building name | Build number | IMO number |
Launched delivery |
Later names and whereabouts |
| Hebrides | 910 | 6401165 | November 20, 1963 April 1964 |
1985: Devoniun , 1993: Illyria , sold for demolition in 2003, scrapped |
| Clansman | 911 | 6404935 | 15th January 1964 June 1964 |
1985: Tamira , 1986: Al Hussein , 1986: Al Rasheed , scrapped in 2010 |
| Columba | 912 | 6409351 | March 12, 1964 July 21, 1964 |
Conversion to a cruise ship; since 1989 Hebridean Princess in drive |
Hebrides
The ship was launched on November 20, 1963. It was delivered in April 1964 and put into service on April 15. The ship was used in the Hebrides ferry service between the Isle of Skye, part of the Inner Hebrides, and the two islands of the Outer Hebrides, North Uist and Lewis and Harris .
In November 1985, the ship was decommissioned by Caledonian MacBrayne and sold to Torbay Seaways in Torquay . The ship's new name was Devoniun , and from 1986 it was used in ferry services between Torquay and the Channel Islands . In 1990, the ship was in Ipswich launched and sold in May 1993rd The ship, which now sailed under the flag of St. Vincent and the Grenadines with its home port Kingstown , was renamed Illyria and used in the Adriatic, first between Brindisi in Italy and Vlora in Albania , and later between Bari and Durrës or Brindisi and Durrës . In 1998 the ship was used for some time between Kingstown on St. Vincent and the island world of St. Vincent and the Grenadines.
In July 2003 the ship was sold for demolition in Turkey and then scrapped in Aliağa .
Clansman
The ship was launched on January 15, 1964. It was delivered in June 1964 and put into service on June 5, 1964 on the route between Mallaig on the Scottish mainland and Armadale on the Isle of Skye. Since the route was not served in winter, the ship could be used as a replacement ship on other routes of the shipping company in the winter months.
From June 1967, the ship served in addition to the main route between Mallaig and Armadale, the connection from Mallaid to Lochboisdale on the island of South Uist . In 1971 and 1972 Castlebay was also called on Barra . At the beginning of 1970 the ship was chartered for a few months to the Caledonian Steam Packet Co., which used it between Gourock and Dunoon and at times between Wemyss Bay and Rothesay .
In early 1971 the ship was used by the Highlands and Islands Development Board for a "Highland Fling" event in London . For this purpose, the ship was at Tower Pier for ten days . On board there were exhibitions about the Scottish regions, industry, fishing and tourism.
From October 1972, the ship was extensively rebuilt at a shipyard in Troon . In addition to being extended by a good ten meters, it was equipped with a bow and stern ramp and a bow visor , which made loading and unloading the ship much easier. The side ramps were removed as part of the renovation. In addition, the rudder system was rebuilt and the ship equipped with two oars, and the existing machinery was automated and switched to bridge control. The rebuilding of the ship took just under nine months.
After the conversion, the ship was initially used from June 1973 between Ullapool on the Scottish mainland and Stornoway on the Isle of Lewis and Harris. However, it turned out to be too weakly motorized for the route and was replaced by another ship in September 1974. As a result, the ship operated the route between Oban and Craignure on the Isle of Mull and operated from April 1976 between Ardrossan and Brodick on the Isle of Arran . Since 1975, the ship has also been regularly chartered to P&O Ferries , who operate the ship between Scrabster and Stromness on the Orkney Islands .
After an engine failure in March 1984, the ship was launched in Greenock and sold to Torbay Seaways in August of that year. Torbay Seaways had the engine repaired and wanted to use the ship in the ferry service from Torquay to the Channel Islands. However, this failed because the company did not receive a permit for the construction of a ro-ro ramp. Torbay Seaways then sold the ship to Malta , where it was briefly used as Tamira under the flag of Malta on a route between Malta and Gozo . In 1986 the ship was sold again and was only used briefly as Al Hussein in the Gulf of Aqaba . Then it drove as Al Rasheed between Jeddah and Massaua . In 2010 the ship was scrapped.
Columba
The ship was launched on March 12, completion on July 21, 1964. The ship was initially used between Oban and Craignure and also called Lochaline on the Morvern peninsula . From 1973 it replaced the Clansman on the route between Mallaig and Armadale. The ship was later stationed again in Oban and operated from here to the islands of Coll , Tiree and Colonsay . In addition, Lochaline on the Morvern Peninsula and Tobermory on the Isle of Mull were called again.
In late 1988, the ship was decommissioned and sold to Hebridean Island Cruises in Skipton , which had it converted into a cruise ship in Great Yarmouth . The facilities for a maximum of 50 passengers, who can be accommodated in 30 cabins, are spread over all five decks of the ship. In the course of the renovation, the ship was equipped with two additional rudders, which are connected to the previous rudder, but are directly flown against by the propellers. The side ramps were initially retained. They were removed in 1992.
After the renovation in 1989, the ship was put back into service as the Hebridean Princess and used for exclusive trips along the west coast of the Scottish Highlands and through the island world of the Inner and Outer Hebrides. Later trips to Ireland , the Orkney and Shetland Islands , Iceland and the fjords of Norway were also offered.
In 1998 the ship was sold to Altnamara Shipping in Greenock, but continued to be operated by Hebridean Island Cruises. The ship is managed by Northern Marine Ferries in Clydebank, which is part of the Stena Group .
Trivia
All three ships had problems when they were launched. The Hebrides was launched late due to a strike , the launch of the Clansman was delayed due to a defect in the slipway and the Columba was pressed against the Clansman , who was still in the shipyard, by strong winds when launching .
literature
- Defense Measures in Series of Ferries Intended for Western Isles Service. In: The Motor Ship . Vol. 45, No. 526 . Temple Press, London May 1964, pp. 51-53 .
Web links
Individual evidence
- ^ David MacBrayne - 1940-1972 , Simplon - The Passenger Ship Website. Retrieved March 18, 2019.
- ↑ Julie McDowall, How Scotland and three CalMac ferries played a crucial part in nuclear planning , The Herald, January 22, 2017. Retrieved August 22, 2018.
- ↑ Julie McDowall: The Python Plan ( Memento October 2, 2017 in the Internet Archive ), The Cold War in Concrete, Cable Magazine - International affairs from Scotland, Vol. 4, October 2017.
- ^ Hebrides - History , Ships of CalMac. Retrieved August 22, 2018.
- ↑ Hebrides , Aberdeen Built Ships. Retrieved August 22, 2018.
- ^ Clansman - History , Ships of CalMac. Retrieved August 22, 2018.
- ^ Clansman , Aberdeen Built Ships. Retrieved August 22, 2018.
- ↑ a b Columba - History , Ships of CalMac. Retrieved August 22, 2018.
- ↑ Columba , Aberdeen Built Ships. Retrieved August 22, 2018.
- ↑ London Exhibition A Success , Sruth, January 23, 1969. Retrieved August 22, 2018.
- ^ Highland Fling , Sruth, December 12, 1968. Retrieved August 22, 2018.
- ^ M / S Clansman , Facta om Fartyg. Retrieved August 22, 2018.
- ↑ First cruise ship docks in Loch Ryan Port, Cairnryan , Stena Line, July 21, 2015. Accessed August 22, 2018th
- ↑ MV Hebrides Princess - Past and Present , Dover Ferry Photos, August 12, 2015. Retrieved August 22, 2018.
- ^ Who we are , Northern Marine Group. Retrieved June 28, 2019.
- ^ Fleet Gallery , Northern Marine Limited. Retrieved August 22, 2018.