Prince of Wales (ship, 1922)

Prince of Wales

Prince of Wales

Ship data flag  British Gambia Ship type Passenger ship home port Bathurst Owner British Gambian Government (most recently) Shipyard Philip & Co. Launch October 1922 Whereabouts out of service, 1953

Ship dimensions and crew length 45.72 m ( Lüa ) width 8.53 m Draft Max. 3.05 m displacement 300  t

Machine system machine Compound steam engine propeller 2

The Prince of Wales was a passenger ship on the Gambia River in what is now the West African state of Gambia . It was used for regular traffic along the river.

Technical specifications

The ship had 300 gross register tons and the dimensions 45.72 × 8.53 m. The draft of the ship was 3.05 m. It was operated by a steam engine. It had a displacement of 400 t.

The ship was shown as a motif on postage stamps in 1980.

history

The ship was built and commissioned in October 1922 by the British shipyard Philip & Co. near Coombe as yard no 606 for the then British colony of Gambia . The passenger ship was baptized in the name of Prince of Wales , the Prince of Wales (then: Edward VIII. ), Who was on an official visit to the Gambian capital Bathurst (today's name: Banjul) in 1924 .

During its operation, it moved a distance of 390 kilometers or 300 miles from Bathurst on the Atlantic Ocean upstream to Basse Santa Su . She covered this distance in around a week.

The Prince of Wales , like the later Lady Chilel Jawara, served as the first mobile post office in the Gambia. The mail items were stamped "TPO - Traveling Post Office" at no extra charge.

The ship was decommissioned in 1953, the further fate is not documented in detail. In an interview it was mentioned that the Prince of Wales was later operated under the name Kankujery and then Wharfi Njaago .

Web links

Commons : Prince of Wales  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b c d e f} Mariners. Retrieved July 2011
2. ↑ ^{a b c d} Prince of Wales (river steamer) Retrieved July 2011
3. ^ JM Gray: A History Of The Gambia Frank Cass & Co. Ltd., 1940
4. ↑ River trip. accessed in July 2011
5. ↑ History ( Memento of the original from July 21, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Gambia Postal Services Corporation ; accessed in July 2011 
6. ↑ Michael Tomkinson: Michael Tomkinson's Gambia . Tomkinson, London [u. a.] 1987, ISBN 0-905500-00-8
7. ^ The Gambia with information from "British Colonial Stamps in Current Use September 1949". HM Stationery Office; accessed in July 2011
8. ↑ Interview With Yaa Mariama Camara, to Octonogenerian. Foroyaa , May 21, 2010