SS Irwell
| History | |
|---|---|
| Name: | 1906-1954:SS Irwell |
| Operator: |
|
| Port of registry: |
 |
| Builder: | Swan Hunter and Wigham Richardson |
| Yard number: | 758 |
| Launched: | 10 May 1906 |
| Out of service: | 3 April 1954 |
| Fate: | Scrapped |
| General characteristics | |
| Tonnage: | 1,040 gross register tons (GRT) |
| Length: | 255 feet (78 m) |
| Beam: | 36 feet (11 m) |
| Draught: | 16.3 feet (5.0 m) |
SS Irwell was a freight vessel built for the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway in 1906.[1]
History
She was built in 1906 by Swan Hunter and Wigham Richardson as a sister ship to SS Mersey, and launched on 10 May 1906 for the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway to provide freight services from Goole to Rotterdam. She made her maiden voyage from the River Tyne to Goole on 13 June 1906[2]
In June 1907, two stowaways were discovered when she had departed Hamburg. Clowes Enoch of Schleswig Holstein, and Joseph Todhunter of Birkenhead were found among the sails in the after part between decks[3]
In December 1913 she was returning to Goole from Ghent when she reversed forcefully into the north wall of the dock. A small boat was smashed and some pieces of the wall were dislodged.[4]
In 1914 she was engaged in the potato trade from Jersey, bringing the produce direct into Hull.[5]
On 15 May 1929 she left Goole for Copenhagen, but became stuck in ice off the Danish Coast north of Sjaelland with a broken rudder and the steward was reported as dead.[6] The mate of the ship also died, he fell overboard, striking his head against one of the anchor chains, was killed.[7]
She transferred to the London and North Western Railway in 1922, the London, Midland and Scottish Railway in 1923 and Associated Humber Lines in 1935.She was based in Icelandic waters as a Naval supply ship in World War II. In 1946 she switched to Larne to Loch Ryan service.
On 28 December 1947 she was on a voyage from Rotterdam in heavy seas she the second officer reported seeing a yacht tossing helplessly flying distress signals. The America vessel, the Seafarer had set out from Cowes to sail to Norway. During the crossing, their engine failed, and the sail was blown away by the westerly gale. They had drifted for two days before being spotted by the Irwell. The crew of the Irwell managed to get a line aboard and they towed the yacht to Masslius.[8]
In 1948 she transferred to the British Transport Commission and she was scrapped in March 1954 at Gateshead.
References
- ↑ Duckworth, Christian Leslie Dyce; Langmuir, Graham Easton (1968). Railway and other Steamers. Prescot, Lancashire: T. Stephenson and Sons,.
- ↑ "The new steamer Irwell". Hull Daily Mail (Hull). 14 June 1906. Retrieved 22 October 2015 – via British Newspaper Archive. (subscription required (help)).
- ↑ "Enoch likes England. But Goole sends him away". Hull Daily Mail (Hull). 21 June 1907. Retrieved 22 October 2015 – via British Newspaper Archive. (subscription required (help)).
- ↑ "Steamer runs into dock wall". Yorkshire Evening Post (Yorkshire). 5 December 1913. Retrieved 22 October 2015 – via British Newspaper Archive. (subscription required (help)).
- ↑ "The steamer Irwell". Hull Daily Mail (Hull). 24 June 1914. Retrieved 22 October 2015 – via British Newspaper Archive. (subscription required (help)).
- ↑ "Goole Ship’s Plight". Hull Daily Mail (Hull). 19 March 1929. Retrieved 22 October 2015 – via British Newspaper Archive. (subscription required (help)).
- ↑ "Mate killed at sea". Western Morning News (England). 21 March 1929. Retrieved 22 October 2015 – via British Newspaper Archive. (subscription required (help)).
- ↑ "Goole Ship in Dramatic Rescue". Hull Daily Mail (Hull). 30 December 1947. Retrieved 22 October 2015 – via British Newspaper Archive. (subscription required (help)).