PS Kingswear Castle

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The PS Kingswear Castle is a steamship. It is a coal-fired river paddle steamer, dating from 1924 with engines from 1904. It now runs summer excursions on the River Medway and the Thames.

The Kingswear Castle was built by Philip & Son’s of Dartmouth in 1924 for the GWR for service on the River Dart, following sister ships Compton Castle and Totnes Castle, and was operated by the River Dart Steamboat Co. Her predecessor of the same name from 1904 is now a hulk in the River Dart, but the engines were re-used in the current steamboat.

In 1965 Kingswear Castle was withdrawn from service and became the first purchase of the Paddle Steamer Preservation Society (PSPS) two years later. After various difficulties and a great deal of restoration work she was brought into service again in 1985, and is now operated by The Paddle Steamer Kingswear Castle Trust based at Chatham Historic Dockyard, Chatham, Kent, in association with the PSPS.

Kingswear Castle is on the National Historic Ships Committee Core Collection list of ships of "Pre-eminent National Significance".

The PSPS also has a subsidiary Waverley Excursions operating the PS Waverley and the MV Balmoral.