PS Ryde
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| Career |  |
|---|---|
| Name: | PS Ryde |
| Operator: | Southern Railway |
| Builder: | William Denny and Brothers, Dumbarton |
| Launched: | April 23, 1937 |
| In service: | 1937 |
| Status: | Derelict |
| General characteristics | |
| Tonnage: | 566 |
PS Ryde was a paddle steamer commissioned and run by Southern Railway as a passenger ferry between mainland England and the Isle of Wight from 1937 to 1969. She saw wartime service and later became a nightclub. As of 2008 she sits abandoned at moorings on the River Medina.
Contents |
[edit] PS Ryde 1937 - 1939
PS Ryde was commissioned by Southern Railway in 1936 as a sister ship for PS Sandown. Costing £46,000 she was built by William Denny and Brothers in Dumbarton on Clydeside. After her launch on 23rd April 1937 she replaced the PS Duchess of Norfolk on the Portsmouth to Ryde Pier passenger ferry service.
[edit] HMS Ryde 1939 - 1945
In 1939 PS Ryde and PS Sandown were requisitioned by the Royal Navy. She was renamed as HMS Ryde and initially both were used as Minesweepers in the Dover Straits. After two years Ryde was converted to an anti-aircraft ship and served on the Thames Estuary and at Harwich. In May 1944 she traveled to Portsmouth from where she embarked to the Normandy coast to take part in the naval component of Operation Neptune on D-Day.
[edit] PS Ryde 1945 - 1970
Reverting to her to her pre-war name on her return to Southern Railway in August 1945 PS Ryde worked on her former route and undertook a variety of chartered trips. However the nationalised British Railways begun to commission more modern motor vessels and in 1969 it was decided to retire her.
[edit] Ryde Queen 1970 - present
Avoiding the scrap yard PS Ryde was bought by two Isle of Wight entrepreneurs and in September 1970 she began a new career as a nightclub. Renamed as the Ryde Queen she replaced the smaller PS Medway Queen in moorings at Binfield Marina on the River Medina near Newport [1]. In 1977 she caught fire but was repaired. However by the late 1980s her popularity waned and the nightclub was closed. She remained derelict and abandoned on her mooring gradually deteriorating. In August 2006 her funnel collapsed [2] and she is now possibly beyond repair. [3]
[edit] References
- ^ Medway Queen Paddle Steamer. Retrieved on 2008-02-24.
- ^ Historic vessels at Risk. Retrieved on 2008-02-24.
- ^ Paddle Steamer Ryde. Retrieved on 2008-02-24.
