View source for PS Waverley (1899)

{{Short description|Clyde-built paddle steamer (1899 - 1939)}}
{{Other ships|List of ships named PS Waverley}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
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|Ship name=PS ''Waverley'' (1899–1940)
|Ship country=United Kingdom 
|Ship flag={{shipboxflag|United Kingdom|civil}} {{shipboxflag|United Kingdom|naval}}
|Ship owner= {{ubl| [[North British Steam Packet Co.]] (1899–1902) | [[North British Railway]] (1902–1923) | [[London and North Eastern Railway]] (1923–1940 }}
|Ship operator= {{ubl| [[North British Steam Packet Co.]] (1899–1902) | [[North British Railway]] (1902–1915) | {{navy|UK}} (1915–1920)  | [[North British Railway]] (1920–1923) | [[London and North Eastern Railway]] (1923–1939) | {{navy|UK}} (1939–1940) }}
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|Ship ordered=20 October 1898<ref name=classicSteamers />
|Ship builder=[[A. & J. Inglis]], [[Glasgow]]
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|Ship launched=29 May 1899<ref name=launchesAndTrials>{{cite news | title=Launches and Trial Trips | url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=CvpEAAAAIBAJ&sjid=QrcMAAAAIBAJ&pg=6155%2C5459637 | work=Glasgow Herald | date=30 May 1899 | quote=Yesterday Messrs A. & J. Inglis launched a new passenger steamer for the North British Steam Packet Company named the 'Waverley'. This vessel is of larger dimensions than any other of the company's fleet, and is intended for the daily excursion around Bute, which proved so popular last season, and for the evening run to Kirn, Dunoon, and Rothesay. The Waverley has a spacious dining cabin under the main deck aft, a comfortable tea-room at entrance to deck saloon, and has accommodation for a large number of tourists. She will shortly be placed on the station in connection with fast trains to Craigendoran.}}</ref>
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|Ship in service=10 July 1899<ref name=classicSteamers />
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|Ship fate=Bombed and sunk, 29 May 1940
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|Ship type=[[Paddle steamer]]
|Ship tonnage=537<ref>{{cite web | url=http://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/D8657038 | title=Ship Name: Waverley Former Ship Name: Waverley Gross Tonnage: 537 | work=Merchant shipping movement cards 1939–1945 | publisher = [[The National Archives (United Kingdom)|The National Archives]] }}</ref>
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|Ship length={{convert|235|ft|abbr=on}}<ref name=classicSteamers />
|Ship beam={{convert|26|ft|abbr=on}}<ref name=classicSteamers />
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|Ship propulsion= Diagonal [[double expansion]] steam engine built by [[A. & J. Inglis]], [[Glasgow]]<ref>{{cite book | title=Directory of Clyde Paddle Steamers | author=Alistair Deayton | date=30 August 2013 | isbn=978-1-4456-1487-8 | publisher=Amberley }}</ref>
|Ship speed=19.73 knots<ref name=classicSteamers />
|Ship capacity=1,500 passengers<ref name=PracticalEngineer />
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'''PS ''Waverley''''' was a [[River Clyde|Clyde]]-built [[paddle steamer]] that carried passengers on the Clyde between 1899 and 1939. She was requisitioned by the [[Admiralty (United Kingdom)|Admiralty]] to serve as a [[minesweeper]] during World War I and again in World War II, and was sunk while participating in the [[Dunkirk evacuation]] in 1940. The current [[PS Waverley|PS ''Waverley'']], launched in 1946, was built as a replacement for this vessel.<ref>{{cite news | url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-glasgow-west-40304241 | title=Waverley marks maiden voyage anniversary | work=BBC News | date=16 June 2017 | accessdate=2017-08-13 }}</ref>

== History ==

''Waverley'' was built for the [[North British Steam Packet Co.]] by [[A. & J. Inglis]] at their Pointhouse Shipyard on the [[River Clyde|Clyde]] in [[Glasgow]], [[Scotland]].<ref name=classicSteamers>{{cite book | title=Classic Scottish Paddle Steamers | last=Paterson | first=Alan J. S. | publisher=David & Charles | date=1982 | isbn=0-7153-8335-3}}</ref><ref name=herald19900526>{{cite news | url=http://www.heraldscotland.com/news/11946021.Clyde_built_heroines_of_Dunkirk/ | title=Clyde-built heroines of Dunkirk | work=The Herald | date=26 May 1990 | accessdate=2017-08-13 }}</ref> The ship was designed to be the flagship of the North British Steam Packet Co. fleet with the intention that it could be used for regular Clyde services but also to help the company expand their initial foray into excursions in areas around [[Isle of Bute|Bute]], [[Isle of Arran|Arran]], [[Kintyre]] and [[Loch Fyne]].<ref name=classicSteamers /> She was launched on 29 May 1899<ref name=launchesAndTrials /> and completed official trials on 8 July during which she achieved 19.73 knots over the measured mile.<ref name=PracticalEngineer>{{cite journal|author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |date=21 July 1899 |title=Trial Trip |journal=The Practical Engineer | publisher=The Technical Publishing Co Ltd | publication-place=Manchester |volume=20 |issue=647 |page=70 }}</ref>  After her trials she went downriver and around Bute before returning to Craigendoran.<ref name=PracticalEngineer /> She entered service on 10 July 1899.<ref name=classicSteamers /> In 1902, North British Steam Packet Co was dissolved and ''Waverley'' was transferred to the ownership of its parent company [[North British Railway]] operating a smaller range of routes that did not include Kintyre, Loch Fyne and the west of Arran.<ref name=classicSteamers />

=== World War I ===

Like many Clyde steamers, ''Waverley'' was requisitioned in 1915 by the Admiralty for service during [[World War I]], being modified to increase her decked area and adding bow plating.<ref name=classicSteamers /> For four years she served on the British and Belgian coasts and was discharged from service in April 1919.<ref name=classicSteamers />

=== Return to service ===

She spent over a year being renovated for her return to service, with the most obvious change being the repositioning of her bridge from its original location between her paddle boxes to a new location in front of her funnel.<ref name=classicSteamers /> She was returned to her owners on 9 July 1920.<ref name=classicSteamers />

As the [[Railways Act 1921]] took effect in 1923, ''Waverley'' was transferred again as North British Railway was merged into [[London and North Eastern Railway]].<ref name=classicSteamers /> In 1931 the ''Waverley'' was superseded as the fleet's flagship by the newly launched [[PS Jeanie Deans|PS ''Jeanie Deans'']], but was renovated in 1923 with the addition of shelters on the promenade deck and remodeled interior passengers spaces to bring her up to the same standard as more modern steamers like the ''Jeanie Deans''.<ref name=classicSteamers /> By the late 1930s decreasing passenger numbers on the Clyde estuary resulted in other steamers being moved to service routes elsewhere, and the ''Waverley'' was removed from service in 1939.<ref name=classicSteamers />

=== World War II ===

With the outbreak of [[World War II]] she was brought briefly back into service to evacuate children from Glasgow to areas on the Clyde coast, and was then requisitioned by the [[Royal Navy]] to serve as the lead ship of the 12th Minesweeping Flotilla.<ref name=classicSteamers /><ref name=herald19900526 /> The flotilla consisted of five paddle steamers, was based at [[Harwich]] on the east coast of [[England]], and tasked with sweeping the shipping lanes.<ref name=herald19900526 /> On 28 May 1940, this flotilla was given orders to stock up and sail south to take part in [[Dunkirk evacuation|Operation Dynamo]], the effort to evacuate Allied soldiers from the beaches of Dunkirk.<ref name=herald19900526 /> The next day the ship was intercepted by 12 German [[Heinkel He 111|Heinkel]]s while returning to England with 600 troops on board.<ref name=bbc20050710>{{cite web | url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/history/ww2peopleswar/stories/67/a4414367.shtml | title=Dunkirk rescue: My Grandfather's True Survival Story | author=Alan Newman | work=BBC | date=10 July 2005 | accessdate=2017-08-13 }}</ref> After avoiding their bombs for about 30 minutes, one struck the port side of the ship and opened a 6-foot hole in the bottom of the ship.<ref name=bbc20050710 /> The ship sank near Kwint Bank Buoy with the loss of some crew and about 400 troops.<ref name=herald19900526 /><ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.naval-history.net/xDKCas1940-05MAY.htm | title=Royal Navy casualties, killed and died, May 1940, including Norway | author=Gordon Smith | accessdate=2017-08-13}}</ref><ref name=bbc20050710 /> 158 survivors were pulled from the water by the ''Cyclone'', 285 by the [[PS Golden Eagle|PS ''Golden Eagle'']]. A Dutch tugboat Java and two drifters picked up a few more.<ref>{{cite book | title=World War II Sea War: France Falls, Britain Stands Alone: Day-to-Day Naval Actions from April 1940 through September 1940 | last=Bertke | first=Donald A. | date=2011 | publisher=Lulu | isbn=978-1937470005 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book | title=The Evacuation from Dunkirk: 'Operation Dynamo', 26 May–June 1940 | last=Gardner | first=W.J.R. | date=29 June 2000 | publisher=Taylor & Francis | isbn=0714681504 }}</ref>

==References==
{{reflist}}
{{Inglis ships}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Waverley (1899)}}
[[Category:1899 ships]]
[[Category:Clyde steamers]]
[[Category:Little Ships of Dunkirk]]
[[Category:Maritime incidents in May 1940]]
[[Category:Paddle steamers of the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:Ships built on the River Clyde]]
[[Category:Ships of Scotland]]
[[Category:World War II minesweepers of the United Kingdom]]