TSS St Julien (1925)
| History | |
|---|---|
| Name | 1925–1960: TSS St Julien |
| Operator |
|
| Port of registry |  |
| Route |
|
| Builder | John Brown and Company, Clydebank |
| Yard number | 509 |
| Launched | 23 February 1925 |
| Out of service | 12 April 1961 |
| Fate | Scrapped 1961 |
| General characteristics | |
| Tonnage | 1,885 gross register tons (GRT) |
| Length | 282.2 feet (86.0 m) |
| Beam | 40 feet (12 m) |
| Draught | 13 feet (4.0 m) |
| Propulsion | 4 parsons steam turbines |
| Speed | 18 kts |
TSS St Julien was a passenger vessel built for the Great Western Railway in 1925.[1]
History
[edit]TSS St Julien was built by John Brown and Company as one of a pair of vessels, with TSS St Helier for the Weymouth to the Channel Islands service. She arrived in Weymouth from the Clyde on 4 May 1925.[2]
The captain, Charles Hamon Langdon, was found dead in his cabin during a voyage from the Channel Islands to Weymouth in September 1927.[3]
She had two funnels but one was a dummy and this was removed in 1928.
On 1 October 1937 she went to the assistance of the French steamer Briseis which had struck the rocks near Grand Roccque, Guernsey.[4]
When war broke out in 1939 she was put to use ferrying troops but very quickly converted into a hospital ship. She took part in the evacuation of British troops from Dunkirk and Cherbourg in 1940. She spent the remainder of the war as a hospital ship, including a period operating in the Mediterranean and supporting the D Day landings. She was damaged by a mine on 7 June 1944 but repaired and resumed service on 24 June 1944.
Afterwards she returned to Weymouth for further railway service which lasted until 27 September 1960.[5] She was sent to Van Heyghen Freres, Ghent in March 1961 for scrapping.
References
[edit]- ^ Duckworth, Christian Leslie Dyce; Langmuir, Graham Easton (1968). Railway and other Steamers. Prescot, Lancashire: T. Stephenson and Sons.
- ^ "New Great Western Steamer". Derby Daily Telegraph. Derby. 5 May 1925. Retrieved 15 October 2015 – via British Newspaper Archive.
- ^ "Captain dies on duty". Aberdeen Journal. Aberdeen. 24 September 1927. Retrieved 15 October 2015 – via British Newspaper Archive.
- ^ "French Crew Escape in Own Boats". Western Daily Press. England. 2 October 1937. Retrieved 15 October 2015 – via British Newspaper Archive.
- ^ Lucking, J.H. (1971). The Great Western at Weymouth. Newton Abbot: David and Charles. ISBN 0-7153-5135-4.