SS Ramsey Town

TSS Ramsey Town was a packet steamer which was initially ordered and operated by the Midland Railway Company under the name Antrim until it was acquired by the Isle of Man Steam Packet Company in 1928.

Ramsey Town
History
Name:
  • Ramsey Town
  • TSS Antrim
Owner: 1904–1928: Midland Railway Company. 1928-1936: Isle of Man Steam Packet Company
Operator: 1904–1928: Midland Railway Company. 1928-1936: Isle of Man Steam Packet Company.
Port of registry: Douglas, Isle of Man
Builder: John Brown & Co.
Cost: Not Recorded. Purchased by the Isle of Man Steam Packet Company for an initial sum of £14,612 in 1928.
Yard number: 116015.
Launched: Not Recorded.
Maiden voyage: Not Recorded.
In service: 1904.
Out of service: 1936.
Fate: Scrapped April, 1937.
General characteristics
Type: Packet Steamer.
Tonnage: 1,954 gross register tons (GRT)
Length: 330'9"
Beam: 42'2"
Depth: 17'2"
Installed power: 7,870 horsepower.
Speed: 21 knots (24 mph)
Capacity: Not Recorded.
Crew: Not Recorded.

Construction & dimensions

Ramsey Town was built at the Clydeside yards of John Brown & Co. in 1904, registered at Belfast and named Antrim. The vessel had a registered tonnage of 1,954 GRT; length 330'9"; beam 42'2"; depth 17'2". Ramsey Town had an operating speed of 21 knots.

The launch of the vessel on 22 March 1904 was a near disaster. On reaching the fairway, the steamer was swept aside by the combined force of wind and tide towards a Cunarder on the adjoining stocks. Several of the uprights at the stern of the Cunarder were knocked down by the Antrim, and disaster was narrowly averted by the assistance of the tugs in attendance. The Antrim sustained no damage beyond having her paint badly scratched[1]

Service life

On entering service with the Midland Railway Company she operated on the Belfast-Heysham service, and was purchased by the Steam Packet from the London Midland and Scottish Railway group of which the Midland Railway had become part, in 1928. The cost of the purchase, including alterations to the vessel, was £14,612 (equivalent to £886,880 in 2019).[2]

Ramsey Town on Steam Packet service.

On 6 September 1935 she rescued the flier Alex Henshaw when his plane came down in the Irish Sea while competing in the King's Cup air race. Henshaw presented her commanding officer, Captain Archibald Holkham, with a barometer bearing an inscription which acknowledged that his skill and seamanship had probably saved the airman's life.[3]

Disposal

Ramsey Town had one of the shortest records of service in the Steam Packet Fleet. She was withdrawn from service in 1936, and eventually scrapped at Preston in 1937.

References
  1. "Exciting scene at a launch". Nottingham Evening Post. Nottingham. 23 March 1904. Retrieved 17 October 2015 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  2. UK Retail Price Index inflation figures are based on data from Clark, Gregory (2017). "The Annual RPI and Average Earnings for Britain, 1209 to Present (New Series)". MeasuringWorth. Retrieved 2 February 2020.
  3. Isle of Man Weekly Times, 8 June 1940
Bibliography
  • Chappell, Connery (1980). Island Lifeline T.Stephenson & Sons Ltd ISBN 0-901314-20-X
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