The ''Duke of York'' was a steamer passenger ship initially operated by the

London Midland and Scottish Railway The London, Midland and Scottish Railway (LMSIt has been argued that the initials LMSR should be used to be consistent with LNER, GWR and SR. The London, Midland and Scottish Railway's corporate image used LMS, and this is what is generally ...

which saw service from 1935 to 1964. She was renamed HMS ''Duke of Wellington'' for the duration of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

In service

Built at

Harland & Wolff Harland & Wolff is a British shipbuilding company based in Belfast, Northern Ireland. It specialises in ship repair, shipbuilding and offshore construction. Harland & Wolff is famous for having built the majority of the ocean liners for the W ...

Belfast Belfast ( , ; from ga, Béal Feirste , meaning 'mouth of the sand-bank ford') is the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan on the east coast. It is the 12th-largest city in the United Kingdom ...

and completed in 1935, she was designed to operate as a passenger ferry on the

Heysham Heysham ( ) is a coastal town in Lancashire, England, overlooking Morecambe Bay. It is a ferry port, with services to the Isle of Man and Ireland, and the site of two nuclear power stations. Demography Administratively, Heysham is part of th ...

to Belfast, alongside the existing 1928 ships on that route, RMS ''Duke of Lancaster'', the RMS ''Duke of Rothesay'' and the RMS ''Duke of Argyll'', She introduced a new principle into the cross-channel trade, the ''tourist class'', which had been in use on the Atlantic lines since 1928. The ''Duke of York'' had one of the earliest automatic fire extinguishers, by Grinnell. Small glass tubes contained a liquid which expanded on a given temperature being reached, and burst the containers, opening water valves above.

HMS ''Duke of Wellington''

The ''Duke of York'' was requisitioned in 1942 for war service. She was renamed as HMS ''Duke of Wellington'' as there was a battleship with the name "Duke of York". She was converted to a " Landing Ship, Infantry (Hand-Hoisting)"; the latter part referred to her hand-operated davits; abbreviated to LSI(H). The conversions allowed her to carry 250 troops and ten

Landing Craft Assault Landing Craft Assault (LCA) was a landing craft used extensively in World War II. Its primary purpose was to ferry troops from transport ships to attack enemy-held shores. The craft derived from a prototype designed by John I. Thornycroft Ltd. ...

to carry the troops to shore. She also received a

12-pounder gun 12-pounder gun or 12-pdr, usually denotes a gun which fired a projectile of approximately 12 pounds. Guns of this type include: *12-pounder long gun, the naval muzzle-loader of the Age of Sail *Canon de 12 de Vallière, French cannon of 1732 * Can ...

and eight 20 mm anti-aircraft cannons. She took part in

Operation Jubilee Operation Jubilee or the Dieppe Raid (19 August 1942) was an Allied amphibious attack on the German-occupied port of Dieppe in northern France, during the Second World War. Over 6,050 infantry, predominantly Canadian, supported by a regime ...

, the raid on

Dieppe Dieppe (; Norman: ''Dgieppe'') is a coastal commune in the Seine-Maritime department in the Normandy region of northern France. Dieppe is a seaport on the English Channel at the mouth of the river Arques. A regular ferry service runs to N ...

on 19 August 1942, carrying

The Black Watch (Royal Highland Regiment) of Canada , colors = , march = Quick: " Hielan' Laddie"Slow: "The Red Hackle" , mascot = , battles = Second Boer WarFirst World WarSecond World War War in Afg ...

. She took part in the

Normandy landings The Normandy landings were the landing operations and associated airborne operations on Tuesday, 6 June 1944 of the Allies of World War II, Allied invasion of Normandy in Operation Overlord during World War II. Codenamed Operation Neptune and ...

in 1944. At the end of the war, she transported troops between

Tilbury Tilbury is a port town in the borough of Thurrock, Essex, England. The present town was established as separate settlement in the late 19th century, on land that was mainly part of Chadwell St Mary. It contains a 16th century fort and an ancie ...

and

Ostend Ostend ( nl, Oostende, ; french: link=no, Ostende ; german: link=no, Ostende ; vls, Ostende) is a coastal city and municipality, located in the province of West Flanders in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It comprises the boroughs of Mariakerk ...

Post-World War II

She reverted to her original name after the war, and in May 1948 she was transferred to the Harwich to

Hook of Holland Hook of Holland ( nl, Hoek van Holland, ) is a town in the southwestern corner of Holland, hence the name; ''hoek'' means "corner" and was the word in use before the word ''kaap'' – "cape", from Portuguese ''cabo'' – became Dutch. The English t ...

service, alongside the ''Arnhem''. Originally a twin-funnel vessel, she was rebuilt in 1950 with a single funnel. She was upgraded from coal to oil firing and received cabin accommodation for 520 passengers. On 6 May 1953, she collided in fog with the American freighter USNS ''Haiti Victory''. Six passengers were killed and the bow was completely sheared off just in front of the bridge. The ship's

Bosun A boatswain ( , ), bo's'n, bos'n, or bosun, also known as a deck boss, or a qualified member of the deck department, is the most senior rate of the deck department and is responsible for the components of a ship's hull. The boatswain supervi ...

, William Albert Warner, was subsequently awarded the

Order of Industrial Heroism The Order of Industrial Heroism was a private civil award given in the United Kingdom by the '' Daily Herald'' newspaper to honour examples of heroism carried out by ordinary workers. Many of the 440 awards were posthumous. Only two were made to ...

for rescuing three people after the collision.

Palmers Shipbuilding & Iron Company Palmers Shipbuilding and Iron Company Limited, often referred to simply as "Palmers", was a United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, British shipbuilder, shipbuilding company. The Company was based in Jarrow, County Durham, in north-eastern ...

of Jarrow completely rebuilt her with a more modern-shaped bow, and they lengthened her by about 7 ft. She rejoined the Harwich fleet in 1954. After operating its last voyage from

on 20 July 1963, ''Duke of York'' was sold in August 1963.

''Fantasia''

''Dike of York'' was sold to Chandris Lines in 1963 and renamed ''York'', she was sent to

Smiths Dock Company Smith's Dock Company, Limited, often referred to simply as Smith's Dock, was a British shipbuilding company. History The company was originally established by Thomas Smith who bought William Rowe's shipyard at St. Peter's in Newcastle upon Tyn ...

for conversion work which was completed after transfer to the Chandris Company's own shipyard at Ambelaki. She entered service in 1964 as ''Fantasia''. She ran mainly on cruises in the Eastern Mediterranean, with some winter charters to religious tour groups. She was withdrawn in December 1975 and was broken up in 1976 in

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

.Haws, Duncan (1993) ; Merchant Fleets – Britain's Railway Steamers – Eastern & North Western Companies + Zeeland and Stena ; Hereford, TCL Publications ; Page 182 ;

References

External links

*https://web.archive.org/web/20120324013446/benjidog.co.uk/MiscShips/index_files/Page1608.htm Ship history details *https://www.simplonpc.co.uk/ChandrisFantasia.html Ship history photos {{DEFAULTSORT:Duke Of York Passenger ships of the United Kingdom Ferries of the United Kingdom 1935 ships Ferries of Wales Ships of British Rail Ships of the London, Midland and Scottish Railway World War II naval ships of the United Kingdom Operation Overlord Ships built in Belfast Cruise ships of Greece Ships built by Harland and Wolff Maritime incidents in 1953