SS ''Mona's Isle'' was a

steam turbine A steam turbine is a machine that extracts thermal energy from pressurized steam and uses it to do mechanical work on a rotating output shaft. Its modern manifestation was invented by Charles Parsons in 1884. Fabrication of a modern steam turbin ...

passenger ship A passenger ship is a merchant ship whose primary function is to carry passengers on the sea. The category does not include cargo vessels which have accommodations for limited numbers of passengers, such as the ubiquitous twelve-passenger freig ...

that was built in Scotland in 1905 as ''Onward'', renamed ''Mona's Isle'' in 1920, and scrapped in Wales in 1948. She was designed as an

English Channel The English Channel, "The Sleeve"; nrf, la Maunche, "The Sleeve" (Cotentinais) or ( Jèrriais), (Guernésiais), "The Channel"; br, Mor Breizh, "Sea of Brittany"; cy, Môr Udd, "Lord's Sea"; kw, Mor Bretannek, "British Sea"; nl, Het Kana ...

ferry A ferry is a ship, watercraft or amphibious vehicle used to carry passengers, and sometimes vehicles and cargo, across a body of water. A passenger ferry with many stops, such as in Venice, Italy, is sometimes called a water bus or water taxi ...

for the

South Eastern and Chatham Railway The South Eastern and Chatham Railway Companies Joint Management Committee (SE&CRCJMC),Awdry (1990), page 199 known as the South Eastern and Chatham Railway (SE&CR), was a working union of two neighbouring rival railways, the South Easter ...

(SE&CR), who operated her between

Folkestone Folkestone ( ) is a port town on the English Channel, in Kent, south-east England. The town lies on the southern edge of the North Downs at a valley between two cliffs. It was an important harbour and shipping port for most of the 19th and 20t ...

and

Boulogne Boulogne-sur-Mer (; pcd, Boulonne-su-Mér; nl, Bonen; la, Gesoriacum or ''Bononia''), often called just Boulogne (, ), is a coastal city in Northern France. It is a sub-prefecture of the department of Pas-de-Calais. Boulogne lies on the ...

. In 1920 the Isle of Man Steam Packet Company (IoMSP) bought her and renamed her ''Mona's Isle''. The IoMSP ran her mainly on summer services linking

Douglas Douglas may refer to: People * Douglas (given name) * Douglas (surname) Animals *Douglas (parrot), macaw that starred as the parrot ''Rosalinda'' in Pippi Longstocking *Douglas the camel, a camel in the Confederate Army in the American Civil W ...

with

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of th ...

and

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 Kingdo ...

. She was the fourth IoMSP ship to be called ''Mona's Isle''. In 1918 ''Onward'' caught fire in Folestone Harbour, and was saved by being scuttled. In 1920 she was raised, which was when the IOMSPCo bought her to replace ships lost during the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. In 1940 ''Mona's Isle'' was the was the first ship to complete a round trip during the

Dunkirk evacuation The Dunkirk evacuation, codenamed Operation Dynamo and also known as the Miracle of Dunkirk, or just Dunkirk, was the evacuation of more than 338,000 Allied soldiers during the Second World War from the beaches and harbour of Dunkirk, in the ...

, rescuing a total of 2,634 troops.

Building & dimensions

William Denny and Brothers William Denny and Brothers Limited, often referred to simply as Denny, was a Scottish shipbuilding company. History The shipbuilding interests of the Denny family date back to William Denny (born 1779), for whom ships are recorded being built ...

built ''Onward'' at Dumbarton. She was launched on 11 March 1905 and completed that April. She had a steel hull, her registered length was , her

beam Beam may refer to: Streams of particles or energy *Light beam, or beam of light, a directional projection of light energy **Laser beam *Particle beam, a stream of charged or neutral particles **Charged particle beam, a spatially localized grou ...

was and her depth was . Her

tonnage Tonnage is a measure of the cargo-carrying capacity of a ship, and is commonly used to assess fees on commercial shipping. The term derives from the taxation paid on ''tuns'' or casks of wine. In modern maritime usage, "tonnage" specifically ref ...

s were and . She had a crew of 70, and was certified to carry 1,479 passengers. She had three

screws A screw and a bolt (see '' Differentiation between bolt and screw'' below) are similar types of fastener typically made of metal and characterized by a helical ridge, called a ''male thread'' (external thread). Screws and bolts are used to fa ...

, each driven by a steam turbine. Between them her three turbines developed a total of and gave her a service speed of .

Identification

''Onward''s UK

official number Official numbers are ship identifier numbers assigned to merchant ships by their flag state, country of registration. Each country developed its own official numbering system, some on a national and some on a port-by-port basis, and the formats hav ...

was 120522 and her

code letters Code letters or ship's call sign (or callsign) Mtide Taurus - IMO 7626853"> SHIPSPOTTING.COM >> Mtide Taurus - IMO 7626853/ref> were a method of identifying ships before the introduction of modern navigation aids and today also. Later, with the i ...

were HCMF. By 1913 she was equipped for wireless telegraphy and her

call sign In broadcasting and radio communications, a call sign (also known as a call name or call letters—and historically as a call signal—or abbreviated as a call) is a unique identifier for a transmitter station. A call sign can be formally assigne ...

was SEO. In 1914 this was changed to GUM. By 1930 her call sign was GFPN.

''Onward''

''Onward'' served mainly the Folkestone – Boulogne route. Her most prestigious passenger in her cross-channel service was King

Edward VII Edward VII (Albert Edward; 9 November 1841 – 6 May 1910) was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and Emperor of India, from 22 January 1901 until his death in 1910. The second child and eldest son of Queen Victoria an ...

, who crossed from

Dover Dover () is a town and major ferry port in Kent, South East England. It faces France across the Strait of Dover, the narrowest part of the English Channel at from Cap Gris Nez in France. It lies south-east of Canterbury and east of Maidstone ...

Calais Calais ( , , traditionally , ) is a port city in the Pas-de-Calais department, of which it is a subprefecture. Although Calais is by far the largest city in Pas-de-Calais, the department's prefecture is its third-largest city of Arras. Th ...

aboard her on 4 May 1905. In 1907 she was joined by a

sister ship A sister ship is a ship of the same class or of virtually identical design to another ship. Such vessels share a nearly identical hull and superstructure layout, similar size, and roughly comparable features and equipment. They often share a ...

, , also built by William Denny and Brothers. On 1 June 1908, ''Onward'' was involved in a head-on collision with another SE&CR ferry, , killing the bow lookout man. After the collision, ''Onward'' returned to Folkestone, and from there to Dumbarton, where she spent a month in Denny's shipyard being repaired. When she returned to service, ''Onward'' became the fisst ferry to carry a motor car across the English Channel.

First World War

In the First World War ''Onward'' carried British Expeditionary Force troops on her regular route between Folkestone and Boulogne. On 24 September 1918 a thermite bomb started a fire aboard ''Onward'' when she was moored alongside a pier in

Folkestone Harbour Folkestone Harbour is the main harbour of the town of Folkestone in Kent, England. History In 1541, King Henry VIII of England was about to wage a war against the French. A plan was made to use Folkestone as a port of embarkation to supplies an ...

. The fire took hold, and to prevent the fire spreading to the pier she was scuttled. She capsized onto her port side, and later was hauled upright by a team of five steam locomotives working together.

''Mona's Isle''

In the First World War the

Admiralty Admiralty most often refers to: *Admiralty, Hong Kong * Admiralty (United Kingdom), military department in command of the Royal Navy from 1707 to 1964 *The rank of admiral * Admiralty law Admiralty can also refer to: Buildings *Admiralty, Tr ...

had bought or chartered eleven IoMSP ships. After the war only four returned, so the company urgently needed replacement ships to resume peacetime services. In order to meet tourist demand in 1919 the company bought the Laird Line ship ''Hazel'' and renamed her . Next the IoMSP bought ''Onward''s wreck and had her refitted. She was transferred to the IoMSP at Union Dock, Limehouse Basin, in the

Port of London The Port of London is that part of the River Thames in England lying between Teddington Lock and the defined boundary (since 1968, a line drawn from Foulness Point in Essex via Gunfleet Old Lighthouse to Warden Point in Kent) with the North Sea ...

, and became the only IoMSP ship to carry the Manx flag down the

River Thames The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the The Isis, River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the Longest rivers of the United Kingdom, se ...

. She began IoMSP service as ''Onward'', and was renamed ''Mona's Isle'' on 27 August 1920. In 1920 the IoMSP also bought her sister ship ''Victoria''. ''Mona's Isle'' served various IoMSP routes, but mainly worked summer services linking Douglas with Belfast and Dublin. On Monday, 29 June 1936, she struck the Devil's Rock in Balscadden Bay, but reached Dublin safely. She was taking on water and had to be repaired before her return trip to Douglas.

Second World War

After the Second World War began, the Admiralty requisitioned several IoMSP ships and had them converted into ocean boarding vessels (OBVs). ''Mona's Isle'' was requisitioned on 24 September 1939. Toward the end of May 1940, ''Mona' Isle'' was one of eight IoMSP ships that were sent to

Dunkirk Dunkirk (french: Dunkerque ; vls, label=French Flemish, Duunkerke; nl, Duinkerke(n) ; , ;) is a commune in the department of Nord in northern France.British Expeditionary Force in Operation Dynamo. According to Admiralty records, ''Mona's Isle'' was the first ship to leave Dover for Dunkirk when the

began, apart from the destroyer , whish acted a radio link ship. ''Mona's Isle'' left Dover at 21:00 hrs on 27 May 1940. Her overnight crossing of the

Strait of Dover The Strait of Dover or Dover Strait (french: Pas de Calais - ''Strait of Calais''), is the strait at the narrowest part of the English Channel, marking the boundary between the Channel and the North Sea, separating Great Britain from continent ...

was uneventful, and she docked in Dunkirk about midnight. She embarked 1,420 troops and she left at first light the next morning. Dunkirk Evacuation shipping routes

Three routes were allocated to the evacuating vessels. The shortest was "Route Z", , which went west from Dunkirk along the French coast as far as No.6 Buoy, then turned west-northwest straight to Dover. The longest was "Route Y", , went east along the French and Belgian coast as far as Bray-Dunes then turned north-northeast until reaching the Kwinte Buoy. From there ships went west-northwest, then west to the North Goodwin Lightship, then south round the Goodwin Sands to Dover. WRoute Y" was . It was the safest from German shore batteries, but passed through a heavily mined part of the

. "Route X" went north from Dunkirk, through the Ruytingen Pass to the North Goodwin Lightship and then south around the Goodwin Sands to Dover. The combination of the minefields and sandbanks meant Route X could be used in daylight hours only. ''Mona's Isle'' returned by Route Z and came under fire from German shore batteries on the French coast. Many shells exploded near her, spraying water over her decks. Some shells hit her but failed to explode. One fell aft and smashed her rudder. By differential use of port and starboard engines, the ship could still be steered. A

Messerschmitt Bf 109 The Messerschmitt Bf 109 is a German World War II fighter aircraft that was, along with the Focke-Wulf Fw 190, the backbone of the Luftwaffe's fighter force. The Bf 109 first saw operational service in 1937 during the Spanish Civil War an ...

strafed her twice, killing 23 men and wounding 60. She reached Dover escorted by the destroyer . The mission had taken nearly 15 hours. For their parts in the action her commanding officer, Cdr John Dowding RNR was awarded the

Distinguished Service Order The Distinguished Service Order (DSO) is a military decoration of the United Kingdom, as well as formerly of other parts of the Commonwealth, awarded for meritorious or distinguished service by officers of the armed forces during wartime, typ ...

and Petty Officer LB Kearley-Pope, RNR was awarded the

Distinguished Service Medal Distinguished Service Medal (DSM) is a high award of a nation. Examples include: *Distinguished Service Medal (Australia) (established 1991), awarded to personnel of the Australian Defence Force for distinguished leadership in action * Distinguishe ...

. He had remained at 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 *Cano ...

despite multiple wounds, and took a great risk in coming out of cover to close the cordite boxes. There were casualties among the gun's crew, but Kearley-Pope continued his duties until the ship berthed six hours later. Cdr Dowding was later promoted to

Captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

. In 1942 he was Commodore of

Convoy PQ 17 PQ 17 was the code name for an Allied Arctic convoy during the Second World War. On 27 June 1942, the ships sailed from Hvalfjörður, Iceland, for the port of Arkhangelsk in the Soviet Union. The convoy was located by German forces on 1 July, aft ...

to Russia, which was forced to scatter and suffered heavy losses. ''Mona's Isle'' made a second round trip to Dunkirk, evacuating another 1,200 troops, and bringing her total to 2,634. ''Mona's Isle'' spent the rest of the war as an OBV and then an accommodation ship. She was transferred to the

River Tyne The River Tyne is a river in North East England. Its length (excluding tributaries) is . It is formed by the North Tyne and the South Tyne, which converge at Warden Rock near Hexham in Northumberland at a place dubbed 'The Meeting of the Wate ...

in 1941, where she contributed to the

anti-aircraft Anti-aircraft warfare, counter-air or air defence forces is the battlespace response to aerial warfare, defined by NATO as "all measures designed to nullify or reduce the effectiveness of hostile air action".AAP-6 It includes surface based, ...

defence of coastal convoys. Twice she assisted

cargo ship A cargo ship or freighter is a merchant ship that carries cargo, goods, and materials from one port to another. Thousands of cargo carriers ply the world's seas and oceans each year, handling the bulk of international trade. Cargo ships are usu ...

s that had been bombed, in one case rescuing 32 survivors. But three times she was involved in collisions, one of which did extensive damage for which she spent three months being repaired in

dry dock A dry dock (sometimes drydock or dry-dock) is a narrow basin or vessel that can be flooded to allow a load to be floated in, then drained to allow that load to come to rest on a dry platform. Dry docks are used for the construction, maintenance, ...

. After the

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

she provided cross-Channel transport until June 1945, when the Ministry of War Transport chartered her. She was returned to her owners in March 1946.

Post-war

After the Second World War, ''Mona's Isle'' returned to IoMSP service. She was withdrawn when the "Six Sisters" entered service in 1948. She arrived at

Milford Haven Milford Haven ( cy, Aberdaugleddau, meaning "mouth of the two Rivers Cleddau") is both a town and a community in Pembrokeshire, Wales. It is situated on the north side of the Milford Haven Waterway, an estuary forming a natural harbour that has ...

in Wales on 12 October 1948 to be scrapped.

References

Bibliography

* Chappell, Connery (1980). ''Island Lifeline'' T. Stephenson & Sons Ltd {{DEFAULTSORT:Mona's Isle (1905) 1905 ships Ferries of the Isle of Man Ships built on the River Clyde Ships of the Isle of Man Steam Packet Company Ships of the South Eastern and Chatham Railway Steamships of the Isle of Man Steamships of the United Kingdom World War I merchant ships of the United Kingdom World War II naval ships of the United Kingdom