MV ''Leinster'' was a passenger ferry operated across the Irish Sea between 1937 and 1966. She was renamed ''Ulster Prince'' to replace the 1929 motorship of that name, lost during WWII.
History
MV ''Leinster'' was a passenger ship built by
Harland and 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 ...
for the
British and Irish Steam Packet Company
The British and Irish Steam Packet Company Limited was a steam packet and passenger ferry company operating between ports in Ireland and in Great Britain between 1836 and 1992. It was latterly popularly called the B&I, and branded as B&I Line ...
in 1937.
[ She was initially chartered to ]Belfast Steamship Company
The Belfast Steamship Company provided shipping services between Belfast in Ireland (later Northern Ireland) and Liverpool in England from 1852 to 1975.''Sea breezes: the ship lovers' digest'', Volume 42. Pacific Steam Navigation Company. 1968. ...
for the 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 ...
- Liverpool
Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...
service, until a new terminal was completed at Dublin.[ ''Leinster'' and her sister took up their intended service between ]Liverpool
Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...
and 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 ...
in 1938. They were the largest vessels in the Coast Lines
Coast Lines Limited provided shipping services in the United Kingdom, Ireland and the Channel Islands from 1917 to 1971.
History
Powell, Bacon and Hough Lines Ltd was formed in 1913 in Liverpool. The name of Coast Lines Limited was adopted in 1 ...
fleet and were to prove too large for that route. Their original buff hulls were later changed to dark green.[ The new ferries did not have capacity for cattle, an important cargo on the Dublin route. Two cattle carriers were built in 1937: ''Kilkenny'' (1,320 tons from the Liffey Dockyard), and ''Dundalk'' (630 tons from Ardrossan, Scotland).]
Shortly after the outbreak of World War II, the B&I ships were removed from their normal routes. ''Leinster'' was converted into a hospital ship and then a troop carrier.[ After the war, she was refitted and renamed ''Ulster Prince'' (2) for the Liverpool - Belfast service, along with , the only one of the 1929/30 trio to return from war service.]
In 1966, she was renamed ''Ulster Prince I'' to make way for her replacement . Withdrawn in October 1966, the service was provided by and until the new car ferries arrived.[
In 1967, she was sold to Epirotiki Line, renamed ''Odysseus''. By 1976, she was used as accommodation at ]Kyle of Lochalsh
Kyle of Lochalsh (from the Scottish Gaelic, Gaelic ''Caol Loch Aillse'', "strait of the foaming loch") is a village in the historic county of Ross-shire on the northwest coast of Scotland, located around west-southwest of Inverness. It is loca ...
, and later at Glasgow. She was scrapped at Faslane in 1980.[
]
Service
*Liverpool
Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...
- 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 ...
(1937)
*Liverpool
Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...
- 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 ...
(1937–46)
*Liverpool
Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...
- 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 ...
(1946–66)
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Leinster 1937
Ferries of the United Kingdom
1937 ships
Ships built by Harland and Wolff