PS ''Ryde'' is a
paddle steamer
A paddle steamer is a steamship or steamboat powered by a steam engine that drives paddle wheels to propel the craft through the water. In antiquity, paddle wheelers followed the development of poles, oars and sails, where the first uses wer ...
that was commissioned and run by
Southern Railway as a passenger ferry between mainland England and the
Isle of Wight
The Isle of Wight ( ) is a county in the English Channel, off the coast of Hampshire, from which it is separated by the Solent. It is the largest and second-most populous island of England. Referred to as 'The Island' by residents, the Isle of ...
from 1937 to 1969, with an interlude during the Second World War where she served as a minesweeper and then an anti-aircraft ship, seeing action at
D-Day
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 D ...
. After many years abandoned on moorings at
Island Harbour Marina
Island Harbour Marina, on the Isle of Wight, United Kingdom, UK, is a commercial marina on the River Medina in the small Hamlet (place), hamlet of Binfield, Isle of Wight, Binfield. It is located approximately halfway between Cowes and the Count ...
on the
River Medina
The River Medina is the main river of the Isle of Wight, England, rising at St Catherine's Down near Chale, and flowing northwards through the county town Newport, towards the Solent at Cowes. The river is a navigable tidal estuary from Newpor ...
, she was purchased by the PS Ryde Trust in late 2018, with the intention of raising money for her restoration.
That project was abandoned in January 2019.
Operational history
PS ''Ryde'' 1937 – 1939
PS ''Ryde'' was commissioned by
Southern Railway in 1936 as a sister ship for . Costing £46,800 () she was built by
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 ...
in
Dumbarton
Dumbarton (; also sco, Dumbairton; ) is a town in West Dunbartonshire, Scotland, on the north bank of the River Clyde where the River Leven flows into the Clyde estuary. In 2006, it had an estimated population of 19,990.
Dumbarton was the ca ...
on
Clydeside
Greater Glasgow is an urban settlement in Scotland consisting of all localities which are physically attached to the city of Glasgow, forming with it a single contiguous urban area (or conurbation). It does not relate to municipal government ...
and was licensed to carry 1,011 passengers. After her launch on
Saint George's Day
Saint George's Day is the feast day of Saint George, celebrated by Christian churches, countries, and cities of which he is the patron saint, including Bulgaria, England, Georgia, Portugal, Romania, Cáceres, Alcoy, Aragon and Catalonia.
Sai ...
1937, by Lady Walker, wife of
Sir Herbert Walker, General Manager of the Southern Railway she replaced the on the
Portsmouth
Portsmouth ( ) is a port and city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. The city of Portsmouth has been a unitary authority since 1 April 1997 and is administered by Portsmouth City Council.
Portsmouth is the most dens ...
to
Ryde Pier
Ryde Pier is an early 19th century pier serving the town of Ryde, on the Isle of Wight, off the south coast of England. It is the world's oldest seaside pleasure pier. Ryde Pier Head railway station is at the sea end of the pier, and Ryde Espla ...
passenger ferry service.
HMS ''Ryde'' 1939 – 1945
In 1939, at the outbreak of the
Second World War
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 opposin ...
, PS ''Ryde'' and PS ''Sandown'' were both requisitioned by the
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against F ...
. She was renamed HMS ''Ryde'', and initially both were used as
Minesweeper
A minesweeper is a small warship designed to remove or detonate naval mines. Using various mechanisms intended to counter the threat posed by naval mines, minesweepers keep waterways clear for safe shipping.
History
The earliest known usage of ...
s in the
Thames Estuary
The Thames Estuary is where the River Thames meets the waters of the North Sea, in the south-east of Great Britain.
Limits
An estuary can be defined according to different criteria (e.g. tidal, geographical, navigational or in terms of salini ...
and
Dover Straits
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 contine ...
.
She was converted to an anti-aircraft vessel in 1942. In May 1944 she traveled to
Portsmouth
Portsmouth ( ) is a port and city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. The city of Portsmouth has been a unitary authority since 1 April 1997 and is administered by Portsmouth City Council.
Portsmouth is the most dens ...
, from where she sailed to the
Normandy
Normandy (; french: link=no, Normandie ; nrf, Normaundie, Nouormandie ; from Old French , plural of ''Normant'', originally from the word for "northman" in several Scandinavian languages) is a geographical and cultural region in Northwestern ...
coast to take part in
Operation Neptune
Operation or Operations may refer to:
Arts, entertainment and media
* ''Operation'' (game), a battery-operated board game that challenges dexterity
* Operation (music), a term used in musical set theory
* ''Operations'' (magazine), Multi-Man ...
on
D-Day
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 D ...
, where she protected the
Mulberry Harbours at
Omaha beach
Omaha Beach was one of five beach landing sectors designated for the amphibious assault component of operation Overlord during the Second World War. On June 6, 1944, the Allies invaded German-occupied France with the Normandy landings. "Omaha" r ...
.
At one stage during the landings, she was hit in her engine room by a shell, but it did not explode. In spite of being instructed to beach the ship, if she ran out of coal, ''Ryde's'' commander, Lt. Commander Beamer, was able to return her safely to Portsmouth.
After D-Day, HMS ''Ryde'' was anchored off
Bembridge
Bembridge is a village and civil parish located on the easternmost point of the Isle of Wight. It had a population of 3,848 according to the 2001 census of the United Kingdom, leading to the implausible claim by some residents that Bembridge ...
to help to protect
Portsmouth Harbour
Portsmouth Harbour is a biological Site of Special Scientific Interest between Portsmouth and Gosport in Hampshire. It is a Ramsar site and a Special Protection Area.
It is a large natural harbour in Hampshire, England. Geographically it i ...
from
V-1 flying bombs
The V-1 flying bomb (german: Vergeltungswaffe 1 "Vengeance Weapon 1") was an early cruise missile. Its official Reich Aviation Ministry () designation was Fi 103. It was also known to the Allies as the buzz bomb or doodlebug and in Germany as ...
.
PS ''Ryde'' 1945 – 1970
![PS Ryde in 1969](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f9/PS_Ryde_in_1969.jpg)
Reverting to her pre-war name upon her return to Southern Railway on 7 July 1945, PS ''Ryde'' worked on her former route and undertook a variety of chartered trips as well, such as being chartered by
Gilbey's Gin to serve as a 'Floating Gin Palace' in London in 1968.
[ However, the nationalised ]British Railways
British Railways (BR), which from 1965 traded as British Rail, was a state-owned company that operated most of the overground rail transport in Great Britain from 1948 to 1997. It was formed from the nationalisation of the Big Four British rai ...
started to commission more modern motor vessels after the war at the expense of the paddle steamers, starting with two diesel vessels in 1945 to replace PS ''Southsea'' and PS ''Portsdown''. In July 1966, PS ''Sandown'' was retired and scrapped, and, in September 1969, it was decided to retire PS ''Ryde'' as well. At the time of her retirement, she had ferried passengers across the Solent
The Solent ( ) is a strait between the Isle of Wight and Great Britain. It is about long and varies in width between , although the Hurst Spit which projects into the Solent narrows the sea crossing between Hurst Castle and Colwell Bay to ...
for thirty-two years and was the last sea-going coal-fired paddle steamer in the world.[
]
Hotel and nightclub
Avoiding the scrapyard, and after briefly offering cruises from Tower Bridge
Tower Bridge is a Listed building#Grade I, Grade I listed combined Bascule bridge, bascule and Suspended-deck suspension bridge, suspension bridge in London, built between 1886 and 1894, designed by Horace Jones (architect), Horace Jones and e ...
in London
London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
, PS ''Ryde'' was bought by two Isle of Wight entrepreneurs, cousins Alan and Colin Ridett, for £12,000 in September 1970. After a two-year refit costing £60,000 and involving the removal of her boiler, she was fitted with eighteen luxury cabins, a restaurant, bar and dance-floor, and was renamed the ''Ryde Queen Boatel'' by Miss Carolyn Moore, Miss Great Britain 1971, in the opening ceremony on 14 June 1972. She served alongside the smaller in moorings at Binfield Marina on the River Medina near Newport
Newport most commonly refers to:
*Newport, Wales
*Newport, Rhode Island, US
Newport or New Port may also refer to:
Places Asia
*Newport City, Metro Manila, a Philippine district in Pasay
Europe
Ireland
*Newport, County Mayo, a town on the ...
, until ''Medway Queen'' was retired and purchased for preservation in 1978. In 1977, the ''Ryde Queen Boatel'' caught fire with the damage estimated at £100,000, but she was repaired and became a nightclub, known simply as the ''Ryde Queen''. However, by the late 1980s her popularity had waned and the nightclub was closed in 1989. She remained derelict and abandoned on her mooring, gradually deteriorating, with her funnel collapsing in August 2006.
Preservation
Early attempts
In September 2009, it was announced that enthusiasts were attempting to raise funds to buy the steamer, held by receivers after her former owner, Island Harbour Holdings LTD, went into administration. A non-profit company, PS Ryde Trust, wished to restore the vessel to once again be in the condition to sail tourists across the Solent. It was estimated that £7 million would be needed for the restoration, with fundraising needs of £1,000 a month for mooring fees and £600,000 for the move to a dry dock, with the remainder of the funding coming from the National Lottery. In early 2010, work began to dismantle the vessel, beginning with asbestos removal
In construction, asbestos abatement is a set of procedures designed to control the release of asbestos fibers from asbestos-containing materials. Asbestos abatement is utilized during general construction in areas containing asbestos materials, p ...
. In 2012, the ship's bridge collapsed. The PS Ryde Trust failed to negotiate a deal to save the vessel and the PS Ryde was left to continue to deteriorate.
An application was made to the Isle of Wight Council Planning Department on 11 June 2014 by the new owners of Island Harbour Marina
Island Harbour Marina, on the Isle of Wight, United Kingdom, UK, is a commercial marina on the River Medina in the small Hamlet (place), hamlet of Binfield, Isle of Wight, Binfield. It is located approximately halfway between Cowes and the Count ...
for permission to retain the PS Ryde on site for a further three years. This is to allow time to evaluate and find the funding necessary to try and save her. The application was approved by the Council on 5 August 2014, guaranteeing her continued existence for at least another three years The planning permission granted for the redevelopment of the marina states that ''Ryde'' must be removed within three years of work commencing.[
]
PS ''Ryde'' 2018
In June 2018, it was reported that ''Ryde'' had been sold and that there were plans to restore the vessel. A charitable trust was to be set up with this aim. An assessment of the vessel was to be undertaken with the assistance of the National Ships Register. It may have been necessary to cut the ship into sections to move her, with restoration estimated at £7–10 million. In November 2018 the P.S. Ryde Trust announced that funds had been raised to purchase ''Ryde'' and funding applications for the restoration would be made. After securing for the winter period and pumping out, it was intended that restoration work would start in April 2019 and last for two years, should the necessary funds be available, after which PS ''Ryde'' would be fully restored.
An inspection in December 2018 revealed that the remains of the bridge and much of the decking had collapsed. Attempts to remove the vessel would be environmentally hazardous, and it was decided to abandon the restoration project and dismantle the vessel later in 2019. Money raised from an on-line appeal would, instead, be used to fund work on the . However, as of August 2020, the dismantling work still had not commenced.
In popular culture
The Ryde Queen nightclub features in Isabel Ashdown
Isabel Ashdown (born 1970) is a British writer of contemporary fiction.
Biography
Isabel Ashdown was born in London and grew up in East Wittering on the south coast of England. She is the author of eight novels, a Royal Literary Fund Fellow, ...
's novel ''Summer of '76''.
See also
*List of ships built by William Denny and Brothers
This is a list of ships built by William Denny and Brothers, Dumbarton, Scotland.
Ships
Footnotes
{{reflist
See also
* Scottish Built Ships database
Denny
William Denny and Brothers
William Denny and Brothers Limited, often referred t ...
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ryde
1937 ships
Ships built on the River Clyde
Ships of the Southern Railway (UK)
Merchant ships of the United Kingdom
Steamships of the United Kingdom
World War II minesweepers of the United Kingdom
Ferry transport on the Isle of Wight
Transport in Portsmouth
Ships of British Rail
Ships and vessels of the National Historic Fleet
Paddle steamers of the United Kingdom