PS ''Slieve Bearnagh'' was a United Kingdom passenger

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 in later years was called ''HC5''.

J&G Thomson John Brown and Company of Clydebank was a Scottish marine engineering and shipbuilding firm. It built many notable and world-famous ships including , , , , , and the '' Queen Elizabeth 2''. At its height, from 1900 to the 1950s, it was one of ...

launched her in 1893 or 1894 for the

Belfast and County Down Railway The Belfast and County Down Railway (BCDR) was an Irish gauge () railway in Ireland (later Northern Ireland) linking Belfast with County Down. It was built in the 19th century and absorbed into the Ulster Transport Authority in 1948. All but th ...

(B&CDR). In 1912 she was sold to D&J Nicol of Dundee. Around the end of the First World War she served with 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 ...

as hospital carrier ship ''HC5''. She was scrapped in 1923.

With the B&CDR

Clydebank Clydebank ( gd, Bruach Chluaidh) is a town in West Dunbartonshire, Scotland. Situated on the north bank of the River Clyde, it borders the village of Old Kilpatrick (with Bowling, West Dunbartonshire, Bowling and Milton, West Dunbartonshire, Mil ...

built the ship for the B&CDR, who named her ''

Slieve Bearnagh Slieve Bearnagh () is one of the Mourne Mountains in County Down, Northern Ireland. It has a height of . Its summit is crowned by two tors with a gap between them, giving it a distinctive shape. The Mourne Wall crosses the summit of Slieve Bearn ...

'' after the second highest peak in the

Mourne Mountains The Mourne Mountains ( ; ga, Beanna Boirche), also called the Mournes or Mountains of Mourne, are a granite mountain range in County Down in the south-east of Northern Ireland. They include the highest mountains in Northern Ireland, the high ...

County Down County Down () is one of the six counties of Northern Ireland, one of the nine counties of Ulster and one of the traditional thirty-two counties of Ireland. It covers an area of and has a population of 531,665. It borders County Antrim to the ...

. Sources disagree as to whether she was launched on 21 November 1893 or 21 March 1894. She made her trial run on

Belfast Lough Belfast Lough is a large, intertidal sea inlet on the east coast of Northern Ireland. At its head is the city and port of Belfast, which sits at the mouth of the River Lagan. The lough opens into the North Channel and connects Belfast to th ...

on 1 May 1894 In the spring of 1893 Thomson had built the slightly smaller steamer for the B&CDR. In May 1894 ''Slieve Bearnagh'' joined ''Slieve Donard'' on the company's regular steamship route between

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 ...

and Bangor, for which the scheduled journey time was 55 minutes. Between them the two ships made six sailings per day from Belfast to Bangor from Mondays to Saturdays and a similar number back to Belfast. There were five sailings on Sundays, and from Mondays to Saturdays one sailing per day extended beyond Bangor to

Donaghadee Donaghadee ( , ) is a small town in County Down, Northern Ireland. It lies on the northeast coast of the Ards Peninsula, about east of Belfast and about six miles (10 km) south east of Bangor. It is in the civil parish of Donaghadee and t ...

. On Saturday afternoons other sailings continued from Bangor across Belfast Lough to

Larne Larne (, , the name of a Gaelic Ireland, Gaelic territory) is a town on the east coast of County Antrim, Northern Ireland, with a population of 18,755 at the United Kingdom census, 2011, 2011 Census. It is a major passenger and freight Roll-on/ro ...

. The railway sold ''Donard'' in 1899 but kept ''Bearnagh'' until 1912. She occasionally made excursions to

Portaferry Portaferry () is a small town in County Down, Northern Ireland, at the southern end of the Ards Peninsula, near the Narrows at the entrance to Strangford Lough. It is home to the Exploris aquarium and is well known for the annual Gala Week Flo ...

on the

Ards Peninsula The Ards Peninsula () is a peninsula in County Down, Northern Ireland, on the north-east coast of Ireland. It separates Strangford Lough from the North Channel of the Irish Sea. Towns and villages on the peninsula include Donaghadee, Milli ...

Ardglass Ardglass () is a coastal fishing village, townland (of 321 acres) and Civil parishes in Ireland, civil parish in County Down, Northern Ireland, in the historic Barony (geographic), barony of Lecale Lower. It is still a relatively important fis ...

in south Down, and

and

Portrush Portrush () is a small seaside resort town on the north coast of County Antrim, Northern Ireland. It neighbours the resort of Portstewart. The main part of the old town, including the railway station as well as most hotels, restaurants and bars, ...

on the coast of

County Antrim County Antrim (named after the town of Antrim, ) is one of six counties of Northern Ireland and one of the thirty-two counties of Ireland. Adjoined to the north-east shore of Lough Neagh, the county covers an area of and has a population o ...

in addition to her regular scheduled route on Belfast Lough. The

Board of Trade The Board of Trade is a British government body concerned with commerce and industry, currently within the Department for International Trade. Its full title is The Lords of the Committee of the Privy Council appointed for the consideration of ...

certificated ''Slieve Bearnagh'' to carry 958 passengers along the coast between Belfast and Bangor or 871 passengers on the more open sea voyage between Belfast and Larne. A report by the B&CDR's General Manager records that in November 1904 her

Master Master or masters may refer to: Ranks or titles * Ascended master, a term used in the Theosophical religious tradition to refer to spiritually enlightened beings who in past incarnations were ordinary humans *Grandmaster (chess), National Master ...

, Captain McCorquodale, was

summons A summons (also known in England and Wales as a claim form and in the Australian state of New South Wales as a court attendance notice (CAN)) is a legal document issued by a court (a ''judicial summons'') or by an administrative agency of governme ...

ed for overloading the ship. At the end of the 1911 summer season the B&CDR ordered a replacement ship for £24,000 and put ''Slieve Bearnagh'' up for sale for £12,000. No-one offered to buy at that price so the railway reduced it to £10,000 by the end of 1911 and later to £7,000. The replacement ship, the slightly larger PS ''Erin's Isle'', was launched on 12 June 1912, and finally on 19 June 1912 ''Slieve Bearnagh'' was sold for only £4,350.

With D&J Nicol

''Slieve Bearnagh'' buyer was D&J Nicol of

Dundee Dundee (; sco, Dundee; gd, Dùn Dè or ) is Scotland's fourth-largest city and the 51st-most-populous built-up area in the United Kingdom. The mid-year population estimate for 2016 was , giving Dundee a population density of 2,478/km2 or ...

on the east coast of Scotland, with whom she became the largest pleasure steamer on the

Firth of Tay The Firth of Tay (; gd, Linne Tatha) is a firth on the east coast of Scotland, into which the River Tay (Scotland's largest river in terms of flow) empties. The firth is surrounded by four council areas: Fife, Perth and Kinross, City of Du ...

. From Dundee she made various excursions: along the coast of

Angus Angus may refer to: Media * ''Angus'' (film), a 1995 film * ''Angus Og'' (comics), in the ''Daily Record'' Places Australia * Angus, New South Wales Canada * Angus, Ontario, a community in Essa, Ontario * East Angus, Quebec Scotland * An ...

Arbroath Arbroath () or Aberbrothock ( gd, Obar Bhrothaig ) is a former royal burgh and the largest town in the council area of Angus, Scotland, with a population of 23,902. It lies on the North Sea coast some ENE of Dundee and SSW of Aberdeen. The ...

and Montrose, around the

Inchcape Inchcape or the Bell Rock is a reef about off the east coast of Angus, Scotland, near Dundee and Fife, occupied by the Bell Rock Lighthouse. The name ''Inchcape'' comes from the Scottish Gaelic ''Innis Sgeap'', meaning "Beehive isle", proba ...

lighthouse, and across to

St Andrews St Andrews ( la, S. Andrea(s); sco, Saunt Aundraes; gd, Cill Rìmhinn) is a town on the east coast of Fife in Scotland, southeast of Dundee and northeast of Edinburgh. St Andrews had a recorded population of 16,800 , making it Fife's fou ...

Fife Fife (, ; gd, Fìobha, ; sco, Fife) is a council area, historic county, registration county and lieutenancy area of Scotland. It is situated between the Firth of Tay and the Firth of Forth, with inland boundaries with Perth and Kinross (i ...

With the Royal Navy

Sources disagree as to when ''Slieve Bearnagh'' entered

service. 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, Traf ...

may have requisitioned her in 1915, used her as an auxiliary

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 ...

and then bought her in October 1917. According to another source the Admiralty did not requisition her until 1917. However, sources agree that in January 1919 she served as hospital carrier ship ''HC5''. ''Slieve Bearnagh'' was scrapped at

Inverkeithing Inverkeithing ( ; gd, Inbhir Chèitinn) is a port town and parish, in Fife, Scotland, on the Firth of Forth. A town of ancient origin, Inverkeithing was given royal burgh status during the reign of Malcolm IV in the 12th century. It was an impo ...

in Fife on 7 June 1923.

References

Sources

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Slieve Bearnagh, PS 1894 ships Ships built on the River Clyde Hospital ships of the Royal Navy Minesweepers of the Royal Navy Steamships of the United Kingdom