''Scillonian'' (also referred to as ''Scillonian II'' or TSMV ''Scillonian'') was a passenger ferry built for the

Isles of Scilly Steamship Company The Isles of Scilly Steamship Company (ISSC) operates the principal shipping service from Penzance, in Cornwall, to the Isles of Scilly, located to the southwest. It provides a year-round cargo service together with a seasonal passenger serv ...

in 1955 by John I. Thornycroft & Company of

Woolston, Southampton Woolston is a suburb of Southampton, Hampshire, located on the eastern bank of the River Itchen. It is bounded by the River Itchen, Sholing, Peartree Green, Itchen and Weston. The area has a strong maritime and aviation history. The former ...

. She was designed to carry 500 passengers and cargo between

Penzance Penzance ( ; kw, Pennsans) is a town, civil parish and port in the Penwith district of Cornwall, United Kingdom. It is the most westerly major town in Cornwall and is about west-southwest of Plymouth and west-southwest of London. Situated ...

Cornwall Cornwall (; kw, Kernow ) is a historic county and ceremonial county in South West England. It is recognised as one of the Celtic nations, and is the homeland of the Cornish people. Cornwall is bordered to the north and west by the Atlantic ...

, to the offshore

Isles of Scilly The Isles of Scilly (; kw, Syllan, ', or ) is an archipelago off the southwestern tip of Cornwall, England. One of the islands, St Agnes, is the most southerly point in Britain, being over further south than the most southerly point of the ...

.Description on ''Hearts of Oak The Penzance/Isles of Scilly Mail Packets''.
/ref>

Serving the Isles of Scilly

The ship was ordered on 18 March 1954 at a contract price of £250,000 (equivalent to £ as of ), planned as a replacement for the first '' Scillonian'' which had been in continuous service since 1926. The new ship was laid down on 25 March 1955, completed on 15 November 1955 and christened by

the Duchess of Gloucester Duke of Gloucester () is a British royal title (after Gloucester), often conferred on one of the sons of the reigning monarch. The first four creations were in the Peerage of England and the last in the Peerage of the United Kingdom; the curren ...

. The second ''Scillonian'' was powered by two 6-cylinder

four-stroke A four-stroke (also four-cycle) engine is an internal combustion (IC) engine in which the piston completes four separate strokes while turning the crankshaft. A stroke refers to the full travel of the piston along the cylinder, in either directio ...

diesel engine The diesel engine, named after Rudolf Diesel, is an internal combustion engine in which ignition of the fuel is caused by the elevated temperature of the air in the cylinder due to mechanical compression; thus, the diesel engine is a so-call ...

s (manufactured by

Ruston & Hornsby Ruston & Hornsby was an industrial equipment manufacturer in Lincoln, Lincolnshire, Lincoln, England founded in 1918. The company is best known as a manufacturer of narrow gauge railway, narrow and standard gauge diesel locomotives and also of ...

) which propelled two three-blade screws, giving the ship a maximum speed of 15.5 knots. The new passenger ferry made her first trip to the Isles of Scilly on 23 March 1956, sailing from

Southampton Southampton () is a port city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. It is located approximately south-west of London and west of Portsmouth. The city forms part of the South Hampshire built-up area, which also covers Po ...

to St Mary's. On her arrival, critics found the second ''Scillonian'' "too big, they will never hold her, not suitable or not as good a sea boat as the old boat" (the same had happened when the first ''Scillonian'' went into service in 1926 and would happen again with ''

Scillonian III RMV ''Scillonian III'' is a passenger ship based at Penzance in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom, run by the Isles of Scilly Steamship Company. She operates the principal ferry service to the Isles of Scilly and is one of only three ships in the w ...

'' in 1977)."Scillonian III Back in Service after £1,700,000 Refit" i
''Scilly up to Date'', issue 120 (April 1999)
accessed 2011-08-16 Like her predecessor, the second ''Scillonian'' operated mainly between the Isles of Scilly and Penzance, although she sometimes diverted to Falmouth or St Ives in bad weather. A frequent traveller aboard the ship was

Harold Wilson James Harold Wilson, Baron Wilson of Rievaulx, (11 March 1916 – 24 May 1995) was a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom twice, from October 1964 to June 1970, and again from March 1974 to April 1976. He ...

who had a holiday home in the Isles of Scilly. Between 1964 and 1966 she was joined on her route by the ''

Queen of the Isles ''Queen of the Isles'' was a passenger ferry built for the Isles of Scilly Steamship Company in 1964 by Charles Hill & Sons. She was designed to carry passengers and cargo between Penzance, Cornwall, UK, to the offshore Isles of Scilly, complemen ...

''. ''Scillonian'' was eventually replaced by ''

'' in May 1977, and was sold to

P & A Campbell P & A Campbell was a shipping company based in Bristol which operated steamship services in the Bristol Channel between 1893 and 1979. History In the early 19th century, steamships were introduced to Europe with Clyde steamer sailings which ...

.The ''Scillonian (II)s history on www.simplonpc.co.uk.
/ref>

Later history

P & A Campbell renamed her ''Devonia'' and she joined the '' Balmoral'', offering coastal cruises around the

South Coast South Coast is a name often given to coastal areas to the south of a geographical region or major metropolitan area. Geographical Australia *South Coast (New South Wales), the coast of New South Wales, Australia, south of Sydney * South Coast (Q ...

. In her first season ''Devonia'' deputised for ''Balmoral'' on the

Bristol Channel The Bristol Channel ( cy, Môr Hafren, literal translation: "Severn Sea") is a major inlet in the island of Great Britain, separating South Wales from Devon and Somerset in South West England. It extends from the lower estuary of the River Seve ...

, and ran on the

Thames The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the second-longest in the United Kingdom, after the R ...

. P&A Campbell hoped to use her freight capacity to serve

Lundy Lundy is an English island in the Bristol Channel. It was a micronation from 1925–1969. It forms part of the district of Torridge in the county of Devon. About long and wide, Lundy has had a long and turbulent history, frequently chang ...

, work eventually taken over by the ''

Oldenburg Oldenburg may also refer to: Places *Mount Oldenburg, Ellsworth Land, Antarctica *Oldenburg (city), an independent city in Lower Saxony, Germany **Oldenburg (district), a district historically in Oldenburg Free State and now in Lower Saxony *Olde ...

''. Over the winter of 1977/1978, ''Devonia'' was chartered for

oil rig {{about, , the mnemonic OIL RIG, Redox An oil rig is any kind of apparatus constructed for oil drilling. Kinds of oil rig include: * Drilling rig, an apparatus for on-land oil drilling * Drillship, a floating apparatus for offshore oil drilling * ...

ferry work at

Loch Kishorn Loch Kishorn ( gd, Ciseòrn) is a sea loch in the north-west Highlands of Scotland. Kishorn is a collective name used to refer to a group of populated settlements located next to the loch. Topography Loch Kishorn is a northern branch of Loch Ca ...

, before returning to the Bristol Channel. P & A Campbell ceased operations in 1980, after which the ship was acquired by

Torbay Seaways Torbay is a borough and unitary authority in Devon, south west England. It is governed by Torbay Council and consists of of land, including the resort towns of Torquay, Paignton and Brixham, located on east-facing Tor Bay, part of Lyme ...

and renamed ''Devoniun'' in 1982. She operated trips to the Channel Islands and local excursions from Torquay. In 1984 she was sold to

Norse Atlantic Ferries Norse is a demonym for Norsemen, a medieval North Germanic ethnolinguistic group ancestral to modern Scandinavians, defined as speakers of Old Norse from about the 9th to the 13th centuries. Norse may also refer to: Culture and religion * Nor ...

, and renamed ''Syllingar'' after arriving in the

Orkney Islands Orkney (; sco, Orkney; on, Orkneyjar; nrn, Orknøjar), also known as the Orkney Islands, is an archipelago in the Northern Isles of Scotland, situated off the north coast of the island of Great Britain. Orkney is 10 miles (16 km) north ...

in November 1984. She made up to two return trips each week between

Kirkwall Kirkwall ( sco, Kirkwaa, gd, Bàgh na h-Eaglaise, nrn, Kirkavå) is the largest town in Orkney, an archipelago to the north of mainland Scotland. The name Kirkwall comes from the Norse name (''Church Bay''), which later changed to ''Kirkv ...

Westray Westray (, sco, Westree) is one of the Orkney Islands in Scotland, with a usual resident population of just under 600 people. Its main village is Pierowall, with a heritage centre, the 15th-century Lady Kirk church and pedestrian ferry servic ...

and

Scalloway Scalloway ( non, Skálavágr, "bay with the large house(s)") is the largest settlement on the west coast of the Mainland, the largest island of the Shetland Islands, Scotland. The village had a population of roughly 900, at the 2011 census. No ...

, plus additional cruises to

Foula Foula (; sco, also Foola; nrn, Fuglø), located in the Shetland archipelago of Scotland, is one of the United Kingdom’s most remote permanently inhabited islands. Owned since the turn of the 20th century by the Holbourn family, the island wa ...

and

Fair Isle Fair Isle (; sco, Fair Isle; non, Friðarey; gd, Fara) is an island in Shetland, in northern Scotland. It lies about halfway between mainland Shetland and Orkney. It is known for its bird observatory and a traditional style of knitting. Th ...

. Financial problems forced the service to cease in August 1985. Following her period as ''Syllingar'' the ship was renamed ''Remvi'' in 1986, and ran across the

Adriatic The Adriatic Sea () is a body of water separating the Italian Peninsula from the Balkans, Balkan Peninsula. The Adriatic is the northernmost arm of the Mediterranean Sea, extending from the Strait of Otranto (where it connects to the Ionian Sea) ...

for Hellenic Cruising Holidays until 1989. As ''Africa Queen'' she was operated by J.A.R. Atlantic Ocean Ltd of

Belize Belize (; bzj, Bileez) is a Caribbean and Central American country on the northeastern coast of Central America. It is bordered by Mexico to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the east, and Guatemala to the west and south. It also shares a wate ...

from 1989 to 1997 and sailed off West Africa. The latter company renamed her the ''Princess Eliana'' in 1997 before her final sale in 1998 as ''Olga J'' to the Cypriot Greek ship-owner, John Christodoulo, who was director of Asterias Maritime, a company registered in Belize. The ship and her crew were finally abandoned by her owner in

Bourgas Burgas ( bg, Бургас, ), sometimes transliterated as ''Bourgas'', is the second largest city on the Bulgarian Black Sea Coast in the region of Northern Thrace and the fourth-largest in Bulgaria after Sofia, Plovdiv, and Varna, with a popul ...

Bulgaria Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Macedon ...

"ITF Rescues Sailors Abandoned in Bulgaria"
accessed 2015-06-04 and she later sank there in 2004.

References

External links

Detailed description of ''Scillonian (II)'' and her service history on Hearts of Oak.

{{Isles of Scilly Ferries of the United Kingdom Water transport in Cornwall Transport in the Isles of Scilly 1955 ships Ships built by John I. Thornycroft & Company

Serving the Isles of Scilly

Later history

See also

References

External links