''Castalia'' was a twin-hulled

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 we ...

that was built in 1874 by the

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for the English Channel Steamship Company. She was acquired by the

London, Chatham and Dover Railway The London, Chatham and Dover Railway (LCDR or LC&DR) was a railway company in south-eastern England created on 1 August 1859, when the East Kent Railway was given parliamentary approval to change its name. Its lines ran through London and no ...

(LCDR) in 1878 but had already been laid up by then and was not operated by the LCDR. In 1883, she was sold to the

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and converted to a

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. She served until 1904 and was scrapped in 1905.

Description

''Castalia'' was a twin-hulled paddle steamer, comprising two half-hulls with a length of and a beam of . The two half-hulls were apart internally. Her draught was . The ship was designed with bows forward and astern in order to avoid the need to turn round at Calais, France. She was propelled by two diagonal

compound steam engine A compound steam engine unit is a type of steam engine where steam is expanded in two or more stages. A typical arrangement for a compound engine is that the steam is first expanded in a high-pressure ''(HP)'' cylinder, then having given up he ...

s, of each. driving a single paddle wheel. The engines were built by J & A Blyth, London. The two paddle wheels were placed side by side between the twin hulls. These could propel her at . Following improvements in 1875, the boilers and paddle wheels were by Maudslay, Sons, & Field, Lambeth, Surrey. She had capacity to carry 700 passengers.

History

Construction as an unconventional cross-Channel ferry

''Castalia'' was built in 1874 by the

for the English Channel Steamship Company. Costing about £70,000 to build, she was designed by a Captain Dicey, who thought that she should be more stable therefore leading to less

seasickness Motion sickness occurs due to a difference between actual and expected motion. Symptoms commonly include nausea, vomiting, cold sweat, headache, dizziness, tiredness, loss of appetite, and increased salivation. Complications may rarely include d ...

for her passengers. ''Castalia'' was launched on 2 June. She was named for Lady Granville, who launched her.

Underpowered and uneconomically slow

Completed in October, trials soon showed that she was too slow. Castalia was returned to her makers for new boilers and paddles to be fitted. A

debenture In corporate finance, a debenture is a medium- to long-term debt instrument used by large companies to borrow money, at a fixed rate of interest. The legal term "debenture" originally referred to a document that either creates a debt or acknowle ...

of £16,000 being sought by the English Channel Steamship Company to finance the improvements. On her delivery voyage from Gravesend, Kent to Dover on 15 September 1874, trouble was experienced with

priming Priming may refer to: * Priming (agriculture), a form of seed planting preparation, in which seeds are soaked before planting * Priming (immunology), a process occurring when a specific antigen is presented to naive lymphocytes causing them to d ...

of her boilers, necessitating a reduction to half-power, although a speed of was attained. On arrival at Dover, large crowds came to see the novel ship. ''Castalia'' made a trial run between Dover and Calais on 21 July 1875. The voyage had begun at Gravesend with the intention that she would sail to Calais, but the Board of Trade inspector on board ordered her into Dover as she approached the North Foreland. A protruding bolt on the Admiralty Pier at Dover caused some minor damage, which was quickly repaired. Although her steering gear had failed, there was no difficulty in manoeuvering the ship, attributed to the fact that the engines drove each paddle wheel independently. ''Castalia'' then made the crossing to Calais. She made a public trial crossing of the Channel on 2 August. ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper '' The Sunday Times'' (f ...

'' commented that she was underpowered, having for a gross register tonnage of 1,533. Mailboats then in service had for a tonnage of . ''Castalia'' entered into regular service on 5 August 1875. She departed from Dover at 09:35, arriving in time for passengers to catch the 12:30 train to

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. She departed from Calais at 13:20, allowing passengers from the Continent to arrive at

that evening. She operated daily except Sundays. Fares were 8s 6d first class, 6s 6d second class. Private cabins were available at £1 extra and refreshments were available on board. Her lack of speed meant that she could not operate in connection with mail trains and she was not a success financially. Only capable of , she needed to be able to achieve at least to be as fast as ships then in service on the cross-channel route, and to be able to provide the required service. It had been hoped that ''Castalia'' would be able to achieve .

Illustrious passengers

Following his unsuccessful attempt at swimming across the English Channel on 12 August 1875,

Matthew Webb Captain Matthew Webb (19 January 1848 – 24 July 1883) was an English swimmer and stuntman. He is the first recorded person to swim the English Channel for sport without the use of artificial aids. In 1875, Webb swam from Dover to Calais in l ...

returned to the United Kingdom on board ''Castalia''. Following the successful swim across the Channel on 24 August, he again returned to the United Kingdom on board ''Castalia''. Reaction from passengers who sailed on board ''Castiliâ'' was generally favourable. ''Castalia'' was reported to only roll by about 5° to port and starboard in heavy seas, whereas a conventional ship would roll by 15° or more. In identical conditions, was reported to have taken 1 hour 42 minutes for a crossing from Calais to Dover, pitching and rolling heavily, whereas ''Castalia'' took three hours, but with little pitching and rolling. On 11 October, the

Prince of Wales Prince of Wales ( cy, Tywysog Cymru, ; la, Princeps Cambriae/Walliae) is a title traditionally given to the heir apparent to the English and later British throne. Prior to the conquest by Edward I in the 13th century, it was used by the rulers ...

travelled on board ''Castalia'' as part of his journey from London to

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

. The prince chose ''Castalia'' as he was prone to seasickness. He was accompanied from London to Calais by the Princess of Wales, who slept on board ''Castalia'' after arrival at Calais and returned to Dover the next day.

An improved successor

In January 1876, the board of the English Channel Steamship Company agreed to an issue of £150,000 of shares paying a dividend of 7% in order to finance an improved version of ''Castalia''. The new ship was to be capable of . The new ship was the , which was built by Hawthorn, Leslie & Co Ltd,

Hebburn-on-Tyne Hebburn is a town in the metropolitan county of Tyne and Wear, England. It governed under the borough of South Tyneside; formerly governed under the county of Durham until 1974 with its own urban district from 1894 until 1974. It is on the sou ...

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. ''Express'' was renamed before entering service with the LCDR.PS Calais-Douvres

Political manoeuvres

It was reported that for each of the months from August to November, an increase of the average number of passengers carried per day was recorded, from 38 in August to 159 in November. In March, the South Eastern Railway Bill had its second reading in Parliament. Sir Charles Russell, MP stated that the South Eastern Railway (SER) had done everything in its power to obstruct the English Channel Steamship Company. Lord Elcho stated that if the railway was sincere in its desire to improve communication with the continent (the stated aim of the bill), then it would run its trains to suit ''Castalia'', rather than expecting the ship to run to suit its trains. After some discussion, the bill passed its second reading. Sir

Edward Watkin Sir Edward William Watkin, 1st Baronet (26 September 1819 – 13 April 1901) was a British Member of Parliament and railway entrepreneur. He was an ambitious visionary, and presided over large-scale railway engineering projects to fulfil his b ...

was asked about this state of affairs at a shareholders meeting of the SER on 3 August. He replied that the railway could not run a special and regular service of trains to meet an irregular sailing schedule such as that operated by ''Castalia'', which did not run in the winter. The boats that connected with the SERs trains operated a regular, year-round service.

Modifications, further trials, and end of ferry career

Having been withdrawn for further modifications and improvements, ''Castalia'' re-entered service on 3 June 1876. The average number of passengers using ''Castalia'' increased from 1,741 in June to 2,933 in July and 5,388 in August. In March 1877, ''Castalia'' was fitted with new paddle wheels. These only had twelve paddles against the 32 of the original wheels. Although her boilers were priming, an increase in speed of was achieved compared against similar power settings for the old paddle wheels. Although the trial was declared a success, ''Castalia'' was withdrawn from service. She was laid up on Galleons Reach on the

River 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 ...

, at Erith, Kent. The English Channel Steamship Company was wound up by order of the

Court of Chancery The Court of Chancery was a court of equity in England and Wales that followed a set of loose rules to avoid a slow pace of change and possible harshness (or "inequity") of the common law. The Chancery had jurisdiction over all matters of equ ...

following a petition from ''Castalias'' builders. The ship being the only asset owned by the company and it was

mortgage A mortgage loan or simply mortgage (), in civil law jurisdicions known also as a hypothec loan, is a loan used either by purchasers of real property to raise funds to buy real estate, or by existing property owners to raise funds for any ...

d to her builders for £20,000. In 1878, the English Channel Steamship Company was acquired by the LCDR, and ''Castalia'' was one of the ships that LCDR acquired. A further four-hour trial run was made on 17 August 1878 when ''Castalia'' sailed from

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, having been laid up for seventeen months. Speed was reduced due to her bottom being fouled and her steam engines not having been in use during that time. Following the disaster on 3 September 1878, the Board of Trade held an enquiry. One of the recommendations was that ships that were laid up, such as and ''Castalia'' should be either moved to different locations or moored nearer the river bank, leaving a wider area of the river available for navigation. On 24 October, ''Castalia'' rescued the captain of ''Ruth'', which had sank in the River Thames during a

squall A squall is a sudden, sharp increase in wind speed lasting minutes, as opposed to a wind gust, which lasts for only seconds. They are usually associated with active weather, such as rain showers, thunderstorms, or heavy snow. Squalls refer to the ...

Reconstruction as an unconventional hospital ship

In September 1881, ''Castalia'' was advertised to be sold the following month on the instructions of the mortgagees, Messrs Bailey & Ridley. The sale was advertised as taking place at the Captain's Room of the

Royal Exchange, London The Royal Exchange in London was founded in the 16th century by the merchant Sir Thomas Gresham on the suggestion of his factor Richard Clough to act as a centre of commerce for the City of London. The site was provided by the City of London ...

on 20 October 1881. In May 1883, ''Castalia'' was sold to the

for £5,500 and converted to a

with provision for 150 patients. She was converted at a cost of between £30,000 and £35,000. ''Castalia'' joined the board's two other ships, and at Long Reach, near Dartford. Her engines and paddle wheels were removed and the void covered over to form a deck, The machinery that was removed was advertised for sale in July 1883. Five ward blocks were built at an oblique angle on her twin hulls. This was to ensure a flow of air through the wards. Male patients were housed on board ''Atlas'' and female patients on board ''Castalia''; with ''Endymion'' serving as an administration and stores ship. Ventilation was by a number of Boyle's self-acting ventilators, which removed of air per minute from the ship. A pump provided an artificial draught in times of calm. The ventilators could change the air in the wards nine times per hour. ''Castalia'' entered service as a hospital ship in June 1884. In 1885, it was reported that a child born on board the ship had been named Castalia. The old smallpox hospital ships

On 9 December 1898, was in collision with ''Castalia''. Some of the patients jumped overboard. ''Castalia'' had to be dry docked for repairs. The three ships served until 1904, when the new

Joyce Green Hospital Joyce Green Hospital was a hospital near Dartford, Kent, England. It opened in 1903 as an Isolation (health care), isolation hospital. In later years it was a Teaching hospital, training hospital. The hospital was closed in 2000 and the buildings ...

opened at Dartford, Kent. In December 1904, she was sold by auction at the Bull Hotel, Dartford, Kent, for breaking. ''Castalia'' sold for £1,120. Along with ''Atlas'' and ''Endymion'', a total of £8,045 was realised. The ships were to be removed within two months or a rental of £25 per week would then be payable.

Notes

# The ship's name was sometimes spelled "Castaliâ", but most sources spelled it "Castalia".

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Castalia 1874 ships Ships built on the River Thames Paddle steamers of the United Kingdom Merchant ships of the United Kingdom Individual catamarans Ferries of England Experimental ships Hospital ships of the United Kingdom Maritime incidents in 1898 Hospitals in Kent