PS/TSS ''Edith'' was a paddle steamer cargo vessel operated by the London and North Western Railway from 1870 to 1912.

History

She was built by

A. Leslie and Company Andrew Leslie & Co, Hebburn was a shipbuilding company that was started in 1853 on an 8-acre site at Hebburn Quay, Newcastle upon Tyne. The company later merged with the locomotive manufacturer R and W Hawthorn to create Hawthorn Leslie and Com ...

for the London and North Western Railway in 1870. She may have been named after Edith May Moon, a daughter of the company's then chairman,

Richard Moon Sir Richard Moon, 1st Baronet (1814–1899) was a railway engineer. He became chairman in June 1861 of the London and North Western Railway until he retired on 22 February 1891. Born in Liverpool, the elder son of merchant Richard Moon (1783-18 ...

, and was the first paddle steamer used on the

Greenore Greenore () is a village, townland and deep water port on Carlingford Lough in County Louth, Ireland. History A lighthouse was built on Greenore Point in 1830. Several decades later, the Dundalk and Greenore Railway Act of 1863 authorised th ...

service that Moon had championed. On 8 September 1875 she collided with the ''Duchess of Sutherland'' in Holyhead and sank. Arrangements were made to raise her in May 1876, but on 31 October 1876 the

City of Dublin Steam Packet Company The City of Dublin Steam Packet Company was a shipping line established in 1823. It served cross-channel routes between Britain and Ireland for over a century. For 70 of those years it transported the mail. It was 'wound-up' by a select commit ...

's steamship St Patrick collided with the wreck destroying the lifting apparatus, leading to a court case in which it was ruled in May 1877 that the St. Patrick was at fault. She was eventually raised on 4 December 1877, and was subsequently repaired and returned to service. She was converted from a paddle steamer to a twin

screw steamer A screw steamer or screw steamship is an old term for a steamship or steamboat powered by a steam engine, using one or more propellers (also known as ''screws'') to propel it through the water. Such a ship was also known as an "iron screw steam shi ...

in 1892 by Cammell Laird of

Birkenhead Birkenhead (; cy, Penbedw) is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral, Merseyside, England; historically, it was part of Cheshire until 1974. The town is on the Wirral Peninsula, along the south bank of the River Mersey, opposite Liver ...

. She was withdrawn in March 1912 and sold to the West of Scotland Shipbreaking Company for scrap, but was resold to Belgian owner, Captain A Depauw, and re-registered as the TSS ''Vos'' in Antwerp. Seized by Belgian Government in 1913 who claimed that her owner had made preparations to use her for the contraband of arms to South America. She was laid up in

Zeebrugge Zeebrugge (, from: ''Brugge aan zee'' meaning "Bruges at Sea", french: Zeebruges) is a village on the coast of Belgium and a subdivision of Bruges, for which it is the modern port. Zeebrugge serves as both the international port of Bruges-Zee ...

until January 1914 when she was sold to

shipbreakers ''Shipbreakers'' is a 2004 documentary film. A co-production of the National Film Board of Canada with Storyline Entertainment directed by Michael Kot, the film explores the practice of ship breaking decommissioned vessels in Alang, India. Aw ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Edith 1870 ships Steamships Ships built on the River Tyne Ships of the London and North Western Railway Paddle steamers of the United Kingdom Steamships of the United Kingdom Maritime incidents in September 1875