''Invicta'' was a passenger ferry built in 1939 for the Southern Railway and requisitioned on completion by 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, Tr ...

for use as a

troopship A troopship (also troop ship or troop transport or trooper) is a ship used to carry soldiers, either in peacetime or wartime. Troopships were often drafted from commercial shipping fleets, and were unable land troops directly on shore, typicall ...

, serving in 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 ...

as HMS ''Invicta''. She was returned to the Southern Railway in 1945 and passed to

British Rail 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 ...

ways in 1948. With the introduction to

TOPS Total Operations Processing System (TOPS) is a computer system for managing railway locomotives and rolling stock, known for many years of use in the United Kingdom. TOPS was originally developed between the Southern Pacific Railroad (SP), S ...

(a new numbering system) in 1968, ''Invicta'' was one of 14 "

locomotive A locomotive or engine is a rail transport vehicle that provides the Power (physics), motive power for a train. If a locomotive is capable of carrying a payload, it is usually rather referred to as a multiple unit, Motor coach (rail), motor ...

s" classified as Class 99. She was allocated TOPS Number 99 010. ''Invicta'' served on the

Dover Dover () is a town and major ferry port in Kent, South East England. It faces France across the Strait of Dover, the narrowest part of the English Channel at from Cap Gris Nez in France. It lies south-east of Canterbury and east of Maidstone ...

–

Calais Calais ( , , traditionally , ) is a port city in the Pas-de-Calais department, of which it is a subprefecture. Although Calais is by far the largest city in Pas-de-Calais, the department's prefecture is its third-largest city of Arras. Th ...

route from 1946 until 1972 when she was withdrawn from service and scrapped.

Description

''Invicta'' was ordered on 13 February 1939 from

William Denny & 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 ...

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 ...

. She was built as yard number 1344 and was launched on 14 December 1939. Completion was in June 1940. ''Invicta'' was long, with a beam of and a depth of . She was and . She had a draught of . She was powered by four

Parsons Parsons may refer to: Places In the United States: * Parsons, Kansas, a city * Parsons, Missouri, an unincorporated community * Parsons, Tennessee, a city * Parsons, West Virginia, a town * Camp Parsons, a Boy Scout camp in the state of Washingto ...

turbines A turbine ( or ) (from the Greek , ''tyrbē'', or Latin ''turbo'', meaning vortex) is a rotary mechanical device that extracts energy from a fluid flow and converts it into useful Work (physics), work. The work produced by a turbine can be used ...

, that were built by Denny's. The four turbines drove twin screw propellers through single reduction gearing and had a total power output of . These gave ''Invicta'' a speed of . Steam was supplied by two

Yarrow ''Achillea millefolium'', commonly known as yarrow () or common yarrow, is a flowering plant in the family Asteraceae. Other common names include old man's pepper, devil's nettle, sanguinary, milfoil, soldier's woundwort, and thousand seal. The ...

water tube boilers operating at . Originally coal fired, the boilers were converted to

oil An oil is any nonpolar chemical substance that is composed primarily of hydrocarbons and is hydrophobic (does not mix with water) & lipophilic (mixes with other oils). Oils are usually flammable and surface active. Most oils are unsaturated ...

in 1946.

War service

''Invicta'' was completed in June 1940. The

then requisitioned her and she left Dumbarton on 27 June for

Clynder Clynder is a place on the western shore of the Gare Loch, Argyll and Bute, Scotland. Historically in the County of Dunbarton, Clynder is one of a string of small settlements on the Rosneath Peninsula. It is almost directly opposite Rhu, and overl ...

, where she was laid up on the

River Clyde The River Clyde ( gd, Abhainn Chluaidh, , sco, Clyde Watter, or ) is a river that flows into the Firth of Clyde in Scotland. It is the ninth-longest river in the United Kingdom, and the third-longest in Scotland. It runs through the major cit ...

, although technically she had been delivered to the Southern Railway on 1 July. In 1941 it was decided to convert ''Invicta'' to a Landing Ship, Infantry. The work was carried out by Barclay, Curle & Co Ltd,

Elderslie Elderslie may refer to one of the following locations: * Elderslie, Scotland Elderslie ( gd, Ach na Feàrna) is a village in the council area and historic county of Renfrewshire in west central Scotland. It chiefly serves as a commuter village, ...

. After conversion, ''Invicta'' could carry six

LCAs Link Capacity Adjustment Scheme or LCAS is a method to dynamically increase or decrease the bandwidth of virtual concatenated containers. The LCAS protocol is specified in ITU-T The ITU Telecommunication Standardization Sector (ITU-T) is one of t ...

and 250 troops. ''Invicta'' was allocated the

Code Letters Code letters or ship's call sign (or callsign) Mtide Taurus - IMO 7626853"> SHIPSPOTTING.COM >> Mtide Taurus - IMO 7626853/ref> were a method of identifying ships before the introduction of modern navigation aids and today also. Later, with the i ...

GLJG and the United Kingdom

Official Number Official numbers are ship identifier numbers assigned to merchant ships by their flag state, country of registration. Each country developed its own official numbering system, some on a national and some on a port-by-port basis, and the formats hav ...

167606. Her port of registry was

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 ...

. On 3 June 1943 ''Invicta'' was commissioned into 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 HMS ''Invicta''. She took part in the

Dieppe Raid Operation Jubilee or the Dieppe Raid (19 August 1942) was an Allied amphibious attack on the German-occupied port of Dieppe in northern France, during the Second World War. Over 6,050 infantry, predominantly Canadian, supported by a regiment o ...

on 19 August 1942, landing soldiers from

The South Saskatchewan Regiment The South Saskatchewan Regiment was an infantry regiment of the Canadian Forces formed in 1936 by the amalgamation of The Weyburn Regiment and The Saskatchewan Border Regiment. It was reduced to nil strength and placed on the Supplementary Ord ...

on Green Beach. In October 1943 ''Invicta'' was assigned to Force J in preparation for

Operation Overlord Operation Overlord was the codename for the Battle of Normandy, the Allies of World War II, Allied operation that launched the successful invasion of German-occupied Western Front (World War II), Western Europe during World War II. The operat ...

. Her Code Letters were changed to GLJQ at this time. On 6 June 1944 ''Invicta'' was part of 510 Flotilla. She carried members of the

7th Canadian Infantry Brigade The 7th Canadian Infantry Brigade was an infantry brigade of the Canadian Army that fought during World War I and World War II. The brigade, along with the 8th Canadian Infantry Brigade and the 9th Canadian Infantry Brigade, formed the 3rd Can ...

Juno Beach Juno or Juno Beach was one of five beaches of the Allied invasion of German-occupied France in the Normandy landings on 6 June 1944 during the Second World War. The beach spanned from Courseulles, a village just east of the British beach Gold ...

Courseulles-sur-Mer Courseulles-sur-Mer (, ), commonly known as ''Courseulles'', is a commune in the Calvados department, Normandy, northwestern France. Until 1957, the town's name was simply ''Courseulles''. It lies 3 km west of Bernières-sur-Mer and 18 ...

. Amongst those on board ''Invicta'' was

Richard Pirrie Richard Francis Pirrie (15 April 1879 – 15 September 1962) was an Australian rules footballer who played with Melbourne in the Victorian Football League (VFL). Family The son of James Pirrie (1832-1898), and Mary Pirrie (1844-1931), né ...

, the first

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

n to be killed on D-Day. Also on board was war correspondent

Robert Raymond Robert Alwyn Raymond OAM (7 July 1922 – 26 September 2003) was an Australian Logie Award winning producer, director, writer, filmmaker and journalist. A pioneer of Australian television, he with Michael Charlton in 1961, co-founded the Austra ...

. ''Invicta'' was decommissioned on 9 October 1945 and returned to the Southern Railway. ''Invicta'' was refitted ready for service, but she was

bareboat charter A bareboat charter or demise charter is an arrangement for the chartering or hiring of a ship or boat, whereby no crew or provisions are included as part of the agreement; instead, the people who rent the vessel from the owner are responsible f ...

ed by the Government on 26 December 1945 for use as a troopship, repatriating

demobilised Demobilization or demobilisation (see spelling differences) is the process of standing down a nation's armed forces from combat-ready status. This may be as a result of victory in war, or because a crisis has been peacefully resolved and militar ...

troops from

to Dover. On 27 December she collided with in Dover.

Civilian service

On 23 April 1946 ''Invicta'' left for

Walker Walker or The Walker may refer to: People *Walker (given name) *Walker (surname) *Walker (Brazilian footballer) (born 1982), Brazilian footballer Places In the United States *Walker, Arizona, in Yavapai County *Walker, Mono County, California * ...

where she was to be refitted by

Vickers-Armstrongs Vickers-Armstrongs Limited was a British engineering conglomerate formed by the merger of the assets of Vickers Limited and Sir W G Armstrong Whitworth & Company in 1927. The majority of the company was nationalised in the 1960s and 1970s, w ...

. During the refit she was converted from coal to oil fuel. ''Invicta'' left the

River Tyne The River Tyne is a river in North East England. Its length (excluding tributaries) is . It is formed by the North Tyne and the South Tyne, which converge at Warden Rock near Hexham in Northumberland at a place dubbed 'The Meeting of the Wate ...

on 14 October and made her first peacetime crossing of the

English Channel The English Channel, "The Sleeve"; nrf, la Maunche, "The Sleeve" (Cotentinais) or ( Jèrriais), (Guernésiais), "The Channel"; br, Mor Breizh, "Sea of Brittany"; cy, Môr Udd, "Lord's Sea"; kw, Mor Bretannek, "British Sea"; nl, Het Kana ...

the next day, replacing on the Dover – Calais route. In 1947, another refit saw ''Invicta'' fitted with stabilisers. These were part of the original design but were omitted to hasten construction. The vessel featured in the Southern Region film ''Golden Arrow'' in 1947. On 1 January 1948 ownership of ''Invicta'' passed to the

British Transport Commission The British Transport Commission (BTC) was created by Clement Attlee's post-war Labour government as a part of its nationalisation programme, to oversee railways, canals and road freight transport in Great Britain (Northern Ireland had the se ...

on the Nationalisation of the Railways. She was now operated by

ways, remaining on the Dover – Calais route. In January 1959 ''Invicta'' suffered minor damage in a collision with the pier at Calais. On 1 January 1963 ownership of ''Invicta'' passed to the

British Railways Board British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

after the dissolution of the British Transport Commission. On 26 April 1963 ''Invicta'' was the first ship to pass through the western entrance of

Dover Harbour The Port of Dover is a cross-channel ferry, cruise terminal, maritime cargo and marina facility situated in Dover, Kent, south-east England. It is the nearest English port to France, at just away, and is one of the List of busiest cruise ports ...

after the removal of Second World War

blockship A blockship is a ship deliberately sunk to prevent a river, channel, or canal from being used. It may either be sunk by a navy defending the waterway to prevent the ingress of attacking enemy forces, as in the case of at Portland Harbour in 1914; ...

s. ''Invicta'' appeared in the comedy film ''

San Ferry Ann ''San Ferry Ann'' is a 1965 British sound effect comedy. Wordlessly, with soundtrack and sound effects, it tells the story of a holiday crossing from Dover to Calais. Synopsis A motley crew of British characters ride the San Ferry Ann to the sho ...

'', which was released in 1966. In 1967 ''Invicta'' was repainted into the new

Sealink Sealink was a ferry company based in the United Kingdom from 1970 to 1984, operating services to France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Isle of Man, Channel Islands, Isle of Wight and Ireland. Ports served by the company included: Dover, Folkesto ...

livery, with a blue hull, white superstructure and red funnel with the double arrow logo. With the introduction of

in 1968, Sealink ships were classed as

s for TOPS purposes, being allocated Class 99. On 23 May 1970 ''Invicta'' was chartered for a trip to

Ostend Ostend ( nl, Oostende, ; french: link=no, Ostende ; german: link=no, Ostende ; vls, Ostende) is a coastal city and municipality, located in the province of West Flanders in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It comprises the boroughs of Mariakerk ...

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

. With the introduction of TOPS Numbers in 1972, ''Invicta'' was allocated 99 010. She made her final revenue-earning voyages on 8 August 1972. She was then laid up at

Newhaven, East Sussex Newhaven is a port town in East Sussex in England, lying at the mouth of the River Ouse. The town developed during the Middle Ages as the nearby port of Seaford began drying up, forcing a new port to be established. A sheltered harbour was b ...

pending a sale. Although a

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

company showed interest in buying her she remained unsold. She was sold to Machinehandel en Scheepssloperij de Koophandel,

Rotterdam Rotterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Rotte'') is the second largest city and municipality in the Netherlands. It is in the province of South Holland, part of the North Sea mouth of the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta, via the ''"N ...

, the Netherlands and left Newhaven on 21 September under tow from the

tug A tugboat or tug is a marine vessel that manoeuvres other vessels by pushing or pulling them, with direct contact or a tow line. These boats typically tug ships in circumstances where they cannot or should not move under their own power, suc ...

''Michel Petersen'', bound for

Nieuw Lekkerland Nieuw-Lekkerland () is a town in the western Netherlands, in the province of South Holland. It is situated on the southern shores of the Lek River, in the north-west of the Alblasserwaard. The town's name evolved slightly over time: in 1280 Lecke ...

. ''Invicta'' was resold and scrapped at

Bruges Bruges ( , nl, Brugge ) is the capital and largest City status in Belgium, city of the Provinces of Belgium, province of West Flanders in the Flemish Region of Belgium, in the northwest of the country, and the sixth-largest city of the countr ...

, Belgium.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Invicta (1939) 1939 ships Ships built on the River Clyde Ferries of the United Kingdom Maritime incidents in 1947 Ships of British Rail Ships of the Southern Railway (UK) Steamships of the United Kingdom Troop ships of the Royal Navy World War II merchant ships of the United Kingdom