TSS ''Duke of Lancaster'' is a former railway steamer passenger ship that operated in Europe from 1956 to 1979, and is beached near

Mostyn Mostyn is a village and community in Flintshire, Wales, and electoral ward lying on the estuary of the River Dee, located near the town of Holywell. It has a privately owned port that has in the past had a colliery and ironworks and was invo ...

Docks, on the River Dee, north-east

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in ...

. It replaced an earlier 3,600-ton ship of the same name operated by the

London Midland and Scottish Railway The London, Midland and Scottish Railway (LMSIt has been argued that the initials LMSR should be used to be consistent with LNER, GWR and SR. The London, Midland and Scottish Railway's corporate image used LMS, and this is what is generally ...

company between

Heysham Heysham ( ) is a coastal town in Lancashire, England, overlooking Morecambe Bay. It is a ferry port, with services to the Isle of Man and Ireland, and the site of two nuclear power stations. Demography Administratively, Heysham is part of th ...

and

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 Kingdom ...

In service

Along with her sister ships the TSS ''Duke of Rothesay'' and the TSS ''Duke of Argyll'' she was amongst the last passenger-only steamers built for British Railways (at that time, also a ferry operator). She was a replacement for the 1928 steamer built by the

, RMS ''Duke of Lancaster''. Built at

Harland & Wolff Harland & Wolff is a British shipbuilding company based in Belfast, Northern Ireland. It specialises in ship repair, shipbuilding and offshore construction. Harland & Wolff is famous for having built the majority of the ocean liners for the W ...

, launched on 1 December 1955 and completed in 1956, she was designed to operate as both a passenger ferry (primarily on the

route) and as a cruise ship. In this capacity, the ''Duke of Lancaster'' travelled to the Scottish islands and further afield to

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 ...

Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of Denmark , establish ...

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the ...

and

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

. From the mid-1960s, passenger ships such as the ''Duke of Lancaster'' were gradually being superseded by car ferries. Rather than undertake the expensive option of renewing their entire fleet, British Railways instead began a part-programme of conversion. In order to maintain ferry services whilst these modifications took place, the ''Duke of Lancasters duties as a cruise ship ceased. On 25 April 1970 the ship returned to service, having had her main deck rebuilt to accommodate vehicles via a door at her stern. The ship now provided space for 1,200 single-class passengers and 105 cars, with a total cabin accommodation for 400 passengers. The three ships continued on the Heysham to Belfast route until the service was withdrawn on 5 April 1975. The ''Duke of Lancaster'' was then briefly employed on the

Fishguard Fishguard ( cy, Abergwaun, meaning "Mouth of the River Gwaun") is a coastal town in Pembrokeshire, Wales, with a population of 3,419 in 2011; the community of Fishguard and Goodwick had a population of 5,407. Modern Fishguard consists of two p ...

to Rosslare crossing, before becoming the regular relief vessel on the Holyhead to

Dún Laoghaire Dún Laoghaire ( , ) is a suburban coastal town in Dublin in Ireland. It is the administrative centre of Dún Laoghaire–Rathdown. The town was built following the 1816 legislation that allowed the building of a major port to serve Dubli ...

service until November 1978. The ship was then laid up at

Barrow-in-Furness Barrow-in-Furness is a port town in Cumbria, England. Historic counties of England, Historically in Lancashire, it was incorporated as a municipal borough in 1867 and merged with Dalton-in-Furness Urban District in 1974 to form the Borough of B ...

Fun Ship

The ''Duke of Lancaster'' arrived in Llanerch-y-Mor, North Wales, in August 1979 to start her new life as "the Fun Ship". However, there were frequent legal battles with the local councils and the owners closed the business in 2004. As a result of this the owners "walked away". Subsequent owners have faced similar issues. Despite having large amounts of its exterior paintwork covered in rust, the interior of the ship is in good condition. It was featured in the 2011 series of BBC Two's ''

Coast The coast, also known as the coastline or seashore, is defined as the area where land meets the ocean, or as a line that forms the boundary between the land and the coastline. The Earth has around of coastline. Coasts are important zones in ...

''. In early 2012 several local arcade game collectors made a deal with Solitaire Liverpool Ltd and were able to purchase most of the coin-operated machines left behind inside the ship at the time the Fun Ship closed. Removing the games required the use of cranes and other heavy lifting equipment.

Art gallery

The plan was to transform the ship into the largest open air art gallery in the UK. As of August 2012, the Latvian graffiti artist " KIWIE" was commissioned to spraypaint a design on the ship. The ship was covered with graffiti described as "bright and surreal". The first phase of the project saw Kiwie and other European graffiti artists paint murals on the ship between August and November 2012, and the second phase (starting at the end of March 2013) included the work of British-based artists such as Snub23, Spacehop, Dan Kitchener and Dale Grimshaw. One of the artworks is a picture of the ship's first captain, John 'Jack' Irwin. However in 2017 both sides of the ship were painted black. As of 2021 the interior of the ship was undergoing restoration work and deck areas refurbished for use as a dockside attraction.

References

External links

GoogleMap location
{{DEFAULTSORT:Duke of Lancaster (1955) Passenger ships of the United Kingdom Ferries of the United Kingdom 1955 ships Ferries of Wales Ships built in Belfast Ships of British Rail Ships built by Harland and Wolff Ships and vessels on the National Register of Historic Vessels