PADDLERS REMEMBERED RED FUNNEL’S 160th ANNIVERSARY

A lthough the first motor ships were introduced by Red Funnel in the 1930s, paddle steamers continued to figure until the withdrawal of the 1927-built Princess Elizabeth in 1959. Incredibly, this single-funnel veteran still survives as a restaurant and conference centre in Dunkirk, with her own centenary now only six years away.

Virtually a copy of the 1911-built Princess Mary which was lost after World War I when running over the wreck of battleship HMS Majestic, Princess Elizabeth was one of the last ships constructed and engined at the Southampton yard of Day, Summers & Co. She was designed for both excursion and ferry work, with a capacity of up to 700 on summer day trips, as well as figuring on the Southampton Cowes service, with space for ten to 12 cars on the open foredeck.

Power came from a 98hp two-cylinder compound diagonal engine