Train Ferry No. 1 / Essex Ferry
Ownership |
1917 The War Office |
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Capacity |
Rail wagons only. |
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Routes |
Harwich - Zeebrugge |
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Shipbuilder |
Sir W. G. Armstrong, Whitworth & Co. Ltd., Low
Walker, Newcastle (yard no. 921) |
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Dimensions |
GRT: 2683 |
Length: 350.6ft. |
Beam: 58.7 ft. |
Engine builder |
Wallsend Slipway & Engineering Co. Ltd., Wallsend |
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Propulsion |
2 x 3cyl. steam engines, 18", 29", 47" x 27", twin screws, 403NHP |
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Notes |
Built for the War Office service between
Richborough and French ports, taken over by the Purchased by the Admiralty in late June 1940,
she was converted to a Landing Ship capable of carrying 14 landing
craft in the train deck (launched via a stern chute) and 4 more by
crane on the upper deck. Commissioned as HMS IRIS in April 1941,
changing to HMS PRINCESS IRIS in September 1942, she spent most of
her time ferrying landing craft to southern ports. After the This brought a change of name to ESSEX FERRY
and she resumed the Harwich - Zeebrugge train ferry service. Her
name was altered to ESSEX FERRY II in 1956 in order to release the
name to her successor, and she was broken up at Grays in 1957 after
an eventful career. |
Acknowledgments
Compiled by George Robinson.