Name The Tattershall Castle | Ordered 1934 | |
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Namesake Tattershall Castle, Lincolnshire. Owner LNER (1934–1974)
Chef & Brewer (1982–2004) TCG (2005) Route Humber Ferry crossing (1934–1974)
River Thames (1981–present) Builder William Gray & Company, Hartlepool, UK | ||
The PS Tattershall Castle is now moored on the River Thames at the Embankment, and is used as a floating pub and restaurant.
History
The steamer was built by William Gray & Co. in 1934 as a passenger ferry on the River Humber for the London and North Eastern Railway (LNER). She plied a route between Corporation Pier in Kingston upon Hull and New Holland Pier Station, New Holland.
During the Second World War she found service as a tether for barrage balloons and for troop transfer on the Humber estuary. After the war, with the nationalisation of the railways in 1948, she became part of British Rail's Sealink service.
In 1973, after long service as a passenger and goods ferry, she was retired from service and laid up. In 1976 the ship was towed to London. Repairs on the ship were deemed too costly and she was retired from service. The opening of the Humber Bridge made the ferry service, known to have existed since at least Roman times, redundant.
PS Tattershall Castle was first opened on the Thames as a floating art gallery until her eventual disposal to the Chef and Brewer group. Before opening in 1982 as a restaurant, she was sent to the Medway for further repairs. Tattershall Castle returned temporarily to Hull for a refit at MMS Ship Repair in 2015, at a cost of several million pounds.
A sister ship also launched in 1934, the PS Wingfield Castle, is preserved at Hartlepool's Maritime Experience.
A third similar Humber ferry, the PS Lincoln Castle, built in 1940, was scrapped in Autumn 2010.