Operator (owners) Status Under restoration Length 77 m Yard number 1262 Speed 21 knots | Identification IMO 5287952 Launched 30 March 1933 Installed power 350 ihp Out of service 1978 | |
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Name 1933–1935 TSS Queen Mary1935–1976 TSS Queen Mary II1976– TSS Queen Mary Owner 1933–1935 Williamson-Buchanan Steamers Ltd1935–1936 Caledonian Steam Packet Company1936–1943 Williamson-Buchanan Steamers (1936) Ltd1943–1973 Caledonian Steam Packet Company1973–1978 Caledonian MacBrayne1978–1980 Glasgow District Council1980–1981 Euroyachts1981–1987 Tesright1987–2009 Bass plc2009–2011 Samuel Boudon2013–2015 Ranjan Chowdhury2015– Friends of TS Queen Mary Builder William Denny and Brothers, Dumbarton | ||
Ts queen mary returns to glasgow 9th november 2016
TS Queen Mary is a retired Clyde steamer launched in 1933 and now being preserved as a museum ship. She was built at the William Denny shipyard at Dumbarton for Williamson-Buchanan Steamers. The 871 gross registered ton steamer was powered by three direct drive steam turbines, and carried 2,086 passengers making her the largest (though not the longest) excursion turbine on the River Clyde.
Contents
- Ts queen mary returns to glasgow 9th november 2016
- Ts queen mary heading for glasgow 9 11 16
- In service
- Wartime and post war
- Retirement
- The Future
- References
Ts queen mary heading for glasgow 9 11 16
In service
In 1933 she joined the Williamson-Buchanan fleet, taking over from the first Clyde turbine steamer, the 1901 TS King Edward on the run from Glasgow down the River and Firth of Clyde to Rothesay, Millport and Arran. In 1935 the fleet including Queen Mary passed to the London, Midland and Scottish Railway Company, and her registered owners became Williamson-Buchanan (1936) Ltd. Also in 1935, Williamson-Buchanan were contacted by the Cunard Company which was getting ready to have its new liner launched by Her Majesty Queen Mary – so Cunard reached agreement with Williamson-Buchanan that the turbine steamer would become TS Queen Mary II, and presented a portrait of Her Majesty to hang in the forward lounge of the Clyde steamer, while their liner became the RMS Queen Mary.
Queen Mary II was a roomy and comfortable ship, well suited to the large numbers of passengers on the route, with passenger capacity making up for a modest speed of 19.7 knots on trial. She was a two class ship, with cabin passengers housed forward and the top deck extending aft giving steerage passengers a share of it as well as sheltered space below. Though the rest of the fleet was painted in the LMS livery with yellow funnels, she retained her white funnels and Williamson-Buchanan house-flag until World War II.
Wartime and post-war
During the war, she worked on maintaining Clyde services while many other steamers became minesweepers or anti-aircraft vessels. After the war, she returned to service in LMS livery with yellow funnels; then, post war 1948 nationalisation of the railways brought the steamers under the Caledonian Steam Packet Company (CSP) with the same livery. As traffic increased in the 1950s, modifications were made. Over the winter of 1956-1957 the TS Queen Mary II was changed from coal to oil burning, the two funnels were replaced by a single funnel and a new mainmast was added so that she now had two masts to meet changed regulations for ship's lights, with her tonnage increasing to 1014.
In the 1960s, a gradual change in holiday habits and a succession of summers with poor weather led to a decline in Clyde sailings. While other ships were retired, the Queen Mary II was refitted and put on cruises from Gourock to Inveraray, Brodick and Campbeltown. The CSP had been gradually merging with the west highland ferry company MacBraynes, and in 1973 the company became Caledonian MacBrayne Ltd. After a disappointing first season, they decided to reduce their fleet, with the paddle steamer Waverley being handed to a preservation society, and its routes taken over by the Queen Mary (which lost the "II" as the Cunard liner had by then been retired).
Retirement
Waverley survived and prospered, but with the shift to diesel car ferries and cost pressures the Queen Mary was retired after a last evening showboat cruise from Largs to Rothesay on 27 September 1977. She was then laid up in the East India Harbour, Greenock.
In 1981 the ship was bought by the Lau family and taken south to London to become a floating restaurant but unfortunately it did not do well until 1987 when it was sold to Bass PLC. She underwent a £2.5m refurbishment in 1997 and was moored at Victoria Embankment. Facilities included two bars and two function rooms and the top deck of the ship was used as an open-air venue with bar facilities.
In November 2009, the ship was towed out of London. She was purchased by Samuel Boudon who had plans for her renovation and mooring in La Rochelle, France as a floating restaurant and fitness centre. However, she remained moored in Tilbury Docks.
She was auctioned by Capital Marine Services on 24 August 2011, and sold to a British antique dealer planning to restore her to 1930s glory; ″Queen Mary is the last survivor of her class anywhere in the world and is an exceptionally important part of British maritime history epitomising the very best of British shipbuilding pedigree and tradition", ″Our mission is to restore this unique example of British Maritime History″. In 2012 a charitable group, Friends of the TS Queen Mary, was formed with the goal of returning the ship to a permanent berth in Glasgow, Scotland.
In 2013 the ship's owner, Ranjan Chowdhury, was criticised in the media for attempting to sell the ship's remaining brass propellor. By February 2015 Queen Mary was prevented by the Maritime and Coastguard Agency from leaving the Port of Tilbury until made seaworthy.
The Future
In October 2015 the Glasgow-based charity Friends of TS Queen Mary purchased the ship. In May 2016, after being made seaworthy, the Queen Mary was towed from Tilbury to Greenock. The ship's return to the Firth of Clyde on 16 May 2016 was her first visit to her former home since 1981. Queen Mary was berthed in James Watt Dock throughout the summer of 2016.
On 1 September 2016, following a successful campaign to raise money to repair and repaint the ship's hull, Queen Mary was towed into the adjacent Garvel Drydock. A complete repaint of the hull, and structural repairs were made to the ship throughout the course of a month. On 1 October 2016 Queen Mary returned to James Watt Dock, resplendent in a new coat of paint. The ship's funnels were repainted white in October, and on 9 November 2016 Queen Mary left James Watt Dock under tow for Glasgow on what would be her first visit to the city since 1977. The ship is now berthed at the entrance of Princes' Dock beside the Glasgow Science Centre.