MV ''Hebridean Princess'' is a cruise ship operated by Hebridean Island Cruises. She started life as the MacBrayne car ferry and Royal Mail Ship, initially RMS then MV ''Columba'', based in

Oban Oban ( ; meaning ''The Little Bay'') is a resort town within the Argyll and Bute council area of Scotland. Despite its small size, it is the largest town between Helensburgh and Fort William, Highland, Fort William. During the tourist seaso ...

for the first 25 years of her life, carrying up to 600 passengers, and 50 cars, between the Scottish islands.

RMS ''Columba''

RMS ''Columba'' was the last of three car ferries built in 1964 by Hall, Russell & Company,

Aberdeen Aberdeen ( ; ; ) is a port city in North East Scotland, and is the List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, third most populous Cities of Scotland, Scottish city. Historically, Aberdeen was within the historic county of Aberdeensh ...

for the

Secretary of State for Scotland The secretary of state for Scotland (; ), also referred to as the Scottish secretary, is a Secretary of State (United Kingdom), secretary of state in the Government of the United Kingdom, with responsibility for the Scotland Office. The incum ...

. The

ordered a trio of near-identical car ferries for the Western Isles. They were chartered to David MacBrayne Ltd and were all equipped to serve as floating nuclear shelters, in the event of national emergency. This included vertical sliding watertight doors that could seal off the car deck, immediately aft of the hoist. ''Columba'' was the last of the three to enter service. ''Columba'' took up the

Isle of Mull The Isle of Mull or simply Mull ( ) is the second-largest island of the Inner Hebrides (after Skye) and lies off the west coast of Scotland in the Council areas of Scotland, council area of Argyll and Bute. Covering , Mull is the fourth-lar ...

service, replacing the elderly ships and . She continued on this route for nine years. Columba's interiors, and those of her sisters MV ''Hebrides'' and MV ''Clansman'', were designed by a young Scottish designer, John McNeece, who was to go on to design the interiors of numerous cruise ships over the next 40 years. In 1968, additional buoyant seating was added on the after deck, boosting her passenger complement from 600 to 870. Cars were loaded via a forward hydraulic hoist. Below the car deck were sleeping berths for 51. She was the first vessel to make Sunday sailings, which started in 1972 and were combined with short cruises. There was some opposition to the innovation. 1972 was her last year on the Mull station. That winter, ''Columba'' relieved at

Stornoway Stornoway (; ) is the main town, and by far the largest, of the Outer Hebrides (or Western Isles), and the capital of Lewis and Harris in Scotland. The town's population is around 6,953, making it the third-largest island town in Scotlan ...

and then took up 's roster at

Mallaig Mallaig (; ) is a seaport, port in Morar, on the west coast of the Scottish Highlands, Highlands of Scotland. It faces Skye from across the Sound of Sleat. The Mallaig railway station, local railway station is the terminus of the West Highlan ...

. Night sailings to Lochboisdale and Castlebay only lasted one year and in 1974 ''Columba'' only had the light Mallaig –

Armadale, Skye Armadale () is a village near the southern end of the Sleat peninsula on the Isle of Skye, in the Highland council area of Scotland. Like most of Sleat, but unlike most of Skye, the area is fairly fertile, and though there are hills, most do not ...

roster. On the withdrawal of the veteran , ''Columba'' was restored to Oban, serving Coll and Tiree, Colonsay, Iona, Lochaline and Tobermory. In winter ''Columba'' became the regular relief at Uig and, until 1979, of on the Outer Isles run. ''Columba'' continued in service after her sisters, and . Even in CalMac operation, she gave special cruises, including St Kilda and Kishorn Yard as destinations. From 1985 she was the last dedicated hoist-loading vessel in service. In 1988, she was acquired by a new venture, Hebridean Island Cruises of

Skipton Skipton (also known as Skipton-in-Craven) is a market town and civil parish in North Yorkshire, England. Historically in the East Division of Staincliffe Wapentake in the West Riding of Yorkshire, it is on the River Aire and the Leeds ...

to offer luxury cruises.

MV ''Hebridean Princess''

She underwent a major refit at George Prior Engineering in Great Yarmouth in 1989, emerging as the cruise ship, MV ''Hebridean Princess''. She began operating on 26 May 1989 and provides cruises around the Western Isles of Scotland. More recently, itineraries have been extended to include Ireland, the Orkney and Shetland islands, the Norwegian Fjords and the Isles of Scilly. Initially, she retained a car-carrying capability, giving the option of leaving at intermediate ports. Within two years the car-carrying capacity was removed and additional cabins constructed to allow a dramatic increase in the crew-to-guest ratio. By 1997, a crew of 37 was serving just 49 passengers in considerable luxury. From 21 July to 29 July 2006,

Queen Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 19268 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until Death and state funeral of Elizabeth II, her death in 2022. ...

chartered ''Hebridean Princess'' for a holiday around the Scottish Islands to mark her 80th birthday. The Queen reportedly paid £125,000 for the use of the ship. In June 2009, All Leisure Group, which also owns the Swan Hellenic and Voyages of Discovery lines, purchased the company. The company name was changed from Hebridean International Cruises (used when MV ''Hebridean Spirit'' was operating

deep-sea The deep sea is broadly defined as the ocean depth where light begins to fade, at an approximate depth of or the point of transition from continental shelves to continental slopes. Conditions within the deep sea are a combination of low tempe ...

itineraries), to its current name, but the ship continues to operate as it did before the take over. In 2010 Queen Elizabeth II chartered ''Hebridean Princess'' for another holiday around the Scottish Islands, sailing from

on 23 July for two weeks.

References

Notes

Bibliography

External links

Official Site
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Hebridean Princess 1964 ships Cruise ships Ships built in Aberdeen Ships built by Hall, Russell & Company