MV ''Princess Victoria'' was the first British stern-loading cross-channel car ferry. Two months after entering service, it was requisitioned by the Admiralty and converted to a

Minelayer A minelayer is any warship, submarine, military aircraft or land vehicle deploying explosive mines. Since World War I the term "minelayer" refers specifically to a naval ship used for deploying naval mines. "Mine planting" was the term for ins ...

. It was sunk by a mine on 19 May 1940.

Construction

The ship was built as a purpose built car and passenger ferry by William Denny & Bros of

Dumbarton Dumbarton (; , or ; or , meaning 'fort of the Britons (historical), Britons') is a town in West Dunbartonshire, Scotland, on the north bank of the River Clyde where the River Leven, Dunbartonshire, River Leven flows into the Clyde estuary. ...

, Scotland for the

London Midland and Scottish Railway The London, Midland and Scottish Railway (LMSIt has been argued that the initials LMSR should be used to be consistent with LNER, GWR and SR. The London, Midland and Scottish Railway's corporate image used LMS, and this is what is generally ...

. She is understood to have been the first stern loading cross-channel car ferry with a capacity variously quoted at between 24/64/80 cars and with two turntables to assist loading and unloading. Passengers and livestock could be loaded via sidedoors. The ship and special berthing facilities at

Larne Larne (, , the name of a Gaelic Ireland, Gaelic territory)Larne/Latharna
Placenames Database of Ireland. is a to ...

and

Stranraer Stranraer ( , in Scotland also ; ), also known as The Toon or The Cleyhole, is a town in Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland, on Loch Ryan and the northern side of the isthmus joining the Rhins of Galloway to the mainland. Stranraer is Dumfries ...

cost nearly £200,000.

Service

The ship way allocated to the

Larne Larne (, , the name of a Gaelic Ireland, Gaelic territory)Larne/Latharna
Placenames Database of Ireland. is a to ...

route and entered service on 8 July 1939. In September 1939, after just two months service, ''Princess Victoria'' was requisitioned and converted to an auxiliary

minelayer A minelayer is any warship, submarine, military aircraft or land vehicle deploying explosive mines. Since World War I the term "minelayer" refers specifically to a naval ship used for deploying naval mines. "Mine planting" was the term for ins ...

. She was commissioned as HMS ''Princess Victoria'' and given the pennant number M03. She had a capacity of 244

mines Mine, mines, miners or mining may refer to: Extraction or digging *Miner, a person engaged in mining or digging *Mining, extraction of mineral resources from the ground through a mine Grammar *Mine, a first-person English possessive pronoun Mi ...

. During her short service she laid 2756 mines.

Fate

After laying a minefield off the Dutch coast she struck a mine on the voyage home at the entrance to the

Humber Estuary The Humber is a large tidal estuary on the east coast of Northern England. It is formed at Trent Falls, Faxfleet, by the confluence of the tidal rivers River Ouse, Yorkshire, Ouse and River Trent, Trent. From there to the North Sea, it forms ...

on 19 May 1940 and sank with 36 crew lost and 85 rescued.

Successor

Following the Second World War it was replaced by a near identical ship of the same name built in 1946 which was to sink in the North Channel east of

Belfast Belfast (, , , ; from ) is the capital city and principal port of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan and connected to the open sea through Belfast Lough and the North Channel (Great Britain and Ireland), North Channel ...

with 135 fatalities, during the

North Sea flood of 1953 The 1953 North Sea flood () was a major flood caused by a heavy storm surge that struck the Netherlands, north-west Belgium, England and Scotland. Most sea defences facing the surge were overwhelmed, resulting in extensive flooding. The ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Princess Victoria (1939) Ferries of Scotland Ferries of Northern Ireland Ships of the London, Midland and Scottish Railway 1939 ships Ships sunk by mines Maritime incidents in May 1940