PS ''Kingswear Castle'' is a steamship. She is a coal-fired river

paddle steamer A paddle steamer is a steamship or steamboat powered by a steam engine driving paddle wheels to propel the craft through the water. In antiquity, paddle wheelers followed the development of poles, oars and sails, whereby the first uses were wh ...

, dating from 1924 with engines from 1904. After running summer excursions on the

River Medway The River Medway is a river in South East England. It rises in the High Weald AONB, High Weald, West Sussex and flows through Tonbridge, Maidstone and the Medway conurbation in Kent, before emptying into the Thames Estuary near Sheerness, a to ...

and the

Thames The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the second-longest in the United Kingdom, after th ...

for many years she returned to the

River Dart The River Dart is a river in Devon, England, that source (river), rises high on Dartmoor and flows for to the sea at Dartmouth, Devon, Dartmouth. Name Most hydronyms in England derive from the Common Brittonic, Brythonic language (from which ...

in Devon in December 2012 to run excursions from 2013 onwards on the river she was built on and for. ''Kingswear Castle'' is listed as part of the

National Historic Fleet The National Historic Fleet is a list of historic ships and vessels located in the United Kingdom, under the National Historic Ships register. National Historic Ships UK is an advisory body which advises the Secretary of State for Culture, Media ...

of ships of "Pre-eminent National Significance".

History

The ''Kingswear Castle'' was built by Philip & Sons of Dartmouth in 1924 for service on the River Dart, following sister ships ''Compton Castle'' and ''Totnes Castle'', and was operated by the River Dart Steamboat Co. Her predecessor of the same name from 1904 is now a rotted and barely recognisable hulk in the River Dart, but the engines were re-used in the current

steamboat A steamboat is a boat that is marine propulsion, propelled primarily by marine steam engine, steam power, typically driving propellers or Paddle steamer, paddlewheels. The term ''steamboat'' is used to refer to small steam-powered vessels worki ...

. ''Kingswear Castle'' was chartered to the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest Displacement (ship), displacement, at 4.5 millio ...

during World War II, and was used for carrying stores and personnel at Dartmouth. In 1965 ''Kingswear Castle'' was withdrawn from service and became the first purchase of the Paddle Steamer Preservation Society (PSPS) two years later. She was then taken to the

Isle of Wight The Isle of Wight (Help:IPA/English, /waɪt/ Help:Pronunciation respelling key, ''WYTE'') is an island off the south coast of England which, together with its surrounding uninhabited islets and Skerry, skerries, is also a ceremonial county. T ...

and was moored at

Island Harbour Marina Island Harbour Marina, on the Isle of Wight, United Kingdom, UK, is a commercial marina on the River Medina in the small Hamlet (place), hamlet of Binfield, Isle of Wight, Binfield. It is located approximately halfway between Cowes and the Count ...

from August 1967 to June 1971. However, due to her deteriorating condition, she was then taken to the

. After various difficulties and a great deal of restoration work she was finally brought into service again in 1985, and was operated by the Paddle Steamer Kingswear Castle Trust based at

Chatham Historic Dockyard The Historic Dockyard Chatham is a maritime museum on part of the site of the former Royal Navy Dockyard, royal/naval dockyard at Chatham, Medway, Chatham in Kent, South East England. Chatham Dockyard covered 400 acres (1.6 km2) and was o ...

Kent Kent is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Essex across the Thames Estuary to the north, the Strait of Dover to the south-east, East Sussex to the south-west, Surrey to the west, and Gr ...

, in association with the PSPS. On 18 December 2012 she returned to the River Dart again, under charter to the Dartmouth Steam Railway and Riverboat Company, to run passenger trips around Dartmouth Harbour and up river to Totnes.

References

External links

Paddle Steamer Kingswear Castle TrustPaddle Steamer Preservation Society (PSPS)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kingswear Castle Paddle steamers of the United Kingdom Tourist attractions in Devon 1924 ships Ships and vessels of the National Historic Fleet

History

See also

References

External links