PS ''Slieve Bearnagh'' was a United Kingdom passenger

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 ...

that in later years was called ''HC5''. J&G Thomson launched her in 1893 or 1894 for the

Belfast and County Down Railway The Belfast and County Down Railway (BCDR) was an Irish gauge () railway in Ireland (later Northern Ireland) linking Belfast with County Down. It was built in the 19th century and absorbed into the Ulster Transport Authority in 1948. All but the ...

(B&CDR). In 1912 she was sold to D&J Nicol of Dundee. Around the end of the First World War she served with the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the naval warfare force of the United Kingdom. It is a component of His Majesty's Naval Service, and its officers hold their commissions from the King of the United Kingdom, King. Although warships were used by Kingdom ...

as hospital carrier ship ''HC5''. She was scrapped in 1923.

With the B&CDR

J&G Thomson of

Clydebank Clydebank () is a town in West Dunbartonshire, Scotland. Situated on the north bank of the River Clyde, it borders the village of Old Kilpatrick (with Bowling, West Dunbartonshire, Bowling and Milton, West Dunbartonshire, Milton beyond) to the w ...

built the ship for the B&CDR, who named her ''

Slieve Bearnagh Slieve Bearnagh () is one of the Mourne Mountains in County Down, Northern Ireland. It has a height of . Its summit is crowned by two tors with a gap between them, giving it a distinctive shape. The Mourne Wall crosses the summit of Slieve Bea ...

'' after the second highest peak in the

Mourne Mountains The Mourne Mountains ( ; ), also called the Mournes or the Mountains of Mourne, are a predominantly granite mountain range in County Down in the south-east of Northern Ireland. They include the highest mountain in all of Ulster, Slieve Donard ...

County Down County Down () is one of the six counties of Northern Ireland, one of the nine counties of Ulster and one of the traditional thirty-two counties of Ireland. It covers an area of and has a population of 552,261. It borders County Antrim to the ...

. Sources disagree as to whether she was launched on 21 November 1893 or 21 March 1894. She made her trial run on

Belfast Lough Belfast Lough () is a large sea inlet on the east coast of Northern Ireland. At its head is the city and port of Belfast, which sits at the mouth of the River Lagan. The lough opens into the North Channel and connects Belfast to the Irish ...

on 1 May 1894 In the spring of 1893 Thomson had built the slightly smaller steamer for the B&CDR. In May 1894 ''Slieve Bearnagh'' joined ''Slieve Donard'' on the company's regular steamship route between

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 ...

and Bangor, for which the scheduled journey time was 55 minutes. Between them the two ships made six sailings per day from Belfast to Bangor from Mondays to Saturdays and a similar number back to Belfast. There were five sailings on Sundays, and from Mondays to Saturdays one sailing per day extended beyond Bangor to

Donaghadee Donaghadee ( , ) is a small town in County Down, Northern Ireland. It lies on the northeast coast of the Ards Peninsula, about east of Belfast and about six miles (10 km) south east of Bangor, County Down, Bangor. It is in the Civil paris ...

. On Saturday afternoons other sailings continued from Bangor across Belfast Lough to

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

. The railway sold ''Donard'' in 1899 but kept ''Bearnagh'' until 1912. She occasionally made excursions to

Portaferry Portaferry () is a small town in County Down, Northern Ireland, at the southern end of the Ards Peninsula, near the Narrows at the entrance to Strangford Lough. It is home to the Exploris aquarium and is well known for the annual Gala Week Fl ...

on the

Ards Peninsula The Ards Peninsula () is a peninsula in County Down, Northern Ireland, on the north-east coast of Ireland. It separates Strangford Lough from the North Channel (Great Britain and Ireland), North Channel of the Irish Sea. Towns and villages on t ...

Ardglass Ardglass () is a coastal fishing village, townland (of 321 acres) and civil parish in County Down, Northern Ireland, in the historic barony of Lecale Lower. It is still a relatively important fishing harbour. It is situated on the B1 Ardglas ...

in south Down, and

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

and

Portrush Portrush () is a small seaside resort town on the north coast of County Antrim, Northern Ireland. It neighbours the resort of Portstewart in County Londonderry. The main part of the old town, including the Portrush railway station, railway stati ...

on the coast of

County Antrim County Antrim (named after the town of Antrim, County Antrim, Antrim, ) is one of the six counties of Northern Ireland, located within the historic Provinces of Ireland, province of Ulster. Adjoined to the north-east shore of Lough Neagh, the c ...

in addition to her regular scheduled route on Belfast Lough. The

Board of Trade The Board of Trade is a British government body concerned with commerce and industry, currently within the Department for Business and Trade. Its full title is The Lords of the Committee of the Privy Council appointed for the consideration of ...

certificated ''Slieve Bearnagh'' to carry 958 passengers along the coast between Belfast and Bangor or 871 passengers on the more open sea voyage between Belfast and Larne. A report by the B&CDR's General Manager records that in November 1904 her

Master Master, master's or masters may refer to: Ranks or titles In education: *Master (college), head of a college *Master's degree, a postgraduate or sometimes undergraduate degree in the specified discipline *Schoolmaster or master, presiding office ...

, Captain McCorquodale, was

summons A summons (also known in England and Wales as a claim form or plaint note, and in the Australian state of New South Wales as a court attendance notice (CAN)) is a legal document issued by a court (a ''judicial summons'') or by an administrative ag ...

ed for overloading the ship. At the end of the 1911 summer season the B&CDR ordered a replacement ship for £24,000 and put ''Slieve Bearnagh'' up for sale for £12,000. No-one offered to buy at that price so the railway reduced it to £10,000 by the end of 1911 and later to £7,000. The replacement ship, the slightly larger PS ''Erin's Isle'', was launched on 12 June 1912, and finally on 19 June 1912 ''Slieve Bearnagh'' was sold for only £4,350.

With D&J Nicol

''Slieve Bearnagh'' buyer was D&J Nicol of

Dundee Dundee (; ; or , ) is the List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, fourth-largest city in Scotland. The mid-year population estimate for the locality was . It lies within the eastern central Lowlands on the north bank of the Firt ...

on the east coast of Scotland, with whom she became the largest pleasure steamer on the

Firth of Tay The Firth of Tay (; ) is a firth on the east coast of Scotland, into which empties the River Tay (Scotland's largest river in terms of flow). The firth is surrounded by four council areas: Fife, Perth and Kinross, Dundee City, and Angus. ...

. From Dundee she made various excursions: along the coast of

Angus Angus may refer to: *Angus, Scotland, a council area of Scotland, and formerly a province, sheriffdom, county and district of Scotland * Angus, Canada, a community in Essa, Ontario Animals * Angus cattle, various breeds of beef cattle Media * ...

Arbroath Arbroath () or Aberbrothock ( ) is a former royal burgh and the largest town in the Subdivisions of Scotland, council area of Angus, Scotland, Angus, Scotland, with a population of 23,902. It lies on the North Sea coast, some east-northeast of ...

and Montrose, around the

Inchcape Inchcape or the Bell Rock is a reef about off the east coast of Angus, Scotland, near Dundee and Fife, occupied by the Bell Rock Lighthouse. The name ''Inchcape'' comes from the Scottish Gaelic ''Innis Sgeap'', meaning "beehive isle", probabl ...

lighthouse, and across to

St Andrews St Andrews (; ; , pronounced ʰʲɪʎˈrˠiː.ɪɲ is a town on the east coast of Fife in Scotland, southeast of Dundee and northeast of Edinburgh. St Andrews had a recorded population of 16,800 , making it Fife's fourth-largest settleme ...

Fife Fife ( , ; ; ) is a council areas of Scotland, council area and lieutenancy areas of Scotland, lieutenancy area in Scotland. A peninsula, it is bordered by the Firth of Tay to the north, the North Sea to the east, the Firth of Forth to the s ...

With the Royal Navy

Sources disagree as to when ''Slieve Bearnagh'' entered

service. The

Admiralty Admiralty most often refers to: *Admiralty, Hong Kong * Admiralty (United Kingdom), military department in command of the Royal Navy from 1707 to 1964 *The rank of admiral *Admiralty law Admiralty can also refer to: Buildings * Admiralty, Tra ...

may have requisitioned her in 1915, used her as an auxiliary

minesweeper A minesweeper is a small warship designed to remove or detonate naval mines. Using various mechanisms intended to counter the threat posed by naval mines, minesweepers keep waterways clear for safe shipping. History The earliest known usage of ...

and then bought her in October 1917. According to another source the Admiralty did not requisition her until 1917. However, sources agree that in January 1919 she served as hospital carrier ship ''HC5''. ''Slieve Bearnagh'' was scrapped at

Inverkeithing Inverkeithing ( ; ) is a coastal town, parish and historic Royal burgh in Fife, Scotland. The town lies on the north shore of the Firth of Forth, northwest of Edinburgh city centre and south of Dunfermline. A town of ancient origin, Inverke ...

in Fife on 7 June 1923.

References

Sources

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Slieve Bearnagh, PS 1894 ships Ships built on the River Clyde Hospital ships of the Royal Navy Minesweepers of the Royal Navy Steamships of the United Kingdom