PS ''Slieve Donard'' 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 different periods of her history was also called PS ''Albion'' and HMS ''Albyn''. ''Albion'' is the name she bore the longest and may be the one by which she is better known in England. ''Slieve Donard'' was her original name and the one by which she will be best known on the island of Ireland. J&G Thomson launched ''Slieve Donard'' in 1893 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 1900 she joined P&A Campbell's White Funnel Fleet of pleasure steamers and was renamed ''Albion''. From 1915 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 HMS '' Albyn''. She was bombed in 1917 and scrapped in 1921.

''Slieve Donard'' 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 for a price of more than £18,000. Thomson's launched her on 20 May 1893 and quickly her fitted out, giving her a capacity for a combined total of 1,065 passengers and crew. The B&CDR named her ''

Slieve Donard Slieve Donard ( ; ) is the highest mountain in Northern Ireland, the highest in Ulster, and the seventh-highest in Ireland, with a height of . The highest of the Mourne Mountains, it is near the town of Newcastle on the eastern coast of County ...

'' after the 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 ...

. At the same time Thomson built an exact

sister ship A sister ship is a ship of the same Ship class, class or of virtually identical design to another ship. Such vessels share a nearly identical hull and superstructure layout, similar size, and roughly comparable features and equipment. They o ...

, , for the

Glasgow and South Western Railway The Glasgow and South Western Railway (G&SWR) was the third biggest of the five major Scottish railway companies prior to the 1923 Grouping. It served a triangular area of south-west Scotland between Glasgow, Stranraer and Carlisle, Cumbria, Ca ...

. Thomson had launched another sister ship for the G&SWR, , a few weeks previously. ''Minerva'' had detail differences from ''Glen Rosa'' and ''Slieve Donard''. ''Slieve Donard'' entered service on 20 June 1893, which was within a week of her arrival 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 ...

. Her regular route was 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. On 1 May 1894 the B&CDR introduced a second new steamer, the slightly larger . Between them ''Donard'' and ''Bearnagh'' 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 ...

''Albion'' with P&A Campbell

In 1899 the B&CDR sold ''Slieve Donard'' for £12,500 to Captain Alexander Campbell, co-founder of the P&A Campbell pleasure steamer company. The Campbells renamed her ''Albion'' and her to their "White Funnel Fleet". The Campbells stationed her at

Southampton Southampton is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. It is located approximately southwest of London, west of Portsmouth, and southeast of Salisbury. Southampton had a population of 253, ...

1900–02, Newport 1903–12 and

Brighton Brighton ( ) is a seaside resort in the city status in the United Kingdom, city of Brighton and Hove, East Sussex, England, south of London. Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates back to the Bronze Age Britain, Bronze Age, R ...

1913–14. On 1 April 1907 she ran aground in the Bristol Channel off Portishead, but with the aid of

tugs A tugboat or tug is a marine vessel that manoeuvres other vessels by pushing or pulling them, with direct contact or a tow line. These boats typically tug ships in circumstances where they cannot or should not move under their own power, such ...

she was refloated on the next high tide.

''Albyn'' with the Royal Navy

In 1915 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 ...

requisitioned ''Albion'', renamed her HMS ''Albyn'' and had her converted into a

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 ...

. With the

she was stationed at

Dover Dover ( ) is a town and major ferry port in Kent, southeast England. It faces France across the Strait of Dover, the narrowest part of the English Channel at from Cap Gris Nez in France. It lies southeast of Canterbury and east of Maidstone. ...

and in 1917 she was bombed and set on fire by enemy action. After the First World War ''Albyn'' was not refurbished. She was scrapped in 1921 but P&A Campbell had her engines salvaged.

Ailsa Shipbuilding Company Ailsa Shipbuilding Company was a Scottish shipbuilding company based in Troon and Ayr, Ayrshire. History The company was founded in 1885 by Archibald Kennedy, 3rd Marquess of Ailsa, along with Peter James Wallace and Alexander McCredie. In 19 ...

Troon Troon (Scottish Gaelic: ''An Truthail'') is a town and sea port in South Ayrshire, situated on the west coast of Ayrshire in Scotland, about north of Ayr and northwest of Glasgow Prestwick Airport. Troon has a port with ferry and freight serv ...

installed them in , which they built for P&A Campbell and launched in 1922.

References

Sources

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Slieve Donard, PS 1893 ships Ships built on the River Clyde Minesweepers of the Royal Navy Steamships of the United Kingdom