The SS ''Raven'', sometimes also referred to as the SY ''Raven'', is a steam barge ordered by the

Furness Railway The Furness Railway (FR) was a railway company operating in the Furness area of Lancashire in North West England. History Formation In the early 1840s, the owners of iron ore mines in the Furness district of Lancashire became interested in a ...

for use on the lake of

Windermere Windermere (historically Winder Mere) is a ribbon lake in Cumbria, England, and part of the Lake District. It is the largest lake in England by length, area, and volume, but considerably smaller than the List of lakes and lochs of the United Ki ...

in the

English Lake District The Lake District, also known as ''the Lakes'' or ''Lakeland'', is a mountainous region and national park in Cumbria, North West England. It is famous for its landscape, including its lakes, coast, and mountains, and for its literary associati ...

, where she has spent her entire working life. She is a member 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 ...

, and is now preserved. She is the second-oldest ship on

Lloyd's Register Lloyd's Register Group Limited, trading as Lloyd's Register (LR), is a technical and professional services organisation and a maritime classification society, wholly owned by the Lloyd’s Register Foundation, a UK charity dedicated to research ...

and the oldest with her original machinery. The ''Raven'' was built in 1871, and was originally used to carry cargo from the Furness Railway terminus at Lakeside station to houses, hotels and businesses around the lake, and to the railway warehouses at

Ambleside Ambleside is a town in the civil parish of Lakes and the Westmorland and Furness district of Cumbria, England. Within the boundaries of the historic county of Westmorland and located in the Lake District National Park, the town sits at the ...

and

Bowness-on-Windermere Bowness-on-Windermere is a town and former civil parish, now in the parish of Windermere and Bowness, in the Westmorland and Furness district, in the ceremonial county of Cumbria, England. It lies next to Lake Windermere and the town of Wind ...

. She also served as an ice-breaker for the passenger steamers run by the railway on the lake. In 1922 ''Raven'' was withdrawn from service and sold to

Vickers Armstrong Vickers-Armstrongs Limited was a British engineering conglomerate formed by the merger of the assets of Vickers Limited and Sir W G Armstrong Whitworth & Company in 1927. The majority of the company was nationalised in the 1960s and 1970s, wi ...

Barrow-in-Furness Barrow-in-Furness is a port town and civil parish (as just "Barrow") in the Westmorland and Furness district of Cumbria, England. Historic counties of England, Historically in the county of Lancashire, it was incorporated as a municipal borou ...

for testing

mine-laying 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 inst ...

equipment on the lake. By the 1950s the ''Raven'' was lying abandoned at Lakeside. She was bought for preservation in 1956 by George Pattinson, the founder of the Windermere Steamboat Museum. Her engine and boiler were refurbished in time for her 100th birthday, when she once again steamed down the lake. The ''Raven'' was displayed at the Windermere Steamboat Museum from 1977 until the museum closed in 2006. The site and exhibits of the former museum are intended to reopen as the Windermere Jetty Museum of Boats, Steam and Stories, and in the meantime the ''Raven'' is in storage. The ''Raven'' has a length of , a beam of , a draught of and a gross tonnage of 41. Her hull is of rivetted iron and she retains her original single cylinder steam engine. The present boiler was installed in about 1926.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Raven, SS Ships and vessels of the National Historic Fleet Transport in Cumbria 1871 ships