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B&I Line
Page 2: Post War Ships 1945-1995
This page is devoted the post war fleet of B&I Line, originally the British & Irish Steam Packet Company.
An alphabetical list of ships
shown on this page is shown below.
The Table
beneath gives links to complete postcard history pages on selected individual ships. Below the table are official
postcards of the fleet
in chronological order. Numbers assigned to ships of the same name include earlier connected companies such as the
City of Dublin SP Co
, who also had, for example, ships named
Munster
built in 1860 and 1897. These are
Munster (1)
and
Munster (2)
, and are on the
City of Dublin SP Co
webpage.
The British & Irish Steam Packet Company had a long history stretching back to the beginnings of steamship operations, including predecessors such as the
City of Dublin SP Co
. The first transatlantic crossing by a steamship, the
Sirius
, was made by an early associated company. British & Irish eventually became part of the giant
Coast Lines
group, which effectively monopolised regular services on the Irish Sea (with the exception of railway-owned routes). Following an initial fleet rebuilding after WW2,
Coast Lines
allowed their passenger services to stagnate in the 1960s, not following European trends towards vehicle ferries. The Irish Government acquired British & Irish in 1965, with the intention of updating the services. Three new car ferries arrived in 1969, marketed at the time as B+I Motorway. This page concentrates on this State-owned period, but shows the earlier post-war vessels acquired at nationalisation. B&I suffered during the troubles in Ireland, when tourist traffic declined sharply, and they were taken over by
Irish Continental Line
in 1991. Services were amalgamated under the
Irish Ferries
banner in 1995.
Ships on This Page:-
Bison
(1989-1993, Chartered)
Connacht
(1979-1988)
Dundalk
(1975-1980)
Earl Harold
(1989, Chartered)
Innisfallen (3)
(1948-1968)
Innisfallen (4)
(1969-1980)
Innisfallen (5)
(1980-1986)
Isle of Inishmore
(1993-1995)
Isle of Innisfree (1)
(1992-1995, Chartered)
Leinster (4)
(1948-1969)
Leinster (5)
(1969-1980)
Leinster (6)
(1981-1993)
Meath (3)
(1960-19xx)
Munster (4)
(1948-1969)
Munster (5)
(1969-1983)
Munster (6)
(1990-1993)
Stena Nordica
(1981, Chartered)
Tipperary
(1979-1989)
Coast Lines Pages:-
British & Irish SP Co
- History 1826-1945
B & I Lines
- History 1945-1995
- this page!
City of Dublin SP Co
- Taken over by B&I in 1919
Coast Lines
P&O Ferries
Associated Pages:-
Brittany Ferries
Corsica Ferries
DFDS
Irish Ferries
Libra Maritime (HML)
Lion Ferry
Stena Line
Strintzis Lines
Trasmediterranea
Ferry Postcards
Cruise Ship Postcards
Ocean Liner Postcards
Simplon Postcards Home Page
References:-
The B&I Line:
by Hazel P.Smyth - Gill & Macmillan 1984
Across the Irish Sea:
by Robert Sinclair - Conway Maritime 1990
Irish Passenger Steamship Services - Volumes 1 & 2:
by D.B.McNeil - David & Charles 1969
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Table of Ship Histories
Name
Other names
Built
Innisfallen (3)
Poseidon
1948
Innisfallen (5)
Leinster (4), Ionian Sun
1969
Leinster (4)
Aphrodite
1948
Leinster (5)
Innisfallen (5), Ionian Sun
1969
Munster (4)
Theseus, Orpheus
1948
Tipperary
Puma, Norcape (2)
1979
B&I Fleet List
Leinster (4)
(B&I: 1948-69)
At the end of World War Two, the 1937
Leinster (3)
became the
Ulster Prince
for Belfast SS, and the 1938
Munster (3)
had been lost. Two new sisters were built in 1948. They were very similar to their predecessors, but differed externally in that the stump main mast was shorter and mounted in front of the well deck. Two derricks were located in the well. The windows below the boat deck had round portholes compared to rectangular on the pre-war sisters. The
Leinster (4)
and
Munster (4)
were sold in 1969 to Greek owners. The
Leinster (4)
was renamed
Aphrodite
and ran for Mediterranean Sun Lines. She was scrapped in 1988. I do not have pictures of either ship in nationalised livery with the arrow funnel logo. If you can help, please email:
simplon@simplon.co.uk
Complete history of
Leinster (4)
Official B&I postcard.
Munster (4)
(B&I: 1948-69)
The
Munster (4)
was the sister of the
Leinster (4)
above. The same card was issued for each ship. The text shown below is slightly different to the
Leinster (4)
card shown above. Both versions of the text were issued for both ships. The
Munster (4)
was sold in 1969. After a spell as
Theseus
, she operated as
Orpheus
for
Epirotiki Lines
, with lengthy charters to
Swan Hellenic
(part of
P&O Cruises
).
Complete history of
Munster (4)
Official B&I postcard.
Photographic card of the 1948
Munster (4)
.
A Real Photographs photo card of the 1948
Munster (4)
.
Photographic card of the 1948
Munster (4)
.
Photographic card of the 1948
Munster (4)
(or
Leinster (4)
) passing the new 1969
Munster (5)
.
Innisfallen (3)
(B&I: 1948-1968)
Innisfallen (3)
was built in 1948 for the British & Irish Steam Packet Co of Dublin. Unlike other similar Coast Lines motorships, she was built at Wm. Denny of Dumbarton, not Harland & Wolff, Belfast. She operated in City of Cork Steam Packet colours between Swansea and Cork until 1968, when she was sold. She re-entered service in 1969 as the
Poseidonia
of
Libra Maritime (HML)
. She was scrapped in 1985.
Complete history of
Innisfallen (3)
An official card of the
Innisfallen
of 1947.
Slight variations of this card have been issued with different lettering on the face and the back.
In her final years, the
Innisfallen
carried the nationalised B & I symbol on her funnel.
This photo was taken by Ian Boyle on the River Lee, Cork.
A Plastichrome card, serial P40309, of the
Innisfallen
on the River Lee, Cork.
An NPO card, serial 2273-32936C, of the
Innisfallen
on the River Lee, Cork.
Meath (3)
(1960-19xx)
Munster (5)
(1969-1983)
Munster (5)
was ordered by
Lion Ferry
as one of a series of ships built by Werft Nobiskrug GmbH, Rendsburg. The other ships in the series were
Prins Bertil, Gustav Vasa
and
Kronprins Karl Gustav
of
Lion Ferry
, and the
Innisfallen (4)
of B&I. A further B&I ship
Leinster (5)
was built by Verolme Cork Dockyards Ltd.
Munster (5)
was sold to the B&I Steam Packet Co before delivery in 1969, entering service between Dublin-Liverpool.
Munster (5)
could be identified from her "sisters" through not having the Sky Lounge above the bridge. In 1981
Munster (5)
served between Pembroke Dock and Rosslare, before being laid up in Liverpool. In 1992
Munster (5)
was chartered for service in Norway, before returning to Liverpool. In early 1993
Munster (5)
briefly returned to B&I service between Liverpool-Dublin and Dublin-Holyhead, before being sold for service to Saudi Arabia as the
Farah I
. In 1991 she became the Chinese
Tian Peng
.
Photographic card of the new
Munster (5)
being passed by the 1948
Munster (4)
(or
Leinster (4)
).
Official B&I Line of
Munster (5)
and
Leinster (5)
(background).
Company marketing name at this time was B+I Motorway.
Official B&I postcard of
Munster
(John Hinde 1168).
Original funnel emblem.
Official B&I postcard of
Munster
(John Hinde 2/1168).
Later funnel emblem.
Photographic card of the
Munster (5)
.
Innisfallen (4)
(1969-1980)
Innisfallen (4)
was built in 1969 by Werft Nobiskrug GmbH, Rendsburg. She was one of a series of similar ships built in Rendsburg, the others being
Prins Bertil, Gustav Vasa
and
Kronprins Karl Gustav
of
Lion Ferry
, and the
Munster
of B&I. A further B&I ship
Leinster (5)
was built by Verolme Cork Dockyards Ltd.
Innisfallen (4)
entered service between Swansea-Cork in May 1969, replacing the 1948
Innisfallen (3)
. In 1979,
Innisfallen (4)
transferred to the Liverpool-Dublin route. In 1980
Innisfallen (4)
was sold to the Tourship Group and entered service as
Corsica Viva
for
Corsica Ferries
. When she was sold, sistership
Leinster (5)
was renamed
Innisfallen (5)
to replace her.
In 1994, Corsica Ferries advertised a Caribbean ferry service between Martinique, Dominica and St Lucia as Caribia Ferries, for which
Corsica Viva
was renamed
Dominican Viva
. Upon return, she was named
Corsica Viva I
, and later
Sardinia Viva
. In 1993 she was used on a different Caribbean service as the
Caribia Viva
. Subsequently sold, she received the name
Happy Dolphin
in 1998 and continued to serve Bastia, but from La Spezia. Happy Lines ceased operations in 2002, and
Happy Dolphin
passed to Sancak Lines (Turkey) as the
Derin Deniz
.
Official B&I Line of
Innisfallen (4)
.
Company marketing name at this time was B+I Motorway.
Judges postcard (C2186) of
Innisfallen (4)
at Swansea.
Judges postcard (C2112) of
Innisfallen (4)
at Swansea.
John Hinde postcard (2/166) of
Innisfallen (4)
at Black Castle (Co.Cork).
Photo: D.Noble
Eason postcard (C18) of