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British Railways - Sealink
Page 8: Harwich Sevices
This page is still under construction
This page is devoted to postcards and photographs of the Harwich sevices of British Railways, which was formed in 1948 with the ships from former LMS, LNER, SR and GWR fleets. British Railways was rebranded British Rail in 1965, and new corporate colours and logo were introduced. In 1968, an Act of Parliament separated the shipping interests of British Rail into a new division, for which the marketing name Sealink was adopted in 1970. In 1979, the ownership of of vessels was transferred to Sealink UK Ltd, in preparation for the privatisation of the railway fleet. In 1984, Sealink was acquired by Sea Containers Ltd, becoming Sealink British Ferries. After a lengthy battle,
Stena Line
completed a hostile takeover of Sealink in 1990, the company then being known as Sealink Stena Line until later absorption into the Stena Fleet.
An alphabetical list of ships
shown on this page is shown below.
The Table
beneath gives links to complete history pages on selected individual ships. Below the table is a
Fleet List
in chronological order.
Ships on This Page:-
Amsterdam
- BR/Sealink: 1950-1969
Norfolk Ferry
- BR/Sealink: 1951-1981
Suffolk Ferry
- BR/Sealink: 1951-1981
Essex Ferry (1)
- BR: 1949-1957
- later:
Essex Ferry II
Essex Ferry (2)
- BR/Sealink: 1957-1983
Essex Ferry II
- BR: 1957
- ex-
Essex Ferry (1)
Avalon
- BR/Sealink: 1963-1980
Cambridge Ferry
- BR/Sealink: 1963-1984
St George
- Sealink: 1968-1984
St Edmund
- Sealink: 1974-1983
St Nicholas
- Sealink: 1983-1990
British Railways Pages:-
Great Eastern Railway
- Harwich Services
London & North Eastern Railway
- Harwich Services
British Railways/Sealink
- BR/Sealink Header Page
Associated Pages:-
Hellenic Maritime Lines (HML)
Ferry Postcards
Cruise Ship Postcards
Ocean Liner Postcards
Simplon Postcards
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Table of Ship Histories
Name
Other names
Built
St Nicholas
Prinsessan Birgitta, Stena Normandy, Normandy
1981
British Railways - Sealink
Page 8: Harwich Sevices
Essex Ferry (1) - Essex Ferry II
(BR: 1949-1957)
Essex Ferry
was built in 1919 by Armstrong Whitworth & Co as
Train Ferry No 1
for the wartime train ferry services from Richborough and Southampton to Dunkirk. There were three ships,
Train Ferry No.1
,
Train Ferry No.2
and
Train Ferry No.3
, henceforth referred to as
TF1, TF2
and
TF3
. After the war they lay idle until bought by the Great Eastern Train Ferry Company in 1924 to open a Harwich-Dunkirk trains ferry service (despite the title, the Great Eastern Railway had been taken over by the LNER in 1923). The service was taken over fully by the LNER in in 1932. During WW2, the three ships were requisitioned by the Royal Navy,
TF2
was lost off Saint-Valéry en Caux June 13th 1940. In 1940
TF1
and
TF3
were renamed
HMS Princess Iris
and
HMS Daffodil
, after the ex-Mersey ferries used in the famous WW1 Zeebrugge raid.
In 1941
HMS Princess Iris
and
HMS Daffodil
were converted into Landing Craft Carriers. Both ships were modified with their twin funnels trunked into one, slightly improving their ungainly appearance.
HMS Daffodil
(ex-
TF3
) was lost off Dieppe on March 18th 1945, leaving only
HMS Princess Iris
(ex-
TF1
) to survive the war. She returned to civilian use in 1946, and was renamed
Essex Ferry (1)
, running three return trips a week to Zeebrugge. She was joined by new ferries
Norfolk Ferry
and
Suffolk Ferry
in 1951.
Essex Ferry (2)
joined them in 1957, and
Essex Ferry (1)
was briefly renamed
Essex Ferry II
before being broken up in Grays.
There are a lot of conflicting details of these ferries in published works. Some sources, including H.T.Lenton, list
TF2
, not
TF3
, as becoming
HMS Daffodil.
Other sources suggest that
HMS Princess Iris
was briefly named
HMS Iris
, or that
HMS Daffodil
was later renamed
HMS Princess Daffodil
.
Photograph of
Essex Ferry (1)
at Harwich
Click to open larger image in new window
Photograph of
Essex Ferry II
at Harwich
Click to open larger image in new window
Amsterdam
(BR/Sealink: 1950-1969)
Norfolk Ferry
(BR/Sealink: 1951-1981)
Suffolk Ferry
(BR/Sealink: 1951-1981)
Essex Ferry (2)
(BR/Sealink: 1957-1981)
Photograph of
Essex Ferry
in BR service
Click to open larger image in new window
Photograph of
Essex Ferry
in Sealink service
Click to open larger image in new window
Photograph of
Essex Ferry
in Sealink service
Click to open larger image in new window
Avalon
(BR/Sealink: 1963-1980)
British Railways postcard of
Avalon
.
Publisher: J.Arthur Dixon
Photographic postcard of
Avalon
in British Railways service.
British Rail postcard of
Avalon
.
Publisher: J.Arthur Dixon
Photographic postcard of
Avalon
in British Rail service.
Sealink postcard of
Avalon
as a car ferry at Fishguard.
Publisher: J.Arthur Dixon
Photographic postcard of
Avalon
in Sealink service.
Cambridge Ferry
(BR/Sealink: 1963-1984)
Photograph of
Cambridge Ferry
in British Railways service.
Photo: © Max Wilkinson
Click to open larger image in new window
Photograph of
Cambridge Ferry
in Sealink service.
St George
Sealink: 1968-1984
St George
was built by Swan & Hunter Tyneside Shipsbuilders in 1968. She entered service with British Railways between Harwich and Hook of Holland, remaining on this route until withdrawn in 1983.
St George
was sold the following year to a Cypriot company Psatha Navigation, and entered service as
Patra Express
for Ventouris Lines between Greece and Italy. There were plans to use her on a new venture between Poole and Bilbao in 1990, but instead she was renamed
Scandinavian Sky II
and rebuilt in Immingham for use as a cruise ship. She entered service for
SeaEscape
from Fort Lauderdale to Freeport in August 1990, having been renamed again as
Scandinavian Dawn
. Owners were registered as MSJ Shipping. In 1996 she wa renamed
Discovery Dawn
still operating for the
SeaEscape
banner - follow the link for the eventful history of this company. In 1998 she was operating for New SeaEscape as the Island Dawn, reverting to
Discovery Dawn
the following year, operating from Port Isabel, Texas. Registered owners changed to Discovery Dawn Ltd Partnership, of Nassau. In 2000,
Discovery Dawn
was chartered to Viva Gaming and Resorts as the
Texas Treasure
, for casino cruises from Corpus Christi and Port Aransas in Texas.
Sealink postcard of
St George
.
Publisher: J.Arthur Dixon
Sealink postcard of
St George
.
Later version of the card above - Publisher: J.Arthur Dixon
Photograph of
St George
arriving at Harwich.
Photo: © Ian Boyle, 1979
Photograph of
St George
arriving at Harwich.
Photo: © Ian Boyle, 1979
Photograph of
St George
arriving at Harwich.
Photo: © Ian Boyle, 1979
Photograph of
St George
arriving at Harwich.
Photo: © Ian Boyle, 1979.
St Edmund
Sealink: 1974-1983
St Edmund
was built in 1974 by Cammell Laird Shipbuilders, Birkenhead, on the River Mersey. She entered service for Sealink between harwich and the Hook of Holland in January 1975. In 1982
St Edmund
was requisitioned for use as a troop transport in the Falklands campaign. She was retained after the end of the war, and bought by the Ministry of Defence in 1983, being renamed
Keren
. trooping duites finished,
Keren
was sold to Cenargo in 1986, adopting the name
Scirocco
. During the summer of 1986
Scirocco
was chartered to Tirrenia for service between Genoa and Sardinia. Mediterranean charters followed to Comanav, Trasmed and Cotunav through 1987-1988, when she was chartered to
British Channel Island Ferries
. She re-entered service as the
Rozel
in in February 1989 from Poole to the Channel Islands. The charter ended in January 1992, and she reverted to the name
Scirocco
. Further Mediterranean charters followed to Trasmed, FerriMaroc, Comanav and Cotunav, until sale in 2004 to El Salam Maritim, Cairo, who renamed her
Santa Catherine I
. Further charters to Comanav and Algerie Ferries foloowed, plus pilgrim traffic to from Suez.
Sealink postcard of
St Edmund
.
Publisher: J.Arthur Dixon
Photograph of
St Edmund
off Felixstowe.
Photo: © Ian Boyle, 1979.
Photograph of
St Edmund
off Felixstowe.
Photo: © Ian Boyle, 1979.