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This website has no connection with any shipping company, cruise line, boat operator or other commercial organisation
Great Eastern Railway
This page is still under construction
This page is devoted to postcards and photographs of the continental services of the Great Eastern Railway (GER).
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 (1)
- (1894-1928 - 1745 grt)
Antwerp
- (1920-1951 - 2,957 grt)
Archangel
- (1916-1941 - 2,570 grt) - ex-
St Petersburg
Berlin
- (1894-1907 - 1745 grt)
Bruges
- (1920-1940 - 2,949 grt)
Brussels
- (1902-1920 - 1380 grt)
Cambridge
- (1886-1912 - 1196 grt)
Chelmsford
- (1893-1910 - 1635 grt)
Claud Hamilton
- (1875-1897 - 922 grt)
Colchester
- (1889-1916 - 1160 grt)
Copenhagen
- (1907-1917 - 2,570 grt)
Dresden
- (1897-1915 - 1,805 grt) - later
Louvain
Louvain
- (1915-1918 - 1,805 grt) - ex-
Dresden
Essex Ferry (1)
- (1946-1956 - 2,683 grt)
Essex Ferry II
- (1956-1957 - 2,683 grt)
Frinton
- (1919-19xx) - ex-
Kilkenny
Ipswich
- (1883-1906 - 1067 grt)
Kilkenny
- (1917-1919 - 1,419 grt) - later
Frinton
Malines
- (1921-1948 - 2,969grt)
Munich
- (1908-1914 - 2,570 grt) - later
St Denis
St Denis
- (1918-1940) - ex-
Munich
Norwich
- (1883-1905 - 1,062 grt)
Roulers
- (1920-1930 - 1753 grt) - ex-
Vienna
St George
- (1919-1929 - 2,456 grt)
St Petersburg
- (1910-1916 - 2,570 grt) - later
Archangel
Train Ferry No. 1
- (1917-1946 - 2,683 grt) - later
Essex Ferry (1)
,
Essex Ferry II
Train Ferry No. 2
- (1917-1945 - 2,678 grt)
Train Ferry No. 3
- (1917-1945 - 2,672 grt)
Vienna (1)
- (1894-1920 - 1753 grt) - later
Roulers
Associated Pages:-
Great Eastern Railway
- East Coast Local Services
British Railways
- Header page for all UK railway-owned services
Great Central Railway
- East Coast Services
London & North Eastern Railway
- Harwich Services
Lancashire & Yorkshire Railway - Page 2
- East Coast Services
Ferry Postcards
Cruise Ship Postcards
Ocean Liner Postcards
Simplon Postcards Home Page
References:-
Merchant Fleets No.25 - Britain's Railway Steamers
by Duncan Haws (1993)
Railway & Other Steamers
by Duckworth & Langmuir
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Table of Ship Histories
Name
Other names
Built
Duke of Cornwall
Rushen Castle
1898
Great Eastern Railway Fleet List
Claud Hamilton
(GER: 1875-1897 - 922 grt)
Claud Hamilton
was built in 1875 for the Harwich-Holland route. In 1897, she was sold to the City of London.
Ipswich
(GER: 1883-1906 - 1067 grt)
Ipswich
was built in 1883 for the Harwich-Antwerp service. In 1906 she was sold to Shah SN Co, Bombay.
Norwich
- (GER: 1883-1905 - 1,062 grt)
Norwich
was built in 1883 for the Harwich-Antwerp route. In 1905 she was sold to the Channel Drydock & Shipbuilding Co, Harwich.
Cambridge
(GER: 1886-1912 - 1196 grt)
Cambridge
was built in 1886 for Harwich-Rotterdam/Antwerp/Hook services. In 1912 she was sold to Anglo-Ottoman SS Co.
Colchester
(GER: 1889-1916 - 1160 grt)
Colchester
was built in for the 1889 Harwich-Rotterdam service. In 1916
Colchester
was captured by German warships. In 1918 she was grounded and abandoned at Kiel, and was scrapped in 1919.
Chelmsford
(GER: 1893-1910 - 1635 grt)
Chelmsford
was built in 1893 for the Harwich-Hook route. In 1910 she was sold to the Great Western Railway renamed
Bretonne
.
Amsterdam
(GER:1894-1922 - 1745 grt)
Amsterdam
(LNER:1923-1928 - 1745 grt)
Amsterdam
was built in 1894 for the Harwich-Hook route. She moved to the Harwich-Antwerp route in 1910, and was scrapped in 1928.
Berlin
(1894-1907 - 1745 grt)
Berlin
was built in 1894 for the Harwich-Hook route. In 1907 she was wrecked at entrance to the New Waterway with the loss of 128 lives.
Wreck of the
Berlin
.
Wreck of the
Berlin
.
Vienna
(GER: 1894-1920 -1753 grt)
Roulers
(GER: 1920-1922)
Roulers
(LNER: 1923-1930)
Vienna
1894 Harwich - Hook, 1910 Harwich - Antwerp, 1920 renamed
Roulers
, Harwich - Zeebrugge, 1930 scrapped.
Dresden
(1897-1915 - 1,805 grt)
Louvain
(1915-1918)
Dresden
was built in 1897 for the Harwich-Antwerp route. In 1915 she was taken over by Admiralty and renamed
Louvain
, but in 1918 was sunk by U-Boat in Aegean Sea.
Scan: Leo Palmer
Click to open larger image in new window
Brussels
(1902-1920 - 1380 grt)
Brussels
was built in 1902 for the Harwich-Antwerp service. In WW1, she transferred to the Tilbury-Hook route, and was captured by German warships in 1916. Her master, Captain Fryatt, was executed by German firing squad for attempting to ram a U-Boat which had attacked his ship. In 1920 she was sold to the Dublin & Lancashire SS Co, and later served with the
British & Irish SP Co
as
Lady Brussels
.
Postcard issued in the war to after the execution of Captain Fryatt.
Kilkenny
(1917-1919 - 1419 grt)
Frinton
(1919-19xx)
Kilkenny
was built in 1903 for the
City of Dublin SP Co
. In 1917 she was purchased by the GER for the Harwich-Rotterdam service. In 1919
Kilkenny
was renamed
Frinton
.
Copenhagen
(GER: 1907-1917 - 2570 grt)
Copenhagen was built in 1907 for the Harwich-Hook route. In 1917 she was torpedoed and sunk in the North Sea.
Munich
(GER: 1908-1914 - 2570 grt)
St Denis
(GER: 1918-1922)
St Denis
(LNER: 1923-1940)
Munich
was built in 1908 for the Harwich-Hook service. In WW1 she was used as the hospital ship
St Denis
, retaining the name afterwards. In 1940 she was caught in Amsterdam, and was scuttled. She was raised and used by Germans, and was scrapped in 1950.
St. Petersburg
(GER: 1910-1916 - 2570 grt)
Archangel
(GER: 1916-1922)
Archangel
(LNER: 1923-1941)
St. Petersburg
was built in 1910 for the Harwich-Hook service. In 1916 she was renamed renamed
Archangel
.
Archangel
was bombed and sunk off East coast of Scotland in 1941.
St George
(GER: 1919-1922 - 2456 grt)
St George
(LNER: 1923-1929)
St George
was built in 1906 for the Great Western railway's Fishguard-Rosslare service. She was sold to the Canadian Pacific Railway, and purchased from them by the GER in 1919, retaining her original name
St George
throughout. She was scrapped in 1929.
Antwerp
(GER: 1920-19221 - 2957 grt)
Antwerp
(LNER: 1923-1951)
Antwerp
was built in 1920 for the Harwich-Antwerp service. In 1945 she became the Harwich-Hook army leave ship.
Antwerp
was scrapped in 1951.
Bruges
(GER: 1920-1922 - 2949 grt)
Bruges
(LNER: 1923-1940)
Bruges
was built in 1920 for the Harwich-Antwerp service In 1940 she was bombed and sunk near Havre while trooping.
Malines
(1921-1922 - 2969grt)
Malines
(1923-1948)
Malines
was built in 1921 for the Harwich-Antwerp service. She was laid up in 1945, and scrapped in 1948.
Train Ferry No. 1 - Essex Ferry (1)
(1924-1957 - 2683 grt)
Train Ferry No. 2
(1924-1940 - 2678 grt)
Train Ferry No. 3
(1924-1945 - 2672 grt)
These three train ferries were built as part of the WW1 war effort in 1917 to operate from Richborough Military Port (in Kent) to Dunkirk. Despite attempts to interest the local railway companies in continuing the service from Richborough, the ferries were laid up. In 1922. the Great Eastern Railway considered using these ferries from Harwich. The Belgians were the most interested in providing a continental terminal, and two companies were formed in 1923, Great Eastern Ferries Ltd and Le Société Belgo-Anglaise Des Ferry-Boats SA, although the Great Eastern railway itself had become part of the London & North Eastern Railway (LNER) by this time. In 1924 a new Harwich-Zeebrugge route was started, using original original gantries and linkspans from Richborough and Southampton. The three wartime ferries were refitted for service, retaining their names
Train Ferry No.1
,
Train Ferry No.2
and
Train Ferry No.3
, henceforth referred to as
TF1, TF2
and
TF3
. The service was operated by the LNER for freight only. Great Eastern Ferries Ltd went into liquidation in the depression in 1932, and its assets were purchased by the LNER.
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
.
Train Ferry No.2
at Zeebrugge.
Train Ferry No.3
.
Train Ferry No.3
at Harwich.
Train Ferry No.3
at Zeebrugge.