PS Adelaide (1880)

PS Adelaide was a passenger paddle steamer built for the Great Eastern Railway (GER) in 1880.^[1]

History
United Kingdom
Name	Adelaide
Operator	Great Eastern Railway
Port of registry	Harwich
Builder	Barrow Ship Building Company
Yard number	74
Launched	8 May 1880
Out of service	1896
Identification	UK official number 81173
Fate	Hulked 1897
General characteristics
Tonnage	976 GRT, 553 NRT
Length	254.2 ft (77.5 m)
Beam	32.3 ft (9.8 m)
Depth	13.0 ft (4.0 m)
Propulsion	oscillating steam engine

History

The Barrow Shipbuilding Company built Adelaide for the Great Eastern Railway. She was launched on 8 May 1880.^[2] She was launched by Mrs. Adelaide Simpson, the wife of Mr. Lightly Simpson, a director of the GER Company. She was the GER's first steel-hulled ship, and its last paddle steamer. She was intended for the Harwich – Rotterdam service.

In 1885 the GER launched its twice-weekly morning service to mainland Europe. A train was scheduled to leave London Liverpool Street Station at 9.00am to Harwich, where it connected with the paddle steamer Adelaide which left at 11.00am to arrive in Antwerp the same evening.^[3] There was a corresponding return service from Antwerp on Tuesdays and Fridays, reaching London the same night. The company also offered a daily weekday service which left Liverpool Street at 8.00pm every evening, with a connecting boat service overnight to Antwerp and Rotterdam, with arrivals early the following morning.

In 1896 Adelaide was withdrawn from service. In 1897 Thos. W. Ward hulked her at Preston, Lancashire.

References

1. Duckworth, CLD; Langmuir, GE (1968). Railway and other Steamers. Prescot: T. Stephenson and Sons. ISBN 978-0901314123.^{[page needed]}
2. "On Saturday, the 8th inst., the "Adelaide,"…". Grantham Journal. Grantham. 15 May 1880. Retrieved 29 October 2015 – via British Newspaper Archive.
3. "New Morning Service to the Continent". Hastings and St Leonards Observer. Hastings. 11 July 1885. Retrieved 29 October 2015 – via British Newspaper Archive.