PS Avalon#The second <em>Avalon</em>
{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2018}}
{{Use British English|date=February 2018}}
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{{Infobox ship image | Ship image = File:Avalon steamer 1864.jpg | Ship caption = The first Avalon, 1864 }} {{Infobox ship career | Hide header = | Ship name =
| Ship operator =
| Ship registry = London | Ship route = | Ship ordered = | Ship builder = J & W Dudgeon, Cubitt Town, London | Ship original cost = | Ship yard number = | Ship way number = | Ship laid down = | Ship launched = 26 March 1864 | Ship completed = | Ship christened = | Ship acquired = | Ship maiden voyage = 9 June 1864 | Ship in service = | Ship out of service = | Ship identification = | Ship fate = | Ship notes = }} {{Infobox ship characteristics | Hide header = | Header caption = | Ship type = | Ship tonnage = {{GRT|670|disp=long}} | Ship displacement = | Ship length = {{convert|239.8|ft|m}} | Ship beam = {{convert|27|ft|m}} | Ship draught = | Ship depth = {{convert|13.5|ft|m}} | Ship decks = | Ship deck clearance = | Ship ramps = | Ship ice class = | Ship power = | Ship propulsion = | Ship speed = | Ship capacity = | Ship crew = | Ship notes = }} |
PS Avalon was an iron paddle passenger vessel built on the River Thames for the Great Eastern Railway in 1864 for their ferry services from Harwich to Rotterdam and Antwerp. Before the end of that year she was bought by British interests to assist with the commissioning of the Confederate iron-clad {{ship|CSS|Stonewall||6}}, and renamed City of Richmond. After the war she was renamed Agnes Arkle and sold in Brazil in 1865.
Following the sale of the first vessel, the Railway company ordered a replacement Avalon, which was completed in 1865, to restore a three-ship fleet. After 23 years' service, she was sold, and after conversion to screw propeller propulsion, bought by a Norwegian who worked her in the Caribbean. She was wrecked in Jamaica in 1909.
The first ''Avalon''
In 1863 the Great Eastern Railway (GER) commenced cargo and cattle services to the Continent from Harwich, using chartered ships, and at the same time ordered a trio of large passenger ships from the Thames-side shipbuilder J & W Dudgeon at Cubitt Town, London.{{cite book |last=Haws |first=Duncan |year=1993 |title=Merchant Fleets: Britain's Railway Steamers – Eastern and North Western Companies + Zeeland and Stena |location=Hereford |publisher=TCL Publications |isbn=0-946378-22-3|pages=36–39}}{{cite book |last1=Duckworth |first1=Christian Leslie Dyce |last2=Langmuir |first2=Graham Easton |date=1968 |title=Railway and other Steamers |language=English |location=Prescot, Lancashire |publisher= T. Stephenson and Sons|page=39 }} Avalon was the first to be launched, on 26 March 1864, and was christened by the wife of the GER chairman, James Goodson.{{cite news |title=The Continental Traffic |url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0001325/18640402/089/0005 |access-date=1 September 2022 |work=Suffolk Chronicle |issue=2815 |date=2 April 1864 |location=Ipswich |page=5|via=British Newspaper Archive}} He already owned a yacht named Avalon, after the mythical Arthurian island associated with Glastonbury, where he had family connections.{{cite news |title=Great Eastern Company's Continental Fleet |url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000165/18640525/018/0003 |access-date=1 September 2022 |work=Essex Standard |issue=1745, Vol.XXXIV |date=25 May 1864 |location=Colchester|page=3|via=British Newspaper Archive}} In its report of her trial trip on 22 May 1864 from Tilbury to the Mouse Light, she was described by the Essex Standard:
She is a paddle-steamer of 220-horse-power; her cylinders are 54 inches in diameter, with a stroke of 4 feet six inches. Their mean propulsion is 42 revolutions a minute, with a pressure of 28lbs., and a vacuum of 27 in. The paddles which are 16 feet in diameter, are fitted with feathering floats, 8 feet 6 inches long, by 2 feet 10 inches broad. Each engine is fitted with 2 air-pumps, and a separate condenser, so that they are perfectly independent one of the other; and in the event of any break down in the machinery of one, the power of the other will remain intact, and be sufficient to propel the vessel. They are fitted with bilge and feed pumps and a link motion, so as to work the steam expansively. The vessel is 230 feet in length, the breadth of her beam is 27 feet, her depth 13 feet, and her tonnage (builder’s measurement) 830 tons. She draws 6ft 10in. of water fore, and 7 ft. 2 in. aft; and her speed is estimated to average from 13 to 14 knots.Avalon had accommodation for 250 1st class and 60-70 2nd class passengers.{{cite news |title=Trial Trip of the Avalon |url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000183/18640606/016/0003 |access-date=1 September 2022 |work=The Standard |issue=12425 |date=6 June 1864 |location=London |page=3|via=British Newspaper Archive}} Prior to entering service, she was made available on 4 June 1864 to the Royal Harwich Yacht Club (of which Goodson was Commodore) to cruise to view the participants in the Royal Thames Yacht Club's annual Thames-Harwich yacht race.{{cite news |title=The Cruise of the Avalon |url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000165/18640610/009/0002 |access-date=1 September 2022 |work=Essex Standard |issue=1747, Vol.XXXIV |date=10 June 1864 |location=Colchester |page=2|via=British Newspaper Archive}} Avalon inaugurated the GER's twice-weekly Harwich-Rotterdam route on 9 June, and a month later was joined by sister ship Zealous.{{cite news |title=Ocean Match of the Royal London Yacht Club |url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000165/18640713/013/0002 |access-date=1 September 2022 |work=Essex Standard |issue=1752, Vol.XXXIV |date=13 July 1864 |location=Colchester |page=2|via=British Newspaper Archive}}
The shallow waters of the Brielle Bar at the mouth of the River Maas, could only be passed safely close to high water, leading to complaints over delays in the fixed time schedule. The GER consequently decided to introduce a "tidal service" from 2 September 1864.{{cite news |title=The Continental Passenger Route |url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000165/18640826/011/0003 |access-date=2 September 2022 |work=Essex Standard |issue=1758 |date=26 August 1864 |location=Colchester |page=3|via=British Newspaper Archive}}{{cite news |title=The Harwich and Rotterdam Service |url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0001669/18640827/099/0005 |access-date=2 September 2022 |work=Norwich Mercury |issue=7480 |date=27 August 1864 |page=5|via=British Newspaper Archive}} On the previous day, after an overnight positioning voyage from Harwich to Rotterdam without passengers, and in charge of a Rotterdam pilot, Avalon passed inside the Hook of Holland but ran aground at Maassluis. She was refloated with the assistance of tugs from Rotterdam on 3 September without material damage.{{Cite news |title=The Stranding of the Avalon Steamer on the Coast of Holland - Floating of the Ship|url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000609/18640906/068/0003 |newspaper=The Evening Standard |location=London |date=6 September 1864 |issue=12504 |page=3 |via=British Newspaper Archive}}
=American Civil War=
In December 1864 shipowner Edwin Golbourne of Tranmere, Cheshire, acquired Avalon on behalf of the Crenshaw Company, a Confederate blockade running firm, and renamed her City of Richmond.{{cite book |title=Mercantile Navy List and Maritime Directory for 1865 |date=1865 |publisher=Spottiswood |location=London |page=71 |url=https://www.crewlist.org.uk/data/viewimages?regtype=MNL&year=1865&name=CITY%20OF%20RICHMOND&steamsail=Sail&page=71 |access-date=2 September 2022}}{{cite book |last1=Wise |first1=Stephen R. |title=Lifeline of the Confederacy : blockade running during the Civil War |date=1991 |publisher=University of South Carolina Press |location=Columbia, S.C. |isbn=0-87249-799-2 |pages=218 & 294}} The Confederacy's chief purchasing agent, James Bulloch hired the ship to covertly supply the iron-clad {{ship|CSS|Stonewall||6}} after acquisition in Denmark, then with the cover-name Olinde.{{cite news |title=The Confederate Steam Ram Olinde |url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0001702/18650208/043/0005 |access-date=2 September 2022 |work=Shipping and Mercantile Gazette |issue=8508 |date=8 February 1865 |location=London |page=5|via=British Newspaper Archive}} City of Richmond officially cleared Customs at London for Bermuda in the new year, and sailed from Greenhithe on 11 January.{{cite news |title=Mercantile Ship News - Custom House |url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0002408/18650111/096/0008 |access-date=2 September 2022 |work=Morning Herald |issue=26174 |date=11 January 1865 |location=London |page=8|via=British Newspaper Archive}}{{cite book |last1=Bennett |first1=John D. |title=The London Confederates |date=2012 |publisher=Mcfarland |location=Jefferson |isbn=978-0-7864-6901-7 |page=77 |edition=reprint}} Thirteen days later, commanded by Lieutenant Hunter Davidson, she rendezvoused with Stonewall off Belle Île, on the coast of Brittany, France, then sailed to El Ferrol, Spain, to transfer stores, as well as additional crew from {{ship|CSS|Rappahannock||6}} and {{ship|CSS|Florida||6}}.{{cite news |title=Capture and Imprisonment of British Subjects in America |url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0001667/18650603/096/0009 |access-date=2 September 2022 |work=Preston Herald |issue=519 |date=3 June 1865 |page=9|via=British Newspaper Archive}} From El Ferrol, City of Richmond sailed to Bermuda and then Nassau, Bahamas.
=Later service=
After the end of the American civil war, City of Richmond was sold to George Arkle of Liverpool and renamed Agnes Arkle.{{cite book |title=Mercantile Navy List and Maritime Directory for 1866 |date=1866 |publisher=Spottiswood |location=London |page=8 |url=https://www.crewlist.org.uk/data/viewimages?name=agnes+arkle&year=1866&page=8 |access-date=2 September 2022}} She was sent to Brazil for sale, arriving in Rio de Janeiro on 12 September 1865 and was chartered in December by the French passenger liner company Messageries Impériales for their feeder service from Rio de Janeiro, its Trans-Atlantic terminus, to the River Plate.{{cite news |title=Rio, 13 de setembro |url=http://memoria.bn.br/pdf/217280/per217280_1865_00250.pdf|access-date=2 September 2022 |work=Correio Mercantil |issue=250, Anno XXII |date=13 September 1865 |location=Rio de Janeiro |page=1 |language=pt|via=Brazilian Digital Library}}{{cite news |title=Maritime Intelligence - Rio Janeiro |url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0001702/18651202/029/0004 |access-date=2 September 2022 |work=Shipping and Mercantile Gazette |issue=8810 |date=2 December 1865 |location=London |page=4|via=British Newspaper Archive}} By 8 December Agnes Arkle was reported sold to the Brazilian Packet Company for 175 million reís.{{cite news |title=Maritime Extracts - Rio Janeiro |url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0004586/18660102/006/0001 |access-date=3 September 2022 |work=Liverpool Telegraph |issue=12251, Vol.XLI |date=2 January 1866 |page=1|via=British Newspaper Archive}} In early January 1866 concern was reported that Agnes Arkle was overdue at Bahia, six days out from Rio de Janeiro, carrying 2 million reís in Government notes.{{cite news |title=Summary of News |url=http://memoria.bn.br/pdf/709735/per709735_1866_00023.pdf|access-date=2 September 2022 |work=Anglo-Brazilian Times |issue=23, Anno II |date=8 January 1866 |location=Rio de Janeiro |page=2|via=Brazilian Digital Library}}
The second ''Avalon''
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{{Infobox ship career | Hide header = | Ship name = Avalon (second) | Ship operator =
| Ship registry = | Ship route = | Ship ordered = | Ship builder = J & W Dudgeon, Cubitt Town, London | Ship original cost = | Ship yard number = | Ship way number = | Ship laid down = | Ship launched = 1865 | Ship completed = September 1865 | Ship christened = | Ship acquired = | Ship maiden voyage = | Ship in service = | Ship out of service = | Ship identification = | Ship fate = Wrecked in Jamaica, 1909 | Ship notes = }} {{Infobox ship characteristics | Hide header = | Header caption = | Ship type =*passenger-cargo ferry
| Ship tonnage =*{{GRT|670}}
| Ship displacement = | Ship length =*{{convert|239.8|ft|m}}
| Ship beam ={{convert|27|ft|m}} | Ship draught = | Ship depth ={{convert|13.5|ft|m}} | Ship decks = | Ship deck clearance = | Ship ramps = | Ship ice class = | Ship power = | Ship propulsion =paddle; screw from 1891 | Ship speed = | Ship capacity = | Ship crew = | Ship notes = }} |
Following the sale of the first Avalon, the GER ordered a replacement from J & W Dudgeon, to run alongside Zealous and Ravensbury. She carried out her trials on 16 September 1865. The second Avalon was a little larger than her predecessor, at 245 feet in length, and was redesigned with significant capacity for cargo and livestock, and a reduced passenger accommodation for 100 1st class and 45 2nd class passengers.{{cite news |title=The Continental Boat Service from Harwich |url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0001652/18650921/005/0001 |access-date=2 September 2022 |work=The Globe |issue=20919 |date=21 September 1865 |location=London |page=1|via=British Newspaper Archive}}
The new ship served on both the Antwerp and Rotterdam route. On 11 July 1866, Avalon run down and sank the stone-dredging boat Royal William, without loss of life, when entering Harwich from Rotterdam.{{Cite news |title=Harwich: Accident in the Harbour |newspaper=Ipswich Journal |url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000071/18660714/008/0005 |page=5 |date=14 July 1866 |issue=6637 |via=British Newspaper Archive}} On 31 December 1871, again arriving at Harwich from Rotterdam, her engine's main shaft broke, disabling her. Her fleet-mate {{ship|PS|Richard Young||2}} was just leaving port for Antwerp and towed her in port.{{cite news |title=Great Eastern Railway Steamers |url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000071/18720106/012/0008 |access-date=4 September 2022 |work=Ipswich Journal |issue=6969 |date=6 January 1872 |page=8|via=British Newspaper Archive}} In 1876 Avalon{{'}}s engine was given new cylinders, raising its power to 240 NHP, and her boilers were renewed, at the Victoria Graving Dock Company, London, returning to service on 5 September.{{cite news |title=Harwich |url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0001727/18760906/052/0003 |access-date=4 September 2022 |work=East Anglian Daily Times |issue=2421 |date=6 September 1876 |location=Ipswich |page=3|via=British Newspaper Archive}}{{cite news |title=Ships for Sale |url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0001941/18880621/052/0008 |access-date=4 September 2022 |work=Lloyd's List |issue=15,857 |date=21 June 1888 |location=London |page=8|via=British Newspaper Archive}} On 22 July 1879, en route from Rotterdam to Harwich and {{convert|50|nmi|km}} off the Dutch coast, the starboard paddle shaft broke; with continued use of the other paddle, and some sail assistance, Avalon was able to complete her voyage without assistamce.{{cite news |title=Maritime Depositions |url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0001702/18790802/086/0008 |access-date=4 September 2022 |work=Shipping & Mercantile Gazette |issue=13,093 |date=2 August 1879 |location=London |page=8|via=British Newspaper Archive}}
Fire broke out, probably in the galley, on Avalon on 18 September 1881 while berthed at Rotterdam, causing serious damage to the bridge, paddle wheels, boats and some cargo before being extinguished;{{cite news |title=Fire Onboard the Steamer Avalon |url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000165/18810924/026/0005 |access-date=4 September 2022 |work=Essex Standard |issue=2650, Vol.LI |date=24 September 1881 |location=Colchester |page=5|via=British Newspaper Archive}} she was later repaired and returned to service.
Avalon was advertised for sale in June 1888, and purchased by Earle's Shipbuilding and Engineering Co.
=Later history=
The Earle's Company converted Avalon from paddle propulsion to screw propeller, lengthened her by three feet, and installed a new triple expansion engine of 175 NHP and 700 IHP of their own manufacture.{{cite book |title=Registre International de Classification de Navires |date=1891 |publisher=Bureau Veritas |location=Paris |language=fr |chapter=Registre (Navires à vapeur)}} From 1890 she traded as a cargo ship while remaining in the ownership of Earle's.{{cite news |title=Trade Going to Goole |url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000323/18930419/015/0003 |access-date=4 September 2022 |work=Hull Daily Mail |issue=2374 |date=19 April 1893 |page=3|via=British Newspaper Archive}}{{cite news |title=Hull Day by Day |url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0001152/18970109/162/0008 |access-date=4 September 2022 |work=Eastern Morning News |issue=13194 |date=9 January 1897 |location=Hull |page=8|via=British Newspaper Archive}} In 1900 she was sold to the Channel Dry Docks, Shipbuilding & Engineering Company of Passage West, near Cork, Ireland, who offered her for sale in May 1901 after repairs, and then by auction in November.{{cite news |title=Ships for Sale |url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0001941/19010503/041/0006 |access-date=4 September 2022 |work=Shipping & Mercantile Gazette |issue=19,856 |date=3 May 1901 |location=London |page=6|via=British Newspaper Archive}}{{cite news |title=Sales by Auction |url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0001941/19011104/061/0007 |access-date=4 September 2022 |work=Shipping & Mercantile Gazette |issue=20,014 |date=4 November 1901 |location=London |page=7|via=British Newspaper Archive}}
Avalon remained laid up at Passage West until sold in September 1902 to Thomas Rasmussen, of Stavanger, Norway.{{cite news |title=Shipping Notes |url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/BL/0000038/19020904/110/0007 |access-date=4 September 2022 |work=Belfast News-Letter |issue=27,144, Vol.CLXVI |date=4 September 1902 |page=7|via=British Newspaper Archive}} She was sent by 1902 to operate between the US East Coast and the Caribbean Islands. She was wrecked during a storm in Buff Bay, Jamaica on 4 November 1909. On a ballast voyage Port Antonio to Montego Bay, Jamaica, she lost power off the Jamaican coast and was blown ashore.{{cite web |url=https://www.wrecksite.eu/wreck.aspx?175767 |title=Avalon (+1909) |publisher=Wrecksite |access-date=12 February 2021}}{{cite news |title=Maritime Intelligence |url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0001941/19091115/100/0008 |access-date=5 September 2022 |work=Shipping & Mercantile Gazette |issue=22,510 |date=15 November 1909 |location=London |page=8}}{{cite book |title=Return of Vessels Totally Lost, Condemned, &c: 1st October to 31st December, 1909 |date=July 1910 |publisher=Lloyd's Register of British & Foreign Shipping |location=London |page=9 |url=https://lloyds-production.s3.amazonaws.com/_file/general/1909-casualty-returns.pdf |access-date=5 September 2022}}
References
{{reflist}}
{{GER Ships}}
{{1864 shipwrecks}}
{{1909 shipwrecks}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Avalon}}
Category:Paddle steamers of the United Kingdom
Category:Ships built on the River Thames
Category:Ships of the Great Eastern Railway
Category:Maritime incidents in September 1864