PS Tattershall Castle
{{Short description|Floating pub and restaurant on the Thames}}
{{EngvarB|date=June 2017}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2017}}
| {{Infobox ship begin}}
{{Infobox ship image | Ship image = Tattershall Castle Steamer.jpg | Ship caption = PS Tattershall Castle on the River Thames at the Victoria Embankment in London }} {{Infobox ship career | Hide header = | Ship country = United Kingdom | Ship flag = {{shipboxflag|UK|civil}} | Ship name = Tattershall Castle | Ship namesake = Tattershall Castle, Lincolnshire | Ship owner = *LNER (1934–48)
| Ship operator = | Ship registry = | Ship route = *Humber Ferry crossing (1934–74)
| Ship ordered = 1934 | Ship awarded = | Ship builder = William Gray & Co, West Hartlepool | Ship original cost = | Ship yard number = 1059 | Ship way number = | Ship laid down = | Ship launched = 24 September 1934 | Ship sponsor = | Ship christened = | Ship completed = | Ship acquired = | Ship commissioned = 24 September 1934 | Ship recommissioned = | Ship decommissioned = 1974 | Ship maiden voyage = | Ship in service = | Ship out of service = 1974 | Ship renamed = | Ship reclassified = | Ship refit = | Ship struck = | Ship reinstated = | Ship homeport = | Ship identification = *{{IMO Number|5353804}} | Ship motto = | Ship nickname = | Ship honours = | Ship honors = | Ship captured = | Ship fate = | Ship status = Restaurant and bar moored on the River Thames | Ship notes = | Ship badge = }} {{Infobox ship characteristics | Hide header = | Header caption = | Ship class = | Ship type = Paddle steamer | Ship tonnage = {{GRT|550}}, {{NRT|321}} | Ship displacement = | Ship length = {{cvt|199.9|ft|abbr=on}} | Ship beam = *{{cvt|33.1|ft}} (hull)
| Ship height = | Ship draught = | Ship depth = {{cvt|7.7|ft}} | Ship hold depth = | Ship decks = | Ship deck clearance = | Ship ramps = | Ship power = 1200 ihp | Ship propulsion = Triple expansion, diagonal stroke, reciprocating steam engine | Ship speed = {{convert|12|kn}} | Ship range = | Ship endurance = | Ship boats = | Ship capacity = | Ship crew = | Ship sensors = | Ship armament = | Ship armour = | Ship notes = }} |
PS Tattershall Castle is a floating pub and restaurant moored on the River Thames at Victoria Embankment. It was a passenger ferry across the Humber estuary from 1934 to 1973, before being towed to London in 1976.
History
William Gray & Company of West Hartlepool built the ship as a passenger ferry on the Humber for the London and North Eastern Railway (LNER). She was launched on 24 September 1934.{{cite web |url= http://www.teesbuiltships.co.uk/view.php?&ref=166607 |title=Tattershall Castle |work=Tees Built Ships |publisher=Shipping and Shipbuilding Research Trust |access-date=24 September 2022}} She plied the Humber Ferry route between Corporation Pier in Kingston upon Hull, Yorkshire, and New Holland Pier in New Holland, Lincolnshire.{{cite web |last1=Catford |first1=Nick |last2=Dyson |first2=Mark |title=Hull Corporation Pier |url= http://www.disused-stations.org.uk/h/hull_corporation_pier/index.shtml |website=Disused Stations |access-date=25 November 2015}}
In the Second World War she was a tether for barrage balloons and ferried troops and supplies along the Humber estuary. Due to the frequent heavy fogs on this river, she was fitted with radar, becoming one of the first civilian ships so equipped.{{cite web |title=Tattershall Castle |url= http://www.thisishartlepool.co.uk/ships/TattershallCastle.asp |website=This is Hartlepool |access-date=25 November 2015}} After the war, with the nationalisation of the railways in 1948, she became part of British Rail's Sealink service.
In 1973, after long service as a passenger and goods ferry, she was retired and laid up. Repairs on the ship were deemed too costly and she was retired from service. The opening of the Humber Bridge made the ferry service redundant.{{cite magazine |last=Baker |first=Clive |title=Railway Steamers |magazine=British Railway Modelling |date=December 2017 |page=83 |publisher=Warners Group |issn=0968-0764}}
File:Tattershall Castle as Embankment Gallery.jpgIn 1976 Tattershall Castle was towed to London.{{cite web |title=Tattershall Castle |url= http://www.nationalhistoricships.org.uk/register/72/tattershall-castle |website=National Historic Ships |access-date=25 November 2015}} and was opened on the River Thames as a floating art gallery until her eventual disposal to the Chef & Brewer group. Before opening in 1982 as a restaurant,{{cite web |title=About us |url= http://www.thetattershallcastle.co.uk/about |website=Tattershall Castle |access-date=25 November 2015}} she was sent to the River Medway for further repairs.{{cite web|title=PS Tattershall Castle, London |url= http://www.theheritagetrail.co.uk/maritime/ps%20tattershall%20castle.htm|website=The Heritage Trail, Maritime |access-date=25 November 2015 |url-status=dead |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20151005085444/http://www.theheritagetrail.co.uk/maritime/ps%20tattershall%20castle.htm|archive-date=5 October 2015 |df=dmy-all}} Tattershall Castle returned temporarily to Hull for a refit at MMS Ship Repair in 2015, at a cost of several million pounds.{{cite news |title=Humber ferry the Tattershall Castle returning to Hull |url= http://www.hulldailymail.co.uk/Humber-ferry-Tattershall-Castle-returning-Hull/story-25907911-detail/story.html |newspaper=Hull Daily Mail |access-date=25 November 2015 |date=22 January 2015 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20151125230437/http://www.hulldailymail.co.uk/Humber-ferry-Tattershall-Castle-returning-Hull/story-25907911-detail/story.html |archive-date=25 November 2015 |url-status=dead}}{{cite news |title=Former Humber ferry back in Hull |url=http://www.hulldailymail.co.uk/Humber-ferry-Tattershall-Castle-Hull-pound-1-5m/story-25909779-detail/story.html|access-date=25 November 2015 |newspaper=Hull Daily Mail |date=23 January 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150628001232/http://www.hulldailymail.co.uk/Humber-ferry-Tattershall-Castle-Hull-pound-1-5m/story-25909779-detail/story.html |archive-date=28 June 2015 |url-status=dead}}
A sister ship also launched in 1934, the {{PS|Wingfield Castle||2}}, is preserved at Hartlepool's Maritime Experience.
A third similar Humber ferry, the {{PS|Lincoln Castle||2}}, built in 1940, was scrapped in Autumn 2010.
File:PS Tattershall Castle Mars 2014.jpg]]
{{Coord|51.5056|-0.1222|type:landmark|display=title}}
References
{{Reflist|30em}}
External links
{{Commons category|IMO 5353804}}
- [https://www.thetattershallcastle.co.uk/ Official website]
- [http://www.thisishartlepool.co.uk/ships/TattershallCastle.asp PS Tattershall Castle at thisishartlepool.co.uk]
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20090523094018/http://myweb.tiscali.co.uk/tramways/TattershallCastle.htm PS Tattershall Castle at Paddle Steamer Resources by Tramscape]
{{National Historic Ships}}
{{Pubs in London}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tattershall Castle}}
Category:Pubs in the City of Westminster
Category:Tourist attractions in London
Category:Paddle steamers of the United Kingdom
Category:Ships built on the River Tees
Category:Tourist attractions in the City of Westminster
Category:Ships of British Rail
Category:Ships and vessels on the National Register of Historic Vessels