SS Snaefell (1948)
{{other ships|Snaefell (ship)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2017}}
{{Use British English|date=December 2017}}
| {{Infobox ship begin}}
{{Infobox ship image | Ship image =File:Sneafell pictured leaving Douglas..JPG | Ship caption =Snaefell pictured departing Douglas, Isle of Man }} {{Infobox ship career | Hide header = |Ship flag={{shipboxflag|Isle of Man|civil}} | Ship name = Snaefell | Ship owner = 1948–1978: IOMSPCo. | Ship operator = 1948–1978: IOMSPCo | Ship registry = {{flagicon|Isle of Man|civil}} Douglas, Isle of Man | Ship route = | Ship ordered = | Ship builder = Cammell Laird | Ship original cost = £504,448 | Ship yard number = 1192 | Ship way number = | Ship laid down = | Ship launched = 11 March 1948 | Ship completed = | Ship christened = | Ship acquired = | Ship maiden voyage = 24 July 1948 | Ship in service = July 1948 | Ship out of service = August 1978 | Ship identification =*{{IMO number|5332551}}
| Ship fate = Acquired by the Rochadale Metal Recovery Company, and scrapped at Blyth, 1978. | Ship notes = }} {{Infobox ship characteristics | Hide header = | Header caption = | Ship type = | Ship tonnage = {{GRT|2,489}} | Ship displacement = | Ship length = | Ship beam = | Ship draught = | Ship depth = | Ship decks = | Ship deck clearance = | Ship ramps = | Ship ice class = | Ship power = | Ship propulsion = Steam turbine driven screw-propellers | Ship speed = {{convert|21.5|kn|mph}} | Ship capacity = | Ship crew = | Ship notes = }} |
TSS Snaefell V - the fifth ship in the company's history to bear the name - was a passenger vessel operated by the Isle of Man Steam Packet Company from 1948 to 1978. Her purchase cost was £504,448.Shipping world & shipbuilder: Volume 165. 1972
Dimensions
Snaefell had a registered tonnage of 2489 GRT, but otherwise her dimensions, speed, horsepower and crew accommodation were similar to her three predecessors; Tynwald, Mona's Queen and King Orry.
History
File:Snaefell is launched at Birkenhead (11-03-1948).JPG
She was built at Cammell Laird, as the fourth of six ships - the six sisters - delivered by the company between 1946 and 1955 at a cost of £504,448 (equivalent to £{{formatnum:{{Inflation|UK|504448|1948|{{Inflation-year|UK}}|r=0}}}} as of {{Inflation-year|UK}}),{{Inflation-fn|UK|df=y}}. Snaefell was launched by Mrs J. R. Quayle on Thursday, 11 March 1948. Upon her completion she underwent her sea trials on 19 & 20 July of that year, and made her maiden voyage from Liverpool to Douglas on 24 July.
Service life
Snaefell and her younger sister Mona's Isle were the last ships on the company's Heysham-Douglas service when it closed towards the end of August 1974.
Apart from an accident when she fouled her anchor off Llandudno in July 1976 and consequently missed a sailing, Snaefell enjoyed an efficient and uneventful career.
However, the predominance built up by the Steam Packet's car ferries in the 1970s, made it sensible to withdraw another traditionally designed ship.
Disposal
Snaefell made her final sailing from Douglas on August Bank Holiday Monday, 1977, and was then laid up in Bidston Dock, Birkenhead.
Following her withdrawal from service, she was sold to the Rochdale Metal Recovery Co. for scrap in 1978, and in November of that year, she was taken under tow to Blyth for breaking up.
Trivia
The ship's bell from the Snaefell was salvaged by a former member of her ship's company upon whose death it was passed down to his son who retains it as part of a private collection in St John's, Isle of Man.
Six of Snaefell's beautiful portholes were also salvaged and to this day they live on in a 1937 River Thames tug called 'Swallow'. These large bronze portholes were fitted into Swallow during her refurbishment during 1979 as a replacement to her smaller portholes. Swallow is registered on the National Historic Ships Record.
www.swallowthamestug.co.uk
Gallery
{{gallery
|title= RMS Snaefell
|width=250 | height=170 |align=centre
|image:Snaefell pictured berthed at the King Edward VIII Pier, Douglas..JPG|Snaefell pictured berthed at the King Edward VIII Pier, Douglas
|image:SS Snaefell pictured in Steam Packet service..JPG|Snaefell in Steam Packet service
}}
References
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{{Steam Packet Ships}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Snaefell (1948)}}
Category:Ships of the Isle of Man Steam Packet Company
Category:Passenger ships of the United Kingdom