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SS Tynwald (1846)
Tynwald berthed at the Coffee Palace Berth, Douglas, Isle of Man.
Tynwald pictured berthed at Douglas.
Career Civil Ensign of the Isle of Man
Name: Tynwald
Namesake: Tynwald
Owner: 1846-1886: Isle of Man Steam Packet Company
Operator: 1846-1886: Isle of Man Steam Packet Company
Port of registry: Douglas, Isle of Man
Route: Isle of Man to Liverpool
Builder: Robert Napier & Son, Glasgow.
Cost: £21,500[1] (£1,859,490 as of 2025).[2]
Yard number: 19
Way number: 21921
Launched: 28 April 1846[1]
Completed: 1846
Out of service: 1886
Identification: Official Number 21921
Code Letters N J H K
ICS NovemberICS JulietICS HotelICS Kilo
Fate: Scrapped 1888
Status: Scrapped
General characteristics
Type: Paddle Steamer
Tonnage: 700 gross register tons (GRT)
Length: 188 ft (57 m)
Beam: 27 ft (8.2 m)
Draught: 13.5 ft (4.1 m)
Installed power: 280 horsepower (210 kW)
Propulsion: Oscillating steam engine
Speed: 16 knots (18 mph)[3]
Capacity: 781 passengers

PS (RMS) Tynwald (I) No. 21921, was an iron paddle-steamer which served with the Isle of Man Steam Packet Company, and was the first vessel in the Company to bear the name.

History[]

The Isle of Man Steam Packet Company's first Tynwald was built by the Robert Napier & Son Ship Building Company of Glasgow, in 1846. She has the dubious distinction of being the first Steam Packet vessel whose launch was delayed by a strike in the shipbuilding yard[4] - as reported by the directors in 1846. The first, but by no means the last.

Tynwald was a reliable ship. A local newspaper described her as being 'as sure as a mountain goat'.[5]

The fastest ship of her day,[6] Tynwald recorded 16 knots (18 mph) on her sea trials.[6]

In December 1846, when on charter to the Liverpool and Belfast Company, she collided with the mail steamer Urgent and damaged a paddle box. Captain Gill was exonerated by the directors: the accident occurred in dense fog. It is noted in the Company minutes, that a provision of £386 (£33,384 as of 2025)[2] was to be set aside to meet repairs to the damage suffered by the vessel. This did not prevent the directors from later claiming £2,004 (£173,322 as of 2025)[2] in compensation for damage and loss of earnings, and then, on legal advice, settling for £1,489. In December 1863, she was in collision with the Naval brig Wild Wave, the settlement after a long wrangle costing the Steam Packet £1,128 (£97,558 as of 2025).[2]

Layout[]

Tynwald was rigged as a barquentine, with a clipper bow.[7] She had three masts, with the funnel abaft of the paddle boxes. A conspicuous feature was a full length figurehead of a Manx Scandinavian king in armour.

Tynwald (I)

Painting of Tynwald (artist unknown).

Service[]

Tynwald operated the passenger and cargo service between Liverpool and the Island of Man. After 1863, she was only used as cargo vessel.[7]

During the winter season in 1850, she was chartered to go to the Mediterranean and called at Gibraltar, Genoa and Leghorn, making the round trip in 30 days.

Disposal[]

After an eventful career of 40 years, she was sold to Caird & Company for £5,000 (£486,449 as of 2025)[2] in part payment for her successor, Tynwald (II).

Footnotes[]

  1. 1.0 1.1 "PS Tynwald". Shipping Times. http://www.clydesite.co.uk/clydebuilt/viewship.asp?id=8201. Retrieved 8 February 2012. 
  2. 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 UK CPI inflation numbers based on data available from Gregory Clark (2013), "What Were the British Earnings and Prices Then? (New Series)" MeasuringWorth.
  3. "Ships of Mann: The Fleet". http://www.shipsofmann.org.uk/The%20Fleet.htm. Retrieved 8 February 2012. 
  4. Connery Chappell - Island Lifeline, (1980) p18
  5. Connery Chappell - Island Lifeline (1980) p18.
  6. 6.0 6.1 Ships of the Isle of Man Steam Packet Company (Fred Henry) p.64
  7. 7.0 7.1 "Tynwald". Ship Stamps. http://www.shipstamps.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=6045. Retrieved 8 February 2012. 

References[]

Bibliography
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