Builders: John Brown & Co Clydebank 1935
Propulsion type: Twin Screw Turbine
Owners: Royal Navy, The Three Star Shipping Co Ltd
Service dates: 1935 - 1950
Tonnage: Gross 1474
Comments:
Intended as a sloop for the Royal Navy, this ship was to be named Bittern. When she was completed, however, she had been named Enchantress and was fitted out as the Admiralty Yacht. During the war she did see service as a sloop and on one occasion whilst in the Mediterranean she rammed a U boat, crumpling the first 15 feet of her bows. On the cessation of hostilities she was put up for sale and was purchased in 1946 for £22,500 by The Three Star Shipping Co Ltd. She was converted to a luxury pleasure steamer by Thorneycrofts of Southampton, but her conversion costs ran way above estimates and she was late coming into service on the Thames, her first sailing being 4 August. In all she ran only 33 trips, but she carried nearly 47000 passengers, mainly because she undercut the GSNCo fares by about one third. Sadly the income from the reduced season and her massive fitting out costs meant that her owners had insufficient income to fund her for the following year. She was laid up for a long while, although did return to service on 10 August 1950, after more modest fitting out by Whites of Southampton. This time she sailed from Torquay, mainly to Guernsey, but she was unreliable and finally, only three weeks into her season, her boiler brickwork collapsed and she was disabled overnight off Guernsey. She was towed back to Torquay, then to Southampton where she was once again laid up. This time there was no reprieve and she was scrapped a couple of years later. For a copy of a Thames handbill advertising her sailings please click here. You will see that the bill is overstamped indicating that her starting date had been delayed.
The following is a first hand account from Peter Watts, who was the quartermaster aboard TSS Lady Enchantress on her fateful final voyage. I am grateful to Peter for allowing me to share the account with you here.
I originally joined the T.S.S." LADY ENCHANTRESS" as quartermaster on 21st August 1950 and signed articles at Torquay, South Devon. The ship was originally a Royal Naval Sloop, built in 1934, was narrow gutted and subject to pitching heavily even in a moderate seaway much to the discomforture of passengers. We left Torquay on day trips to Guernsey ( Channel Islands ) and for a relatively small fare. Most of the passengers seemed to be from places other than Devon and were not very good sailors. We were about two thirds of the way across the Channel to Guernsey when one of the boiler refractories collapsed necessitating the immediate shut down of one of the main engines. Perhaps unwisely it was decided to proceed on to Guernsey. The shore based authorities decided that we could easily return to home port on one engine and we left Guernsey late afternoon. Mid Channel the second boiler failed and as a consequence we were absolutely without power, with a full complement of passengers, most of them were seasick and the ship was not equipped with suitable cabin accomodation or sufficient food or medical supplies.We drifted for many hours whilst radio messages issued back and forth between the ship and its owners until late in the night and drifting not too many miles from the " Casquets" a distress call was issued resulting in the ocean going tug " TURMOIL" taking us in tow. Finally next morning we arrived in Torbay, discharged our woebegone, hungry and seasick passengers aboard the " KILORAN" and one or two other local passenger vessels when we immediately then were towed up to Southampton and were paid off. A rather sad ending to what could have been a most enterprising and successful tourist venture. Peter Watts. P.S. One of my best mates on board was Bob Kimble of Brixham...I wonder where he is now ?