Porthmadog served by Steam
Wasanaeth Ager i Porthmadog
Porthmadog is thought of as a sailing ship port. The vessels were built there and manned by local men. However, there was a regular steam service by locally owned ships and other paddle ships and coasters called in.
The first steam vessel was the Rebecca (I) she was owned by a group of business men, grocers and quarry owners including Samuel Holland. They formed a company called Carnarvonshire and Merionethshire Steamship Co Ltd..
The Rebecca (I) was built by Scott
and Co, Greenock in 1859. The ship first came to Porthmadog in 1964.
The dimensions of the ship were:. ON: 27733, 203 GRT, 138 NRT,
136.2'x19.1'x10.4'. Her run was Liverpool to Portmadoc with a call at
Pwllheli. She sometimes went further afield when incentive was good.
Her main cargo outwards was slate but she often carried iron parts made at the Foundary for galvanising. Return cargo would be a wide assortment of groceries, machinery, timber etc. Extra income was received for towing schooners in and out of port and sometimes salvage awards. She traded regularly until 1896 when she was getting a bit run down. She was sold and was eventually wrecked, while under French ownership, in 1906.
A
new ship was purchased. She was also called Rebecca (II). Her
particulars were:-
Built by Ross and Duncan Glasgow. Completed by John Fullerton and Co Paisley.
O.N. 92218, 332 GRT, 79 NRT, 140.3'x23'.1'x10.0'
The Rebecca (II) carried on the same trade, regularly arriving at Portmadoc on Fridays. In 1906 a smal Clyde "puffer", the Celt, was bought to lighter cargoes in and out of Pwllheli at neap tides.. The Master of the Rebecca for most of her career was Capt Tom Roberts a member of the well known Porthmadog and Criccieth seafaring family. He had previously commanded the DOROTHY, one of the "Western Ocean Yachts". He lived next door to my childhood home at Marine Crescent, Criccieth.
Her end came with the Great War. An increase in insurance rates, seamen's wages and competition with the railways finally brought her most usefull life to an end and she was sold in 1917. She then had several British owners and was broken up in 1930.
In 1923, the FLORENCE COOKE started running to Porthmadog. However, her trade was more specialised as she was built specifically to carry explosives from Cookes Explosives Factory in Penrhyndeudraeth. She did bring return loads - coal etc though. She ceased trading to the port in 1959.
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