Builders: John Brown Clydebank 1905
Propulsion type: Paddle Compound diagonal, double ended boiler
Owners: Barry Railway Co, Bristol Channel Passenger Boats Ltd, Furness Railway Co, W H Tucker, P & A Campbell Ltd
Service dates: 1905 - 1940
Tonnage: Net 321 Gross 807
Comments:
Built as a sister ship to Devonia, she was originally named Gwalia and started in competition with Campbells in the Bristol Channel. Due to restrictions on her operating route, being able to sail only from Barry, financial difficulties ensued and she was sold to Bristol Channel Passenger Boats Ltd in June 1910. By this sale her operating restrictions were lifted but the competition was so stiff that she was sold again two years later, this time to operate out of Barrow. She was then renamed Lady Moyra, after a company director's wife. After war service she was purchased by Tuckers and was again back in the Bristol Channel, this time in competion with her sister. Failure of Tuckers led to her sale to Campbells, where she again linked up with Devonia. In 1933 she encountered another change of name as she was placed on the South Coast by Campbells as Brighton Queen. In this guise she assisted the evacuation of Dunkirk and after one successful trip she was bombed when carrying over 700 troops, many of whom lost their lives when she quickly sank In her operating years on the Bristol Channel she was known by South Wales passengers as "Cock of the Channel" by reason of a brazen cock worn on her mast head in commemoration of a record Cardiff to Ilfracombe run.
Fo a close up picture of her paddle box, please click here.