IOMSPC Manxman

From ManxWiki

The name Manxman has been given to two Steam Packet ships.

1 Manxman 1
2 TSS Manxman 2

Manxman 1

This article is incomplete and requires additional information.

TSS Manxman 2

Manxman 2 is the last remaining classic British passenger turbine steamer. She is also the last surviving passenger ship constructed by Cammell Laird.

Brief History

TSS Manxman (Turbine Steam Ship) was launched from the Cammell Laird shipyard, Birkenhead on 8 February 1955. Her maiden voyage took place on the 21st May 1955, with a sailing from Douglas to Liverpool. Regular service was provided between the island, North West England, North Wales and Ireland.

Withdrawn from service in 1982.

Following withdrawal from revenue service, and relocation to Preston Docks, Manxman's new owners intended to convert her into a floating museum and visitor centre. This venture was not a success, and the ship was subsequently developed into a floating nightclub and restaurant.

Redevelopment of the Preston docks area once again made the Manxman homeless, and she was towed to Liverpool in 1991 where once again she was to be used as a floating nightclub in the Trafalgar Docks area.

In 1993 she was again moved, this time to Hull, being moored in the disused Ruscador Dry Dock. Here, a fire which broke out in August 1997 seriously damaged many of the vintage wood panels of the ships interior, and she was moved to the yard of Pallion Engineering Company Ltd. on the River Wear, in the shadow of the Queen Alexandra Bridge in Sunderland, where she remains to this day at the mercy of vandals, thieves and general decay. Pallion on numerous occasions have threatened to scrap the vintage vessel.

Current Status

The TSS Manxman is currently in dry dock in Sunderland.

Purchased by The Manxman Steamship Co. with the intention of preserving as much as possible of the ship and making her watertight in order to be relocated to Liverpool where it is hoped she can become a tourism attraction and place of Maritine education.