Neatly-coiled ropes on a bollard on the deck of the preserved steamship SS "Shieldhall" in dock at Southampton
SS "Shieldhall" is Britain’s largest working steamship that today operates from Southampton running excursions. She is one of the last reciprocating steam engined ships built, using technology that dated back to the last quarter of the 19th century and which was obsolete at the time of her construction. She spent her working life as one of the "Clyde sludge boats", making regular trips from Shieldhall in Glasgow, Scotland, down the River Clyde and Firth of Clyde past the Isle of Arran, to dump treated sewage sludge at sea. These steamships had a tradition, dating back to the First World War, of taking disadvantaged families and wounded or disabled ex-servicemen and women on free day trips down the river in the summer months. The 1,972-ton Shieldhall was laid down in October 1954, built by Lobnitz & Co. of Renfrew. In 1976 after 21 years of service on the Clyde, Shieldhall was laid up, and in the following year was bought by the Southern Water Authority to carry sludge from Southampton, England, to an area south of the Isle of Wight. Due to rising fuel prices she was withdrawn from service in 1985, then was taken over by a preservation society, The Solent Steam Packet Limited, which operates as a charity. All work associated with the Society and Shieldhall is carried out by unpaid volunteers. She has been restored to sea-going condition, and is listed as part of the National Historic Fleet.
Size: 4145px × 2520px
Location: Southampton, Hampshire, UK
Photo credit: © will Perrett / Alamy / Afripics
License: Royalty Free
Model Released: No
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