Victoria 1907

[john sefton]

Victoria 1907
Steel; triple-screw turbine. Built in 1907 by Wm. Denny at Dumbarton for the South Eastern and Chatham Railway who used her on the Dover-Calais service.
Purchased from them by the Steam Packet Company in 1928 for £25,000, but with alterations, the total cost was £37,550.
Sister ship of the Mona's Isle (IV). She was the last triple-screw direct drive turbine ship in the Company's fleet. She was chartered by the L.M.S. for one day to assist in the August Bank Holiday traffic on the Holyhead-Dun Laoghaire route in 1938. She made only one two-way crossing with 1,541 passengers in all, and the fee charged was £450.
Her World War II service included being mined in December 1940 but she was towed to safety and at the end of the war she returned to the Company's service.
Like the Lady of Mann, the Victoria was heavily involved in D-Day operations. Firstly in the preparation and training off Portland, Dorset, then in the D-Day landings themselves. She was selected as one of the ships to land assault forces on the beach at Arromanches. This was one of the three British spearheads on the Normandy invasion. Later the same day, the Victoria was to land US forces on the UTAH BEACH. Throughout the war, the Victoria was crewed by officers and men of the Merchant Navy and flew the Red Ensign, although the crews of the LCI's aboard the vessel were RNVR, causing the Admiralty to regard the Victoria as "a bit of a mongrel”.
She was finally sold in January 1957 and broken up at Barrow.

[aukepalmhof]

see also: viewtopic.php?f=2&t=10494