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PW1304 TSMV Overchurch
PW1304 TSMV Overchurch
TSMV”OVERCHURCH”
Built by Cammell Laird Shipbuilders & Engineers Ltd,Birkenhead for Birkenhead Corporation Ferries Department.
468 grt Length Overall:152’.6in, breadth moulded: 39.0’, powered by two Crossley HRN 8 Cylinder Diesel Engines of direct reversing two-stroke type, controlled from the bridge and or engine room.
Passengers: 1,200 original as built this complement reduced to 450 after rebuild in1999.
Allocated yard number 1304,she was launched on 24th November 1961 by Alderman Mrs Dorothy Melville JP, Mayor of Birkenhead from No 3 slipway South Yard and following trials in February 1962,made her maiden crossing from Woodside to Liverpool in March.She became the first all welded ferry to operate between Birkenhead and Liverpool.
On 17th April 1962 ,with HRH Princess Alexandra of Kent on board, she sailed into the new dry dock constructed by her builders, which was then named “Princess Dock”.
She has operated on all Mersey Ferry Services and was the principal ferry which linked Liverpool and Wirral with the International Garden Festival site during 1984 and latterly the Festival Gardens in 1985.
From 1986 to 1998 she has operated the annual Friends of the Ferries Docks and River Cruise.
In 1999 she was extensively rebuilt and re-engined at Manchester Dry Docks by Length Line Ltd, Salford, being renamed “Royal Daffodil” and,occasionally operated the Manchester Ship Canal Cruise in company with "Snowdrop". In December 2012 she was withdrawn from service and as of April 2015 remains in reserve.
It is to be hoped she will return to service in the near future,thus reactivating the name "Royal Daffodil"on the River Mersey again.
The illustration depicts her after a typical crossing from Liverpool to Birkenhead during her first year in service 1962.
This illustration is one of a series depicting Cammell Laird built ships: