View source for PS Ryde

{{Short description|Clyde-built paddle steamer (1937 to 1989)}}
{{EngvarB|date=October 2013}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2024}}
{|{{Infobox ship begin
}}
{{Infobox ship image
| Ship image = Paddle Steamer Ryde.jpg
| Ship image size = 300px
| Ship caption = PS ''Ryde'' at Binfield, Isle of Wight, in October 2005
}}
{{Infobox ship career
| Hide header = 
| Ship country =United Kingdom 
| Ship flag = [[File:Civil Ensign of the United Kingdom.svg|60px]]
| Ship name = PS ''Ryde''
| Ship owner = *Southern Railway (1937–39)
*Royal Navy (1939–45)
*Southern Railway (1945–47)
*British Railways (1948–70)
*Island Marina Holdings (−2010)
| Ship operator = *Southern Railway (1937–47)
*British Railways (1948–70)
| Ship ordered = 
| Ship builder = [[William Denny and Brothers]], [[Dumbarton]]
| Ship original cost = £46,800
| Ship yard number = 
| Ship laid down = 
| Ship launched = 23 April 1937
| Ship completed = 
| Ship acquired = 
| Ship registry = *{{flagicon|United Kingdom|civil}} [[Portsmouth]] (1937–39)
*{{flagicon|United Kingdom|naval}} Portsmouth (1939–45)
*{{flagicon|United Kingdom|civil}} Portsmouth (1945–70)
| Ship identification = *Code Letters MMKG (1937–39, 1945–79)
*{{ICS|Mike}}{{ICS|Mike}}{{ICS|Kilo}}{{ICS|Golf}}
*United Kingdom Official Number 166061 (1937–70)<ref name=Ryde38>{{cite web |url=http://www.plimsollshipdata.org/pdffile.php?name=38b0761.pdf |title=LLOYD'S REGISTER, NAVIRES A VAPEUR ET A MOTEURS |publisher=Plimosll Ship Data |access-date=7 March 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120429184744/http://www.plimsollshipdata.org/pdffile.php?name=38b0761.pdf |archive-date=29 April 2012 |url-status=dead }}</ref>
| Ship in service = 1937
| Ship out of service = 1970–2010
| Ship fate = Preservation attempt abandoned January 2019
| Ship status = Laid up at Island Harbour Marina
| Ship notes = 
}}
{{Infobox ship characteristics
| Hide header = 
| Header caption = 
| Ship class = 
| Ship tonnage = *{{GRT|603}}
*{{NRT|237}}<ref name=Ryde38/>
| Ship displacement = 
| Ship length = {{convert|216|ft|0|in|m|2|abbr=on}}<ref name=Ryde38/>
| Ship beam = {{convert|29|ft|1|in|m|2|abbr=on}}<ref name=Ryde38/>
| Ship height = 
| Ship draught = {{convert|7|ft|2|in|m|abbr=on}}<ref name=Ryde38/>
| Ship draft = 
| Ship ice class = 
| Ship sail plan = 
| Ship power = Triple expansion steam engine<ref name=Ryde38/>
| Ship propulsion = Paddle wheels
| Ship speed = 
| Ship capacity = 
| Ship crew = 
| Ship notes = 
}}
|}
'''PS ''Ryde''''' is a [[paddle steamer]] that was commissioned and run by [[Southern Railway (Great Britain)|Southern Railway]] as a passenger ferry between mainland England and the [[Isle of Wight]] from 1937 to 1969, with an interlude during the Second World War where she served as a minesweeper and then an anti-aircraft ship, seeing action at [[D-Day]]. After many years abandoned on moorings at [[Island Harbour Marina]] on the [[River Medina]], she was purchased by the PS Ryde Trust in late 2018, with the intention of raising money for her restoration.<ref>{{cite news |title=Ryde Queen Paddle Steamer Purchased for Restoration |url=https://www.iwcp.co.uk/news/17262753.ryde-queen-paddle-steamer-purchased-for-restoration/?ref=fbshr|newspaper=Isle of Wight County Press}}</ref><ref name="islandecho.co.uk">{{cite news |title=PS Ryde Paddle Steamer Purchased and Saved from the Scrapheap|url=https://www.islandecho.co.uk/ps-ryde-paddle-steamer-purchased-and-saved-from-the-scrapheap/ |newspaper=Island Echo}}</ref><ref name="bbc.co.uk">{{cite news |last1=BBC |title=Decaying paddle steamer PS Ryde to be restored |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-hampshire-46385127 |date=29 November 2018}}</ref> That project was abandoned in January 2019.<ref name="echo">{{cite web |title=GOODBYE RYDE QUEEN: TEAM PULL OUT OF PS RYDE RESTORATION PLAN |url=https://www.islandecho.co.uk/goodbye-ryde-queen-team-pull-out-of-ps-ryde-restoration-plan/ |website=Island Echo |access-date=19 January 2019}}</ref>

==Operational history==
===PS ''Ryde'' 1937 – 1939===
PS ''Ryde'' was commissioned by [[Southern Railway (Great Britain)|Southern Railway]] in 1936 as a sister ship for {{PS|Sandown|1934|2}}. Costing £46,800 ({{Inflation|UK|46800|1937|r=-4|fmt=eq|cursign=£}}){{Inflation-fn|UK|df=y}} she was built by [[William Denny and Brothers]] in [[Dumbarton]] on [[Clydeside]] and was licensed to carry 1,011 passengers. After her launch on [[Saint George's Day]] 1937, by Lady Walker, wife of [[Herbert Ashcombe Walker|Sir Herbert Walker]], General Manager of the Southern Railway<ref>{{cite news |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |title=Southern Railway's Ryde Launched |url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000290/19370423/284/0015  |newspaper=Portsmouth Evening News |location=England |date=23 April 1937 |access-date=26 February 2018 |via=British Newspaper Archive |url-access=subscription }}</ref> she replaced the {{ship|PS|Duchess of Norfolk}} on the [[Portsmouth]] to [[Ryde Pier]] passenger ferry service.<ref name=SR472>{{cite journal |title=Without a Paddle |first1=Andrew |last1=Young |first2=Toby |last2=Jennings |journal=Steam Railway |issue=472 |pages=72–76 |publisher=Bauer Cosumer Media |location=Peterborough |date=6 October 2017 |issn=0143-7232}}</ref>

===HMS ''Ryde'' 1939 – 1945===
In 1939, at the outbreak of the [[Second World War]], PS ''Ryde'' and PS ''Sandown'' were both requisitioned by the [[Royal Navy]]. She was renamed HMS ''Ryde'', and initially both were used as [[Minesweeper (ship)|Minesweeper]]s in the [[Thames Estuary]] and [[Dover Straits]].<ref name="bbc.co.uk"/><ref name="Paddle Steamer Ryde">{{cite news |title=Paddle Steamer Ryde |url=http://woottonbridgeiow.org.uk/psryde.php}}</ref> She was converted to an anti-aircraft vessel in 1942.<ref>{{cite book |last=Plummer |first=Russell |date=1995 |title=Paddle Steamers at War 1939-1945 |location=Peterborough, England |publisher=GMS Enterprises |page=10 |isbn=1-870384-39-3 }}</ref> In May 1944 she traveled to [[Portsmouth]], from where she sailed to the [[Normandy]] coast to take part in [[Operation Neptune]] on [[D-Day]], where she protected the [[Mulberry harbor|Mulberry Harbours]] at [[Omaha beach]].<ref name="Sad end for a D-Day veteran">{{cite news |title=Sad end for a D-Day veteran|url=https://www.portsmouth.co.uk/lifestyle/heritage/nostalgia-sad-end-for-a-d-day-veteran-1-8380548|date=15 February 2018}}</ref> At one stage during the landings, she was hit in her engine room by a shell, but it did not explode. In spite of being instructed to beach the ship, if she ran out of coal, ''Ryde's'' commander, Lt. Commander Beamer, was able to return her safely to Portsmouth.<ref name="Sad end for a D-Day veteran"/> After D-Day, HMS ''Ryde'' was anchored off [[Bembridge]] to help to protect [[Portsmouth Harbour]] from [[V-1 flying bombs]].

===PS ''Ryde'' 1945 – 1970===
[[File:PS Ryde in 1969.jpg|thumb|left|1969 at Portsmouth.]]
Reverting to her pre-war name upon her return to Southern Railway on 7 July 1945,<ref>{{cite news |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |title=Steamer Ryde Returns |url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0001973/19450713/164/0016  |newspaper=Hampshire Telegraph |location=England |date=13 July 1945 |access-date=26 February 2018 |via=British Newspaper Archive |url-access=subscription }}</ref> PS ''Ryde'' worked on her former route and undertook a variety of chartered trips as well, such as being chartered by [[Gilbey baronets|Gilbey's]] Gin to serve as a 'Floating Gin Palace' in London in 1968.<ref name=SR472/><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nna5muk3JP0|title=Floating Gin Palace (1968)|last=British Pathé|date=13 April 2014|via=YouTube}}</ref> However, Southern Railway started to commission more modern motor vessels after the war at the expense of the paddle steamers, starting with two diesel vessels in 1945 to replace [[PS Southsea (1930)|PS ''Southsea'']] and [[PS Portsdown (1928)|PS ''Portsdown'']].<ref name="Paddle Steamer Ryde"/> In July 1966, PS ''Sandown'' was retired and scrapped, and, in September 1969, by then a reserve ship used for Summer services mainly, it was decided to retire PS ''Ryde'' as well. At the time of her retirement, she had ferried passengers across the [[Solent]] for thirty-two years and was the last sea-going coal-fired paddle steamer in the world.<ref>{{cite news |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |title=The Last commercial paddle steamer... |url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0002135/19690908/334/0019 |newspaper=Birmingham Daily Post |location=England |date=8 September 1969 |access-date=26 February 2018 |via=British Newspaper Archive |url-access=subscription }}</ref><ref name=SR472/><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nna5muk3JP0|title=Floating Gin Palace (1968)|last=British Pathé|date=13 April 2014|via=YouTube}}</ref>
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==Hotel and nightclub==
[[File:PS_Ryde_(1977).jpg|thumb|left|PS ''Ryde'' in 1977, with the [[PS Medway Queen|''Medway Queen'']] in the background]] 
Avoiding the scrapyard, and after briefly offering cruises from [[Tower Bridge]] in [[London]], PS ''Ryde'' was bought by two Isle of Wight entrepreneurs, cousins Alan and Colin Ridett, for £12,000 in September 1970. After a two-year refit costing £60,000 and involving the removal of her boiler, she was fitted with eighteen luxury cabins, a restaurant, bar and dance-floor, and was renamed the ''Ryde Queen Boatel'' by Miss Carolyn Moore, Miss Great Britain 1971, in the opening ceremony on 14 June 1972. She served alongside the smaller {{ship|PS|Medway Queen}} in moorings at Binfield Marina on the River Medina near [[Newport, Isle of Wight|Newport]], until ''Medway Queen'' was retired and purchased for preservation in 1978.<ref name=Medway>{{cite web| title=Medway Queen Paddle Steamer |url=http://www.medwayqueen.co.uk/| access-date=24 February 2008}}</ref> In 1977, the ''Ryde Queen Boatel'' caught fire with the damage estimated at £100,000, but she was repaired and became a nightclub, known simply as the ''Ryde Queen''.<ref>{{cite news |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |title=Blaze on a paddle steamer... |url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000769/19770810/915/0014 |newspaper=Coventry Evening Telegraph |location=England |date=10 August 1977 |access-date=26 February 2018 |via=British Newspaper Archive |url-access=subscription }}</ref><ref name="islandecho.co.uk"/> However, by the late 1980s her popularity had waned and the nightclub was closed in 1989. She remained derelict and abandoned on her mooring, gradually deteriorating, with her funnel collapsing in August 2006.<ref name=Historic>{{cite web| title= Historic vessels at Risk|url=http://www.maritimebritain.co.uk/risklist.html| access-date=24 February 2008 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20071102132931/http://www.maritimebritain.co.uk/risklist.html <!-- Bot retrieved archive --> |archive-date = 2 November 2007}}</ref>
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==Preservation==
===Early attempts===
[[File:Flickr - ronsaunders47 - NO MORE PLEASURE TRIPS..jpg|thumb|right|PS ''Ryde'' in 2008]]
In September 2009, it was announced that enthusiasts were attempting to raise funds to buy the steamer, held by receivers after her former owner, Island Harbour Holdings LTD, went into administration. A non-profit company, PS Ryde Trust, wished to restore the vessel to once again be in the condition to sail tourists across the Solent. It was estimated that £7 million would be needed for the restoration, with fundraising needs of £1,000 a month for mooring fees and £600,000 for the move to a dry dock, with the remainder of the funding coming from the National Lottery.<ref name="Restoration">{{cite web|url=http://www.iwcp.co.uk/news/wight-living/a-new-lease-of-life-for-the-old-lady-of-the-sea-28620.aspx|title=A new lease of life for the old lady of the sea?|publisher=[[Isle of Wight County Press]]|access-date=9 October 2009}}</ref> In early 2010, work began to dismantle the vessel, beginning with [[asbestos removal]].<ref>{{cite web| url=http://www.psryde.co.uk/| title=Paddle Steamer Ryde Trust| publisher=Paddle Steamer Ryde Trust| access-date=31 January 2010| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100123143341/http://www.psryde.co.uk/| archive-date=23 January 2010| url-status=dead}}</ref> In 2012, the ship's bridge collapsed. The PS Ryde Trust failed to negotiate a deal to save the vessel and the PS Ryde was left to continue to deteriorate.

An application was made to the Isle of Wight Council Planning Department on 11 June 2014 by the new owners of [[Island Harbour Marina]] for permission to retain the PS Ryde on site for a further three years. This is to allow time to evaluate and find the funding necessary to try and save her. The application was approved by the Council on 5 August 2014, guaranteeing her continued existence for at least another three years <ref>{{cite web| url=http://iwight.com/planning/AppDetails3.aspx?frmId=28346| title=2014 Planning Application supporting documents| publisher=Isle of Wight Council| access-date=5 August 2014}}</ref> The planning permission granted for the redevelopment of the marina states that ''Ryde'' must be removed within three years of work commencing.<ref name=SR472/>

===PS Ryde Trust ===
[[File:PS Ryde in May 2020.jpg|thumb|PS ''Ryde'' in May 2020]]
[[File:Remains of paddle steamer "Ryde", Island Harbour, Isle of Wight, England (2).jpg|thumb|Remains of PS ''Ryde'' in September 2024]]
In June 2018, it was reported that ''Ryde'' had been sold and that there were plans to restore the vessel. A charitable trust was to be set up with this aim. An assessment of the vessel was to be undertaken with the assistance of the National Ships Register. It may have been necessary to cut the ship into sections to move her, with restoration estimated at £7–10 million.<ref name=SR481>{{cite journal |title=Isle of Wight Paddle Steamer ''Ryde'' Rescued for Restoration |journal=Steam Railway |publisher=Bauer Consumer Media |location=Peterborough |issue=481 |page=6 |date=22 June 2018 |issn=0143-7232}}</ref> In November 2018 the P.S. Ryde Trust announced that funds had been raised to purchase ''Ryde'' and funding applications for the restoration would be made.<ref name="bbc.co.uk"/> After securing for the winter period and pumping out, it was intended that restoration work would start in April 2019 and last for two years, should the necessary funds be available, after which PS ''Ryde'' would be fully restored.<ref>{{cite news |title=Restoration project launched to save the Ryde Queen paddle steamer |url=https://www.iwcp.co.uk/news/16226766.restoration-project-launched-to-save-the-ryde-queen-paddle-steamer/|date=29 November 2018}}</ref>

An inspection in December 2018 revealed that the remains of the bridge and much of the decking had collapsed. Attempts to remove the vessel would be environmentally hazardous, and it was decided to abandon the restoration project and dismantle the vessel later in 2019. Money raised from an on-line appeal would, instead, be used to fund work on the {{PS|Medway Queen||}}.<ref name=echo /> However, as of January 2025, the dismantling work still had not commenced.

==In popular culture==
*Scenes towards the end of the 1980 film [[The Wildcats of St Trinian's]] were filmed on the Ryde Queen.
*The Ryde Queen nightclub featured in [[Isabel Ashdown]]'s novel ''Summer of '76''.

==See also==
*[[List of ships built by William Denny and Brothers]]

==References==
{{Commons category|position=left|Ryde (ship, 1937)|''Ryde''}}
{{Reflist}}

{{SR ships}}
{{National Historic Ships}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Ryde}}
[[Category:1937 ships]]
[[Category:Ships built on the River Clyde]]
[[Category:Ships of the Southern Railway (UK)]]
[[Category:Merchant ships of the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:Steamships of the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:World War II minesweepers of the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:Ferry transport on the Isle of Wight]]
[[Category:Transport in Portsmouth]]
[[Category:Ships of British Rail]]
[[Category:Ships and vessels of the National Historic Fleet]]
[[Category:Paddle steamers of the United Kingdom]]