RMS Lady of Mann

RMS Lady of Mann is launched at Barrow-in-Furness
History
Name	Lady of Mann
Owner	1930–1971: IoMSPCo.
Operator	1930–1971: IoMSPCo.
Port of registry	Douglas, Isle of Man
Builder	Vickers Armstrong, Barrow-in-Furness
Cost	£ 249,073
Launched	4 March 1930
In service	1930
Out of service	14 August 1971
Identification	IMO number: 5201893[1] Code Letters G M K Z [2]
Fate	Concluded revenue service August 1971. Sailed for Barrow-in-Furness, 17 August, to be laid up awaiting sale. Sold 14 December 1971, to Arnott Young and Co. Taken under tow by the tug Wrestler on 29 December, arriving at Dalmuir on 31 December, for breaking.
General characteristics
Type	Passenger Steamer
Tonnage	3,104 gross register tons (GRT)
Length	372 feet (113 m)[3]
Beam	50 feet (15 m)
Depth	18 ft 6 in (5.6 m)
Installed power	Steam Turbine developing 220 pounds per square inch (1,500 kPa) 11,500 shp (8,600 kW)
Propulsion	Four single reduction geared steam turbines working at 220 pounds per square inch (1,500 kPa), developing 11,500 shp (8,600 kW), driving twin screws.
Speed	In excess of 23 knots (43 km/h; 26 mph)
Capacity	2,873 passengers
Crew	81

TSS (RMS) Lady of Mann (No. 145307), was a passenger ship, built by Vickers Shipbuilding and Engineering for the Isle of Man Steam Packet Company at Barrow-in-Furness in 1930, at a cost of £249,073. Certificated to carry 2,873 passengers and 81 crew, she was commissioned to operate on the Island's busy Douglas–Liverpool and Douglas–Fleetwood routes, and had a maximum speed of 23 knots. Her hull was at first the company's conventional black, but was changed to white and green in 1933,^[4] only to revert to black after her war service.

Service life

The year 1930 saw the Isle of Man Steam Packet Company celebrate its centenary, and to mark this, Lady of Mann was to be the largest ship ever built for it to that date.

Lady of Mann's general design and machinery followed closely that of the Ben-my-Chree, with the improvements gained by the three years operation of that vessel. Her initial work was on the Douglas - Fleetwood service where she took the place of Viking,^[4] and engaged on Sunday excursions from that port.

During the 1930s, like her sisters Ben-my-Chree and Mona's Queen, "Lady of Mann" was painted with a white hull over green. This was a summer colour scheme adopted by the company, and proved immensely popular with the public. All three sisters were exceedingly well appointed vessels, and upon entering service were each met with high acclaim.

War service

Under the command of her

Over the period of the evacuation, Lady of Mann had lifted more troops to safety than any other vessel.[6]

Operation Aerial

Following Operation Dynamo Lady of Mann was in action once more. She became part of the force of personnel ships assigned to Operation Aerial, the evacuation from the ports of north-west France. She was at Le Havre, Cherbourg and Brest, embarking troops as the enemy advanced in a vast encircling movement. Along with her Steam Packet sister Manx Maid, Lady of Mann was one of the last three ships to leave Le Havre. It was estimated she had 5,000 troops on board as she departed under air attack.^[7]

Trooping duties

Another operation which the Lady of Mann was assigned to was that of ferrying forces personnel from

and then went back to her duties as a personnel carrier. She served as such for the remainder of the war, carrying on for some months afterwards moving troops and bringing out displaced persons. She was mostly Channel plying to Ostend and Hook of Holland from such ports as Dover and Harwich.

Post-war service

Lady of Mann returned to her home port, Douglas, on 9 March 1946, where she was given a civic reception. A local paper that week said that during her war service Lady of Mann had carried more than 2,000,000 troops.

She was reconditioned by Cammell Laird & Co at Birkenhead and after her proud war service, Lady of Mann returned to her duties with the Isle of Man Steam Packet Company on 14 June 1946.^[5] Like her sister Ben-my-Chree, Lady of Mann only sailed during the summer season, and this may go some way to explaining their relatively long lives. Her career continued until August 1971. Lady of Mann made her final sailing from Liverpool at 09:00hrs on 14 August. In the afternoon she made passage from Douglas to Ardrossan, returning the following day, Sunday, 15 August. After a final day in her home port, Douglas, she departed bound for Barrow-in-Furness where she was laid up awaiting sale. On 14 December 1971, Lady of Mann was sold to Arnott Young and Co., Glasgow. She was taken under tow by the tugboat Wrestler on 29 December, arriving at Dalmuir on 31 December, for breaking up.

Lady of Mann was an exceedingly popular ship. When she came to be broken up, enthusiasts wrote from all parts of Britain hoping to get souvenirs from her. One of the most elegant features of the "centenary Lady of Mann" was her main staircase which was made of mahogany. It was widely admired, and was another example of the type of furnishing that subsequently had to vanish. Before the ship had finished her service life, the staircase was in contravention of modern fire regulations.

Alterations had to be made in the mid-1960s; the stylish opening had to be blocked in with steel walls, and steel doors had to be fitted. The appearance was largely sacrificed; the regulations concerning fire precautions duly satisfied. But when Lady of Mann was due to be broken up in the early 1970s, this much desired staircase was not quite finished. An enthusiast living in Castletown, succeeded in acquiring at least part of the woodwork, and it was reassembled at Lorne House in Castletown, where it remains to this day. Steam Packet officials affectionately described her as having been 'foreman built'.

For when she was in the Vickers Armstrong yards at Barrow, the builder was going through the very severe slump which followed the 1929

External links

• Media related to Lady of Mann (ship, 1930) at Wikimedia Commons
• TSS Lady Of Mann