New Royal Lady

 

New Royal Lady - Crested Eagle (2) - Imperial Eagle

 

 

 

This page is devoted to postcards and photographs of the Scarborough diesel excursion ship New Royal Lady which later served on the Thames and from Malta.

 

New Royal Lady was delivered in 1938 to replace the Royal Lady. She came from the same builders, Thomas Crown & Sons, Sunderland, but was larger and faster. Thomas Round died during her construction, and New Royal Lady was delivered to his son, John C.Round. Like her predecessor Royal Lady, her forward funnel was a dummy. She was used for morning, afternoon and evening trips from Scarborough, and her higher speed of 14 knots also allowed occasional longer cruises to Bridlington and Whitby. Her funnels were yellow, with rather gaudy red, white and blue bands.

 

New Royal Lady only had two seasons at Scarborough before the start of the Second World War, and she was requisitioned by the Royal Navy in 1940 for transport duties. She was purchased by the MOWT in 1942, managed by Fraser & Wright. In 1944 she was attached to the US Navy. New Royal Lady was resold to her owners in 1946, who sold her the following year to John Hall of Kirkaldy, for service on the Firth of Forth. Later the same year she passed to the General Steam Navigation Co (GSN) as the Crested Eagle (2), for cruises on the Thames from London to Gravesend and Southend, plus PLA Docks cruises. From 1952 she was taken off the PLA cruises and based in Ramsgate for local trips. In 1956, Crested Eagle (2) became a regular service vessel, running from Gravesend to to Southend and Clacton daily except Mondays. P.& A. Campbell chartered Crested Eagle (2) in 1957 for services on the South Coast. She ran short trips from Eastbourne to Hastings, except Fridays when she ran from Brighton to Shanklin.

 

Crested Eagle (2) did not sail for the GSN again, and was bought by E Zammit & Co Malta and renamed Imperial Eagle for service between Malta and her small sister island Gozo through until March 1968. She also did occasional trips to Sicily and on these was held locally in ill-repute as a bad sailer. Imperial Eagle was subsequently bought by Sunny & Mary Pisani from Gozo and was used to transport cargo and animals from Gozo to the Malta capital Valletta. For at least 10 years she then lay rotting in Imgarr harbour (Gozo) and was eventually towed to Valletta harbour where she was badly vandalised and half sunk at her moorings.

In November 1995 Imperial Eagle was bought by the local Diving community to be sunk as the centrepiece attraction of an underwater marine park. On 19 July 1999, after years fighting bureaucracy and red tape, she was finally scuttled off Qawra point on the north of the island, and sitting upright at 40 metres gives divers from all over the world an excellent wreckdive and, as a new "reef", encourages marine life in the area.

 

 

Ships Names on This Page:-

New Royal Lady (1937-1939)

Crested Eagle (2) (1947-1957)

Imperial Eagle (1957-19??)

 

Associated Pages:-

General Steam Navigation Co

Scarborough Excursion Ships

Ferry Postcards

Cruise Ship Postcards

Ocean Liner Postcards

Simplon Postcards Home Page

 

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New Royal Lady (1935-46)

 

New Royal Lady was delivered in 1938 to replace the Royal Lady. She came from the same builders, Thomas Crown & Sons, Sunderland, but was larger and faster. Thomas Round died during her construction, and she was delivered to his son, John C.Round. Like her predecessor Royal Lady, her forward funnel was a dummy. She was used for morning, afternoon and evening trips from Scarborough, and her higher speed of 14 knots also allowed occasional longer cruises to Bridlington and Whitby. Her funnels were yellow, with rather gaudy red, white and blue bands.

 

 

Postcard of New Royal Lady.

 

Postcard of New Royal Lady.

 

 

 

 

 

Crested Eagle (2) (1947-1957)

 

New Royal Lady only had two seasons at Scarborough before the start of the Second World War, and she was requisitioned by the Royal Navy in 1940 for transport duties. She was purchased by the MOWT in 1942, managed by Fraser & Wright. In 1944 she was attached to the US Navy. New Royal Lady was resold to her owners in 1946, who sold her the following year to John Hall of Kirkaldy, for service on the Firth of Forth. Later the same year she passed to the General Steam Navigation Co as the Crested Eagle (2), for cruises on the Thames from London to Gravesend and Southend, plus PLA Docks cruises. From 1952 she was taken off the PLA cruises and based in Ramsgate for local trips. In 1956, Crested Eagle (2) became a regular service vessel, running from Gravesend to to Southend and Clacton daily except Mondays. P.& A.Campbell chartered Crested Eagle (2) in 1957 for services on the South Coast. She ran short trips from Eastbourne to Hastings, except Fridays when she ran from Brighton to Shanklin.

 

 

Official GSN company postcard of Crested Eagle (2).

 

Official GSN company postcard of Crested Eagle (2).

 

Official GSN company postcard of Crested Eagle (2).

 

Photographic postcard of Crested Eagle (2).

 

Photographic postcard of Crested Eagle (2) at Southend.

 

 

Handbill of Crested Eagle (2) sailings on charter to P.&A.Campbell in 1957.

Click on the images for an enlarged view in a new window.

Scan: Mike Tedstone.

 

 

 

 

 

Imperial Eagle (1957-1995)

 

Crested Eagle (2) did not sail for the GSN again, and was bought by E Zammit & Co Malta and renamed Imperial Eagle for service between Malta and her small sister island Gozo through until March 1968. She also did occasional trips to Sicily and on these was held locally in ill-repute as a bad sailer. Imperial Eagle was subsequently bought by Sunny & Mary Pisani from Gozo and was used to transport cargo and animals from Gozo to the Malta capital Valletta. For at least 10 years she then lay rotting in Imgarr harbour (Gozo) and was eventually towed to Valletta harbour where she was badly vandalised and half sunk at her moorings.

In November 1995 Imperial Eagle was bought by the local Diving community to be sunk as the centrepiece attraction of an underwater marine park. On 19 July 1999, after years fighting bureaucracy and red tape, she was finally scuttled off Qawra point on the north of the island, and sitting upright at 40 metres gives divers from all over the world an excellent wreckdive and, as a new "reef", encourages marine life in the area.

 

Postcard of Mgarr harbour, Gozo, with Imperial Eagle.

 

 

Postcard of Mgarr harbour, Gozo, with Imperial Eagle.

 

 

Postcard of Mgarr harbour, Gozo, with Imperial Eagle.

 

 

Postcard of Mgarr harbour, Gozo, with Imperial Eagle (ship on far left).

 

 

 

 

 

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