British Railways - Sealink
 
Page 2: Heysham Sevices
 
 
This page is devoted to postcards and photographs of the Heysham services of British Railways, which was formed in 1948 with the ships from former LMS, LNER, SR and GWR fleets. British Railways was rebranded British Rail in 1965, and new corporate colours and logo were introduced. In 1968, an Act of Parliament separated the shipping interests of British Rail into a new division, for which the marketing name Sealink was adopted in 1970. In 1979, the ownership of of vessels was transferred to Sealink UK Ltd, in preparation for the privatisation of the railway fleet. In 1984, Sealink was acquired by Sea Containers Ltd, becoming Sealink British Ferries. After a lengthy battle, Stena Line completed a hostile takeover of Sealink in 1990, the company then being known as Sealink Stena Line until later absorption into the Stena Fleet.
 
An alphabetical list of ships shown on this page is shown below. The Table beneath gives links to complete history pages on selected individual ships. Below the table is a Fleet List in chronological order.
 
This page is still under construction
 
 
Ships on This Page:-
Duke of Argyll (3) - BR/Sealink: 1956-75
Duke of Lancaster (3) - BR/Sealink: 1956-75
Duke of Rothesay (2) - BR/Sealink: 1956-75
 
British Railways Pages:-
British Railway Steamers - BR/Sealink Header Page
Midland Railway - Heysham-Belfast & Heysham-Douglas Services
Lancashire & Yorkshire Railway - Fleetwood-Belfast services
London Midland & Scottish Railway - Heysham-Belfast services
 
Associated Pages:-
Hellenic Maritime Lines (HML)
Ferry Postcards
Cruise Ship Postcards
Ocean Liner Postcards
Simplon Postcards - Recent Updates
Simplon Postcards - Home Page
 
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Table of Ship Histories

Name

Other names

 Built
 Duke of Argyll (3)  Neptunia, Corinthia

 1956
 
 
 
 
 
British Railways - Sealink
 
Page 2: Heysham Sevices
 
 
 
Duke of Argyll
(BR/Sealink: 1956-75)
 
The Duke of Argyll was built by Harland & Wolff, Belfast, in 1956, the first of three Dukes (the others being Duke of Rothesay & Duke of Lancaster) to replace a 1928 trio with the same names on the Heysham-Belfast night service of British Railways (London Midland Region). She was 376 ft long, 4797 gross tons, and carried 1800 passengers (600 first class, 1200 second). Sleeping berths were provided for 240 first class and 214 second, with open berths, rugs and pillows available for the rest. Her speed was 21 knots.
 
In 1965, British Railways was rebranded British Rail, and new corporate colours and logo were introduced. In 1968, an Act of Parliament separated the shipping interests of British Rail into a new division, for which the marketing name Sealink was adopted in 1970.
 
In 1970 Duke of Argyll was converted to a car ferry, with a vehicle deck of only 6ft 6in height, loaded from the stern. Passenger capacity was 1200, in one class, with 400 berths, although first class was reintroduced from 1972. Day services were also run from this time. The Heysham-Belfast route was closed on 5th April, 1975, with the Duke of Argyll running the final sailing to Ulster. She was sold to Greece in the same year as Neptunia for Libra Maritime, becoming Hellenic Maritime Lines (HML) Corinthia in 1987. Subsequent names were Faith Power, Fairy Princess and Zenith. Zenith was burnt out in Hong Kong in 1995, and scrapped the following year.
 
Complete history of Duke of Argyll
 
 
British Railways (London Midland Region) official card of Duke of Argyll, printed by McCorquodale.
The same card was issued as Duke of Lancaster.
 
 
 
The same card as above, reissued in the new 1965 British Rail colours as serial No. BR35145. The title still refers to British Railways (London Midland Region), and it was printed by Jesse Broad. The same card was issued as Duke of Lancaster.
 
 
 
Sealink official postcard published by J.Arthur Dixon (serial no. L6/SP. 2855).
The photo used dates from the pre-Sealink British Rail era without the hull logo.
 
 
 
Eason postcard of Duke of Argyll leaving Belfast, plus enlarged image.
 
 
 
Photographic postcard on board the Duke of Argyll.
 
 
 
 
 
 
Duke of Lancaster
(BR/Sealink: 1956-75)
 
British Railways (London Midland Region) official card of Duke of Lancaster, printed by McCorquodale.
The same card was issued as Duke of Argyll.
 
 
 
The same card as above, reissued in the new 1965 British Rail colours.
The title still refers to British Railways (London Midland Region), and it was printed by Jesse Broad.
The same card was issued as Duke of Argyll.
 
 
 
 
 
 
Duke of Rothesay
(BR/Sealink: 1956-75)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
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