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- The Harland and Wolff
Standard Motorships
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- Page
4 - British and Irish
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- In 1938, it was the turn
of the British and Irish Liverpool-Dublin route to receive their
modern standard motorships Leinster and Munster. At 4300grt, they were the largest ships of the
series, too large for winter service on their intended route.
One ship was lost during WW2, and the other was transferred to
the Belfast SS after the war to replace lost tonnage. In 1948,
two slightly smaller (4100grt) sisters were built using the same
names Leinster and Munster. These ships survived until replaced by car ferries
in the late 1960s.
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- The 13 ships in chronological
order, with links to their respective pages:-
- 1929 Ulster
Monarch (Belfast SS) - Page 1
- 1930 Ulster
Queen (Belfast SS) - Page 1
- 1930 Ulster
Prince (Belfast SS) - Page 1
- 1930 Innisfallen
(2) (City of Cork SP) - Page 2
- 1936 Royal Scotsman
(Burns & Laird) - Page 3
- 1936 Royal Ulsterman
(Burns & Laird) - Page 3
- 1937 Leinster
(3) (British and Irish) - Ulster Prince - This Page
- 1938 Munster
(3) (British and Irish) - This Page
- 1947 Innisfallen
(3) (City of Cork SP) - Page 2
- 1948 Leinster
(4) (British and Irish) - This Page
- 1948 Munster
(4) (British and Irish) - This Page
- 1953 Irish Coast
(Coast Lines) - Page
3
- 1957 Scottish
Coast (Burns & Laird) - Page 3
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- References:-
- The B&I
Line: by Hazel P.Smyth - Gill & Macmillan 1984
- Across the Irish
Sea: by Robert Sinclair - Conway Maritime 1990
- Irish Passenger
Steamship Services - Volumes 1 & 2: by D.B.McNeil - David
& Charles 1969
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- 1937 Leinster (3) (British and Irish)
- Ulster
Prince (2)
(Belfast SS)
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- The two sisterships Leinster
(3) and Munster
(3) entered
service between Liverpool and Dublin in 1938, the Leinster
(3) having run on the Belfast SS route until the new Dublin
terminal was completed (the Ulster Monarch was having
a lengthy overhaul at the time). They were delivered with buff
coloured hulls, which was later replaced with dark green.
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- An attractive
B&I art card of Leinster as delivered.
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- The ships were the largest
in the Coast Lines fleet when delivered, and proved to be too
large for the Liverpool-Dublin service for much of the year.
They also lacked the ability to carry cattle, a major traffic
out of Dublin. Following the Second World War, only one of the
trio of Belfast SS ships remained, and the Leinster was
refitted in 1946 to become the Ulster Prince (2). She
initially carried the Burns & Laird style funnel colours
that the Belfast SS ships had been given in 1938, as shown on
the official card below. The route was still referred to as the
Ulster Imperial Line on the card back.
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- An unidentified
card of Ulster Prince (2), possibly based on a pre-war
B & I card due to the white funnel band.
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- An official
Belfast SS photographic card of Ulster Prince (2).
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- An official
Belfast SS colour card of Ulster Prince (2). Artist unknown.
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- An official
Belfast SS colour card of Ulster Prince (2). Artist unknown.
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- An official
Belfast SS colour card of Ulster Prince (2). Artist unknown.
- The
ship was renamed Ulster Prince I in 1966, to release the
name for the new car ferry which replaced her.
- She
was withdrawn in October of that year, along with the Ulster
Monarch.
- They
were replaced by the Irish Coast and Scottish Coast
until the new car ferries arrived.
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- Photographic
postcard of Ulster Prince (2).
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- The
Ulster Prince, ex-Leinster, was sold in 1967, being
bought later by Epirotiki
Lines.
She reappeared as the Odysseus. An official Epirotiki colour card of Odysseus
is shown below.
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- An unidentified
photo card of Odysseus.
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- In 1976,
Odysseus was used as an accommodation ship at Kyle of
Lochalsh.
- She
later moved to Glasgow, and I took the photo below from the paddlesteamer
Waverley.
- She
looked in very poor condition by this time. She was broken up
in Faslane in 1980.
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- 1938 Munster (3)
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and Irish)
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- The Munster
(3) was the second of the 1930s B & I motorships, and
entered service between Liverpool and Dublin in 1938.
She was lost in 1940.
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- An attractive
B&I art card of Munster (3) as delivered with buff
hull.
- Click on image for larger version in
new window
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- B&I
art card of Munster (3) as delivered with buff hull.
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- An Ensign
photo card of the Munster (3) with her original buff hull.
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- A later
official colour card of Munster. I believe the same card
was issued for the Leinster. The Munster (3) was
lost in 1940.
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- 1948 Leinster (4)
- (British
and Irish)
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- At the end of World War
Two, the 1937 Leinster
(3) became
the Ulster
Prince for
Belfast SS, and the 1938 Munster
(3) had been
lost. Two new sisters were built in 1948. They were very similar
to their predecessors, but differed externally in that the stump
main mast was shorter and mounted in front of the well deck.
Two derricks were located in the well. The windows below the
boat deck had round portholes compared to rectangular on the
pre-war sisters. The Leinster (4) and Munster (4) were sold in 1969 to Greek owners.
The Leinster was renamed Aphrodite and ran for Mediterranean Sun Lines. She was scrapped
in 1988.
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- Official
B&I postcard.
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- I believe
this is a card of the 1948 Leinster (4), since it has
the stump main mast, but it does show rectangular windows below
the boat deck, not circular portholes.
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- Eason
Studios (Dublin) photographic postcard of Leinster (4)
passing Howth.
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- Photographic
postcard of Leinster (4).
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- Photographic
postcard of Leinster (4).
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- Photographic
postcard of Leinster (4).
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- The Leinster (4) and Munster
(4) were sold in 1969 to Greek owners.
- The Leinster
was renamed Aphrodite and ran for Mediterranean Sun Lines.
She was scrapped in 1988.
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- Mediterranean
Sun Lines postcard of Aphrodite.
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- Mediterranean
Sun Lines postcard of Aphrodite.
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- A Duncan
photo card of Aphrodite is shown below.
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- 1948 Munster (4)
- (British
and Irish)
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- The Munster (4)
was the sister of the Leinster
(4) above.
The same card was issued for each ship. The text shown below
is slightly different to the Leinster card shown above.
Both versions of the text were issued for both ships. The Munster
was sold in 1969. After a spell as Theseus, she operated
as Orpheus for Epirotiki
Lines.
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- Official
B&I postcard.
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- The
Munster equivalent of the Leinster card above had
a reflected image. This one is incorrect, since the stairs down
from the boat deck run the wrong way.
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- A Real
Photographs photo card of the 1948 Munster (4).
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- Photographic
card of the 1948 Munster (4).
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- Photographic
card of the 1948 Munster (4).
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- Photographic
card of the 1948 Munster (4) in final B&I colours
(or the Leinster
(4))
passing the new 1969 Munster (5).
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- The Munster was
sold in 1969. After a spell as Theseus, she operated as
Orpheus for Epirotiki
Lines,
as shown on the official Epirotiki card below.
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- Another
official Epirotiki card of Orpheus,
still with the original bow.
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- Another
official Epirotiki card of Orpheus,
with the later raked bow.
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- For
many years Epirotiki operated the Orpheus
on behalf of Swan
Hellenic,
which became part of P&O Cruises.
- The
official card below shows the logos of all three concerns, Epirotiki, Swan Hellenic and P&O.
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