Duke of Rothesay at Fishguard

Image: © Stephen McKay Taken: Unknown

The Duke of Rothesay was originally built in 1956 at Dumbarton for use on the Heysham - Belfast route. She was one of three sister ships, the others being the Duke of Argyll and the Duke of Lancaster, sometimes collectively known as the Heysham Dukes. She was converted to a side loading car-ferry in 1967, by converting one of her decks into a car deck, and was then used on the Fishguard - Rosslare service until 1971. The problem with this arrangement was that due to the low headroom larger vehicles had to be craned aboard; note the transit van being rather precariously manoeuvred in the background. After 1971 the ship was used as a relief on the Irish sea routes until 1975 when she was withdrawn and scrapped at Faslane. The sister ships fared differently: the Duke of Argyll was sold to a Greek shipping line in 1975 and was eventually scrapped in Hong Kong in 1996. Saddest of all, perhaps, the Duke of Lancaster ended up beached on the Dee Estuary where she has been gradually rotting away for almost 30 years (see Image ). For more information see http://www.sealink-holyhead.com/ships/Dukes/rothesay.htm .

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