Bid underway to save historic Dumbarton-built ship

Feb 5 2010 by Tina Kemp, Lennox Herald (main ed)

A BID is underway to halt the demise of an historic Dumbarton-built boat.

Paddle Steamer Ryde – the world’s last coal-powered sea-going paddle steamer – is being broken up for health and safety reasons.

But a group planning to buy and restore the vessel, is trying to halt the dismantling of the PS Ryde which has lain crumbling on the Isle of Wight since the 1990s.

PS Ryde was built by William Denny and Brothers 1936 for Southern Railways, at a cost of £46,000.

Commandeered for the war effort HMS Ryde, as she was known, carried out mine sweeping duties, surviving several enemy attacks.

She later served as an anti-aircraft ship and joined the D-Day fleet.

After a post-war spell as a passenger ship, she became a floating hotel then a nightclub.

But by the mid 1990s she had fallen into a serious state of disrepair and it is estimated it will take £7m to restore her.

The Ryde Preservation Trust had offered to buy her for £15,000 after her owners went into receivership.

But they were shocked to find that work has already begin to dismantle her for health and safety reasons.

Now they are trying to stop the work in a bid to take on the vessel and restore her with the aid of grants.