MV Hotspur II

MV Kenilworth arriving at Gourock pierhead.
History
United Kingdom
Name:	MV Hotspur II MV Kenilworth
Namesake:	Hotspur or Henry Percy Walter Scott novel Kenilworth
Operator:	1936 – 1978: Hythe Ferry 1979 – 2009: Clyde Marine Services
Port of registry:	Greenock
Route:	1936 – 1978: Hythe Ferry 1979 – 2007: Gourock – Kilcreggan ferry
Builder:	Rowhedge Ironworks, Colchester
Out of service:	1 April 2007
Identification:
General characteristics
Displacement:	67 tons
Length:	56 ft (17 m)
Beam:	21 ft (6 m)
Installed power:	(i) 4L3 Gardner diesel engines (ii) 2000 R6 Kelvin
Speed:	9 knots
Capacity:	80 passengers
Crew:	2

The MV Kenilworth is a historic passenger ferry built in 1936 as MV Hotspur II. She was used on the Hythe Ferry service across Southampton Water until 1978, and then on the Kilcreggan ferry on the Firth of Clyde until 2007.

MV Hotspur II was built in 1936 by Rowhedge Ironworks as a passenger ferry for the Hythe Ferry service across Southampton Water. One of the Kenilworth's half-sisters, MV Hotspur IV, is still reserve boat on the Hythe Ferry service. The use of the name Hotspur for several generations of Hythe ferries derives from the involvement, and later ownership, of the ferry service by the Percy family, whose member Hotspur was immortalised by William Shakespeare.

In 1978, Hotspur II was bought by Clyde Marine Motoring to operate the Gourock – Kilcreggan service. Arriving on the Clyde on 22 March, she was modified before entering service on 2 April 1979. Renamed Kenilworth, after the novel Kenilworth by Walter Scott, she provided the main ferry service, initially on subcontract to Calmac and after 1983, on behalf of Strathclyde Passenger Transport Executive. Other company vessels (Clyde Marine Services Ltd. from 2003), including The Second Snark and CalMac vessels provided relief.

Along with The Second Snark, Kenilworth was listed in the UK Historic Ship Register from 2001.