PS Ryde

PS Ryde at Binfield, Isle of Wight, in 2006
History
Name:	PS Ryde
Owner:	Southern Railway (1937–39) Royal Navy (1939–45) Southern Railway (1945–47) British Railways (1948–70) Island Marina Holdings (−2010)
Operator:	Southern Railway (1937–47) British Railways (1948–70)
Port of registry:	Portsmouth (1937–39) Portsmouth (1939–45) Portsmouth (1945–70)
Builder:	William Denny and Brothers, Dumbarton
Launched:	23 April 1937
In service:	1937
Out of service:	1970–2010
Identification:	Code Letters MMKG (1937–39, 1945–79) United Kingdom Official Number 166061 (1937–70)
Fate:	Scrapping started, but halted
General characteristics
Tonnage:	603 GRT 237 NRT
Length:	216 ft 0 in (65.84 m)
Beam:	29 ft 1 in (8.86 m)
Draught:	10 ft 0 in (3.05 m)
Installed power:	Triple expansion steam engine
Propulsion:	Paddle wheels

PS Ryde is a paddle steamer commissioned and run by Southern Railway as a passenger ferry between mainland England and the Isle of Wight from 1937 to 1969. She saw wartime service and later became a nightclub. After many years abandoned on moorings at Island Harbour Marina on the River Medina, scrapping started but was halted. The new owners of the marina are currently looking into the feasibility of still saving her.

PS Ryde was commissioned by Southern Railway in 1936 as a sister ship for Sandown. Costing £46,000 she was built by William Denny and Brothers in Dumbarton on Clydeside. After her launch on 23 April 1937 she replaced the PS Duchess of Norfolk on the Portsmouth to Ryde Pier passenger ferry service.

In 1939 PS Ryde and PS Sandown were requisitioned by the Royal Navy. She was renamed HMS Ryde, and initially both were used as Minesweepers in the Dover Straits. After two years Ryde was converted to an anti-aircraft ship and served on the Thames Estuary and at Harwich. In May 1944 she travelled to Portsmouth, from where she sailed to the Normandy coast to take part in the naval component of Operation Neptune on D-Day.