TSS Caledonian Princess
TSS Caledonian Princess, as the Tuxedo Princess, under the Tyne Bridge in Newcastle upon Tyne, England, in 2006
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| History | |
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| Name: |
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| Owner: |
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| Operator: |
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| Port of registry: |
Stranraer  United Kingdom
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| Route: |
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| Builder: | William Denny and Brothers, Dumbarton, Scotland |
| Yard number: | 1501 |
| Launched: | 5 April 1961 |
| Completed: | November 1961 |
| Maiden voyage: | 16 December 1961 |
| Out of service: | 1981 |
| Identification: | IMO: 5057840 |
| Fate: | 2008: Scrapped in Aliağa, Turkey |
| General characteristics | |
| Type: | RORO ferry |
| Displacement: | 3,630 GT 688 DWT |
| Length: |
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| Beam: | 17.4 m (57 ft) |
| Draught: | 12 ft (3.7 m) |
| Depth: | 15.7 ft (4.8 m) |
| Installed power: |
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| Propulsion: | Twin-screws |
| Speed: | 20.5 kts |
| Capacity: | 1400 passengers; 103 cars |
TSS Caledonian Princess was a turbine steamship, built in 1961 in Scotland. A roll-on/roll-off car ferry, she primarily served the Stranraer - Larne route. Under Sealink ownership, however, she operated in both the English Channel and the Irish Sea. From 1984, she spent her later life as the Tuxedo Princess, a floating nightclub on the River Tyne. She never saw service under her final name, Prince, and was scrapped in 2008.
Caledonian Princess was built for the Caledonian Steam Packet Company by William Denny and Brothers in Dumbarton on the River Clyde in Scotland. She was launched on 5 April 1961 and completed by November 1961.
In 1968 the ship passed into the British Rail Sealink fleet, eventually receiving the large white letter Sealink branding across the full height of her hull.Caledonian Princess was the first stern-loading car ferry to sail into Douglas, Isle of Man, when she visited on charter from Stranraer on 26 June 1968. She was retired from service in 1981 and operated as a floating nightclub on the River Tyne until 2007.
In April 2008, it was reported the ship would undergo a £1.5m refit, for further life as a floating nightclub in Northern Ireland. By the time she was being towed away from the Tyne, it was reported she was to see use as an entertainment venue in Piraeus, near Athens.
In 2007, owners Absolute Leisure sold Tuxedo Princess to foreign investors. She was renamed Prince in 2008 and moved from the Tyne to Greece. Towed from her mooring on 27 July 2008, she was guided slowly down the Tyne at low tide by two tugs. She passed under the Gateshead Millennium Bridge, which had been designed to accommodate this move when installed in November 2000. Due to fog at the coast, she was moored overnight at Northumbria Quay, North Shields and left the next day, with an ocean-going tug towing her to Greece.
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