The P.S. Cardiff Queen arriving at Ilfracombe in July 1960. [001] Her vital statistics are taken from 'The White Funnel Handbook' 'The Official Handbook of P. & A. Campbell Ltd.' [001] [307]

Built and engined in 1947 by Fairfield & Co. Ltd., Glasgow.
Triple expansion, 3-cylinder 25½", 39" & 61". Stroke 60".
Port of registry - Bristol. (after 1961 - Cardiff)
Length 240' - 0"
Breadth 30' - 1"
Overall Beam 59' - 9"
Tonnage - Gross 765, Net 287.
Code Letters MRBF.

Cardiff to Ilfracombe was a distance of 43 nautical miles but it was a mere 10 miles to Weston and the city of Bristol only 27 miles. A nautical mile is 6,080 feet whereas a statute mile is 5,280 feet. The White Funnel Handbook [307] describes Ilfracombe thus:

"Ilfracombe is the holiday Mecca of many thousands from South Wales, Bristol and more distant places who come to enjoy the pleasures of this beautilful resort, which nature seems to have intended for the purpose, with its beautiful coves, its wooded glens, turf-covered heights and glorious coastline." Then some prat invented the cheap package holiday and and the White Funnel Fleet was lost forever!

The engine room aboard the 'Cardiff Queen'. The triple expansion engine used steam at 180 p.s.i. generated in a double-ended Scotch boiler which gave output of 2,800 indicated horse-power. She burnt a ton of coal every 8.74 nautical miles and had paddles of 18 feet diameter. She was quite nippy at 18.5 knots with 54 revolutions per minute but in normal service this was reduced to 48 rpm giving a speed of 16.5 knots. She was withdrawn from service in September 1966 and broken up in May 1968. She required a registered crew of 39 personnel and was licensed to carry between 763 and 1,107 passengers dependant upon the cruise class i.e. the destination. The image and data is from 'Cardiff Queen - The Ultimate Coastal Paddle Steamer" by Nick James. The lower image has been colourised. [001] [311]