SS Snaefell (1948)

TSS (RMS) Snaefell V was a passenger vessel operated by the Isle of Man Steam Packet Company from 1948 to 1978, the fifth ship in the Company's history to bear the name. Her purchase cost was £504,448.

Dimensions
Snaefell had a registered tonnage of 2489 GRT, but otherwise her dimensions, speed, horsepower and crew accommodation were similar to her three predecessors; Tynwald, SS Mona's Queen (1946) and SS King Orry (1946).

History


She was built at Cammell Laird, the fourth of the six sisters delivered by the company between 1946 and 1955, at a cost of £504,448 (£0 as of 2024). Snaefell was launched by Mrs J. R. Quayle on Thursday, 11 March 1948. Upon completion she underwent sea trials on 19 & 20 July of that year, and made her maiden voyage from Liverpool to Douglas on 24 July.

Service life
Snaefell and her younger sister Mona's Isle were the last ships on the Company's Heysham - Douglas service when it closed towards the end of August 1974.

Apart from an accident when she fouled her anchor off Llandudno in July 1976 and consequently missed a sailing, Snaefell enjoyed an efficient and uneventful career. However, the predominance built up by the Steam Packet's car ferries in the 1970s, made it sensible to withdraw another traditionally designed ship.

Disposal
Snaefell made her final sailing from Douglas on August Bank Holiday Monday, 1977, and was then laid up in Bidston Dock, Birkenhead.

Following her withdrawal from service, she was sold to the Rochdale Metal Recovery Co. for scrap in 1978, and in November of that year, she was taken under tow to Blyth for breaking up.