Registration number 314
Status Registered
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Previous names

  • 1925 - 1946 Shuttlecock

Details

Function Passenger Vessel
Subfunction Excursion
Location Gorleston
Vessel type Excursion
Current use Commercial Activity
Available to hire Yes
Available for excursions Yes

Construction

Builder Rogers Boatyard, Cornwall
Built in 1925
Hull material Wood
Rig None
Number of decks 2
Propulsion Motor
Number of engines 1
Primary engine type Diesel
Boiler type None
Boilermaker None
Boiler fuel diesel

Dimensions

Breadth: Beam
13.44 feet (4.10m)
Depth
4.59 feet (1.40m)
Length: Overall
65.97 feet (20.12m)
Tonnage: Gross
26.00

History

SOUTHERN BELLE was built in 1925 at Rogers Boatyard in Cornwall as the ferry between Plymouth and Cremyll. She is constructed entirely of wood, using pitch pine on an oak keel. Originally powered by steam, she was named SHUTTLECOCK and was converted to diesel after World War II, when she was also re-named SOUTHERN BELLE. Her current engine is a Gardner 6 cylinder diesel. 

She was bought by the Isle of Wight Pleasure Boat Company in 2000 and ran pleasure trips on the Solent and to Southampton; she also went on private hire to the Classic Boat Museum at Newport, Isle of Wight. She later moved to Plymouth where she cruised with a passenger capacity of 159. Apart from excursions around the Dockyard and to the rivers Yealm and Tamar and to Looe, she ran a regular service to Cawsand between May and September. She also offered charter trips. 

In 2005, she was bought by a new owner and transferred to Norfolk where she operated as a trip boat on the Norfolk Broads until about 2013.

Update, February 2025: Vessel for sale. 

Sources

Hamer, Geoffrey, Trip Out 1995/6 - A Guide to the Passenger Boat Services of the British Isles, G P Hamer, 1995

Own this vessel?

If you are the owner of this vessel and would like to provide more details or updated information, please contact info@nationalhistoricships.org.uk

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