Registration number 37
Status Registered
adminnhs

Details

Function Leisure Craft
Subfunction Launch
Location Windermere
Vessel type Launch - Saloon
Current use Museum based
Available to hire Yes
Available for excursions Yes

Construction

Builder Hayton, T W, Bowness-on-Windermere
Built in 1898
Hull material Wood
Rig None
Number of decks 1
Propulsion Steam
Number of engines 1
Primary engine type Steam
Boiler type Locomotive
Boilermaker Langley Engineering, Cowfold
Boiler year 1985
Boiler fuel coal

Dimensions

Breadth: Beam
6.98 feet (2.13m)
Depth
2.98 feet (0.91m)
Length: Overall
40.00 feet (12.20m)

History

KITTIWAKE was built for William Grimble Groves in 1898, a brewer from manchester who bought the Holehird estate in Troutbeck in 1897. KITTIWAKE was used in much the same way as other steam launches - by family and friends for elegant afternoon tea parties and also by charitable organisations, such as giving nurses a few hours of relaxation on Lake Windermere.

However, unlike other Windermere Steam Launches, KITTIWAKE has a counter stern, no awning aft of the cabin and she has port operated engine. She is fitted with her original Sissons triple expansion steam engine.

She was converted to petrol in 1944 but was then returned to steam by the Windermere Steamboat Museum in 1984.

Sources

Norman J Brouwer, International Register of Historic Ships (Edition 2, 1993, pp157) pub: Anthony Nelson
Steamboat Register: An illustrated Register of surviving steam vessels in the British Isles (May Edition 6, 1994) pub: Steam Boat Association of Great Britain
Windermere Steamboat Museum and Motorboat Collection (1988) pub: Windermere Nautical Trust Ltd

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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