An Illustrated History

by Ambrose Greenway

This new book, beautifully illustrated with a magnificent collection of more than 300 photographs, covers the development of a much loved type of vessel, the ‘classic’ cross-channel or short-sea passenger ferry.

From the mid-nineteenth century paddle ferries slowly evolved into screw-driven steamers but it was the advent of the steam turbine and the construction of the railway steamers The Queen and Brighton in 1903 that caught the attention of the world. In 1912 Rudolf Diesel’s new oil engine went to sea in a cargo ship but it was not until 1925 that it was first employed to widespread acclaim in a ferry, in the Danish North Sea packet Parkeston. In 1934 it made its debut on the English Channel with the Belgian Government’s striking 25-knot motor ferry Prins Baudouin.

The inexorable increase in car travel from the 1930s led to the development of a new breed of specialised car ferry accessed through bow and stern doors, and the proliferation of these after the Second World War led to the eventual demise of the ‘classic’ passenger ferry in the 1960s.

This is an excellent book backed up with some high quality photos and I would very highly recommend it to our readers.

Published by

ISBN: 978-1-84832-170-0

Hardback: 260mm x 240mm, 176 pp illustrated

Price: £30