PS Ryde

PS Ryde is a paddle steamer commissioned and run by Southern Railway as a passenger ferry between mainland England and the Isle of Wight from 1937 to 1969. She saw wartime service and later became a nightclub. After many years abandoned on moorings at Island Harbour Marina on the River Medina, scrapping started but was halted. The new owners of the marina are currently looking into the feasibility of still saving her.

History

PS Ryde 1937 – 1939

PS Ryde was commissioned by Southern Railway in 1936 as a sister ship for Sandown. Costing £46,000 she was built by William Denny and Brothers in Dumbarton on Clydeside. After her launch on 23 April 1937 she replaced the PS Duchess of Norfolk on the Portsmouth to Ryde Pier passenger ferry service.

HMS Ryde 1939 – 1945

In 1939 PS Ryde and PS Sandown were requisitioned by the Royal Navy. She was renamed as HMS Ryde and initially both were used as Minesweepers in the Dover Straits. After two years Ryde was converted to an anti-aircraft ship and served on the Thames Estuary and at Harwich. In May 1944 she travelled to Portsmouth from where she embarked to the Normandy coast to take part in the naval component of Operation Neptune on D-Day.

Ryde

Coordinates: 50°43′38″N 1°09′42″W / 50.7271°N 1.1618°W / 50.7271; -1.1618

Ryde is a British seaside town and civil parish, and the most populous urban area on the Isle of Wight, with a population of about 32,250, reducing to 23,999 at the 2011 Census. It lies on the north-east coast. The town grew in size as a seaside resort after the villages of Upper Ryde and Lower Ryde were merged in the 19th century. The influence of this era is still strongly visible in the town's central and seafront architecture.

As a resort, the town is noted for its expansive sands, which are revealed at low tide, making its pier necessary on the wide beach for a regular passenger service. Ryde Pier is a listed structure, and the fourth longest pier in the United Kingdom, as well as the oldest.

History

In 1782 numerous bodies of men, women and children from HMS Royal George, which sank suddenly at Spithead, were washed ashore at Ryde. Many were buried on land that is now occupied by The Esplanade. A memorial to them was erected in June 2004.

Ryde (disambiguation)

Ryde may refer to:

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