SS King Orry (1842)

RMS King Orry
Career
Name: King Orry
Owner: 1842–1858: IOMSPCo
Operator: 1842–1858: IOMSPCo
Port of registry: Douglas, Isle of Man
Builder: J. Winram and Robert Napier & Co.
Cost: £10,763 (£884,036 in 2015).[1]
Launched: 10 February 1842
In service: 1842
Out of service: 1858
Identification: Official Number 21923
Code Letters N J H M
Fate: Sold to Robert Napier & Co. as part payment for Douglas. Sold by Napier to Greek interests
Status: Scrapped
General characteristics
Type:Paddle Steamer
Tonnage:433 gross register tons (GRT)
Length:140 ft 0 in (42.7 m)
Beam:23 ft 3 in (7.1 m)
Depth:14 ft 3 in (4.3 m)
Installed power:108 shp (81 kW)
Propulsion:Side Lever engine.
Speed:9.5 knots (17.6 km/h; 10.9 mph)

SS (RMS) King Orry (I) No. 21923 - the first vessel in the line's history to be so named - was a wooden paddle-steamer which served with the Isle of Man Steam Packet Company.

Advertisement of passage between Douglas and Liverpool on board the King Orry and Queen of the Isle.

King Orry is of special interest, as she was the only ship in the Company's history to be built in Douglas. Although the John Winram yard gets the credit for her construction, it is probable that the building was supervised by Aitken of Liverpool, and the Douglas yard merely carried out the construction. Later in 1842, she was taken under tow by Mona's Isle to Glasgow, for her engines to be fitted by Robert Napier & Co.

Dimensions

Pictorial diagram of the Beam Engine installed in King Orry.

King Orry was the last wooden built vessel in the Steam Packet fleet. Carvel built with a standing bowsprit, square sterned with sham galleries. King Orry had two masts, was schooner rigged with a male figurehead. She had a registered tonnage of 433 GRT; length 140'; beam 23'3"; depth 14'3". Her engine developed a nominal horse-power of 108 h.p, and this gave her a speed of approximately 9-10 knots. Her purchase cost was £10,763 (£884,036 in 2015).[1]

Service life

An 1856 image of King Orry, Mona's Queen & Tynwald.

On joining the fleet her fastest run between Douglas and Liverpool was 6hrs 20mins, and her average about 7hrs.

She was re-boilered in 1847 for £3,000 (£239,209 in 2015).[1]

Disposal

In 1858, King Orry was taken over by Robert Napier & Co. of Glasgow in part payment for the Douglas. The sum of £5,000 (£439,050 in 2015)[1] was allowed as her value. She was then sold to the Greeks by Napier and traded in the eastern Mediterranean.

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to King Orry.
  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 UK CPI inflation numbers based on data available from Gregory Clark (2014), "What Were the British Earnings and Prices Then? (New Series)" MeasuringWorth.
Bibliography
  • Chappell, Connery (1980). Island Lifeline T. Stephenson & Sons Ltd ISBN 0-901314-20-X