TSS Manxman (1955)
TSS Manxman (1955) was a King Orry-class passenger ferry built for the Isle of Man Steam Packet Company. She was designed and built by Cammell Laird in Birkenhead, launched on February 8, 1955, and made her maiden voyage on May 21, 1955. She served until 1982.
Specs and capacity
- Tonnage: 2,495 gross register tons
- Length: 325 feet (99 m); Beam: 46 feet (14 m); Depth: 18 feet (5.5 m)
- Propulsion: two Pametrada turbines driving two propellers, 8,500 shaft horsepower (6,300 kW)
- Speed: about 22 knots (around 25 mph)
- Capacity: up to about 2,393 passengers and crew
Role and service
Manxman was the last of six sister ships known as the Six Sisters and the second Isle of Man Steam Packet Company ship to bear the name Manxman. She carried passengers on routes between the Isle of Man and Northwest England, North Wales, and Ireland, with Douglas as her home port. Her maiden voyage was from Douglas to Liverpool.
In popular culture
In 1979, Manxman stood in as RMS Carpathia for the film S.O.S. Titanic.
End of service and later years
The company posted a pre-tax loss in 1981, and 1982 became her final year in regular service. After a dramatic series of the ship’s last sailings, her final Isle of Man voyage occurred on September 4, 1982, with a sentimental farewell from Liverpool to Douglas.
Post-service plans and later use
Manxman was sold for around £100,000 to Marda (Squash) Ltd, who planned to turn her into a leisure complex at Preston Docks, aiming to sail her there under her own power. The project to convert her into a museum failed, and she subsequently spent years as a floating nightclub and restaurant at various locations. She appeared in the film Yentl and was used in a Granada TV program.
Preservation attempts and scrapping
In 1991 she moved to Liverpool’s Trafalgar Docks, then to Hull in 1993, and later to Sunderland’s Pallion Dry Dock after a fire damaged many interiors in 1997. A preservation group worked to save her, but the effort did not succeed. In March 2010 it was announced she would be dismantled, and by January 2011 the work began in Pallion. She was scrapped in 2012, with the dismantling featured in a Pallion-based music video project.
Sea trials
During sea trials on the River Clyde on May 12, 1955, Manxman achieved about 21.95 knots (approximately 25 mph) in the Skermorlie Mile.
This page was last edited on 2 February 2026, at 16:25 (CET).