PS Tattershall Castle on the River Thames at the Victoria Embankment in London
History
United Kingdom
Name	Tattershall Castle
Namesake	Tattershall Castle, Lincolnshire
Owner	LNER (1934–48) BTC (1948–63} British Railways (1963–74) Chef & Brewer (1982–2004) Tattershall Castle Group (2005–2015) Stonegate Pub Company (2015–present)
Route	Humber Ferry crossing (1934–74) River Thames (1981–present)
Ordered	1934
Builder	William Gray & Co, West Hartlepool
Yard number	1059
Launched	24 September 1934
Commissioned	24 September 1934
Decommissioned	1974
Out of service	1974
Identification	IMO number: 5353804
Status	Restaurant and bar moored on the River Thames
General characteristics
Type	Paddle steamer
Tonnage	550 GRT, 321 NRT
Length	199.9 ft (60.9 m)
Beam	33.1 ft (10.1 m) (hull) 56 ft (17 m) (including paddle box)
Depth	7.7 ft (2.3 m)
Installed power	1200 ihp
Propulsion	Triple expansion, diagonal stroke, reciprocating steam engine
Speed	12 knots (22 km/h; 14 mph)

PS Tattershall Castle is a floating pub and restaurant moored on the River Thames at Victoria Embankment. It was a passenger ferry across the Humber estuary from 1934 to 1973, before being towed to London in 1976.

History

William Gray & Company of West Hartlepool built the ship as a passenger ferry on the Humber for the London and North Eastern Railway (LNER). She was launched on 24 September 1934.^[1] She plied the Humber Ferry route between Corporation Pier in Kingston upon Hull, Yorkshire, and New Holland Pier in New Holland, Lincolnshire.^[2]

In the Second World War she was a tether for barrage balloons and ferried troops and supplies along the Humber estuary. Due to the frequent heavy fogs on this river, she was fitted with radar, becoming one of the first civilian ships so equipped.^[3] After the war, with the nationalisation of the railways in 1948, she became part of British Rail's Sealink service.

In 1973, after long service as a passenger and goods ferry, she was retired and laid up. In 1976 the ship was towed to London.^[4] Repairs on the ship were deemed too costly and she was retired from service. The opening of the Humber Bridge made the ferry service redundant.^[5]

Tattershall Castle was first opened on the River Thames as a floating art gallery until her eventual disposal to the Chef & Brewer group. Before opening in 1982 as a restaurant,^[6] she was sent to the River Medway for further repairs.^[7] Tattershall Castle returned temporarily to Hull for a refit at MMS Ship Repair in 2015, at a cost of several million pounds.^[8][9]

A sister ship also launched in 1934, the PS Wingfield Castle, is preserved at Hartlepool's Maritime Experience.

A third similar Humber ferry, the PS Lincoln Castle, built in 1940, was scrapped in Autumn 2010.

51°30′20″N 0°07′20″W / 51.5056°N 0.1222°W / 51.5056; -0.1222