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Side-Wheeled Paddle Steamers
PS Alexandra
Built in 1879 by Scott & Co, Greenock
Length : 171 feet - breadth 20.2 feet
Engines : Compound diagonal by Greenock Foundry Coimpany : 25 inches and 50 inches x 54 inch stroke
GRT : 235
Launched : 28/4/1879
Built for the Port of Portsmouth and Ryde United Steam Packet Company
Company absorbed by the London & Southwestern Railway in 1880
Primarily maintained the Portsmouth-Ryde ferry connection until 1913
Sold to Cosens & Co who had extensive excursion services and a busy Admiralty tender contract at Portland
In late 1915/early 1916 she was run as a ferry on charter to the Admiralty on the Medway
Requisitioned by the Admiralty as HMS Alexis
Between 1920 and 1931 she was back in service for Cosens, including in south Devon (1925-27)
Sold for scrapping in 1931
Purchased by a private entrepreneur as a cruising dance/entertainment venue on the Thames as "Showboat"
Her route was between Greenwich and Richmond, with a lower funnel to navigate the low bridges
Not a success and moored at Margate and then Shoreham in 1933
Scrapped in late 1934 at Grays, Essex
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