PS Waverley is the last seagoing passenger-carrying paddle steamer in the world. Built in 1946, she sailed from Craigendoran on the Firth of Clyde to Arrochar on Loch Long until 1973. Bought by the Paddle Steamer Preservation Society (PSPS), she has been restored to her 1947 appearance and now operates passenger excursions around the British coast.
Waverley at Swanage
The Waverley with red lions and yellow funnels in 1970
Passengers passing the engine room see the huge piston rods driving the cranks on the shaft that turns the paddle wheels on each side. The supports here painted black are now painted green.
PS Waverley departing Red Bay in County Antrim, Northern Ireland in 2005
A paddle steamer is a steamship or steamboat powered by a steam engine that drives paddle wheels to propel the craft through the water. In antiquity, paddle wheelers followed the development of poles, oars and sails, where the first uses were wheelers driven by animals or humans.
A typical river paddle steamer from the 1850s.
Fall Line's steamer Providence, launched 1866
Finlandia Queen, a paddle-wheel ship from 1990s in Tampere, Finland
Advance, a Greenock-built American Civil War blockade-running side-wheel steamer
