[1] The ship was built for the River Dart Steamboat Co Ltd by Ferris and Blank of Creekside Boatyard near Dartmouth, Devon.

In May 1940, she travelled to the Dover Straits to assist in the Dunkirk Evacuation, and remained in Admiralty service in the Folkestone area until the end of the war, when she returned to the Dart.

In 1972, with reducing traffic on the Dart, she was sold to the naturalist and writer Tony Soper, who gave her a major refit, with a new wheelhouse, portholes replacing her cabin windows and a saloon equipped for lectures.

She was also equipped with beam trawl, plankton nets, charts, books and microscopes for passenger use.

In 1977, she returned to conventional cruises, based out of Plymouth, for KT Bridge, under the name MV Southern Comfort of Plymstock.