[3] 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.

[3] She was built for the London and North Eastern Railway (LNER) to replace a PS Waverley that was sunk in 1940 while helping to evacuate troops from Dunkirk.

& J. Inglis of Glasgow, who laid the keel at their Pointhouse shipyard on 27 December 1945, Lady Matthews, wife of the Chairman of the LNER, launched the new 693 ton steamer on 2 October 1946.

[3][6] Fitting out proceeded, around the end of the year the ship was towed to Victoria Harbour in Greenock where Rankin & Blackmore installed the engine and coal-fired boiler they had manufactured.

After sea trials in June 1947, Waverley entered service on 16 June, working the LNER's Firth of Clyde steamer route from Craigendoran Pier, near Helensburgh, up Loch Long to Lochgoilhead and Arrochar,[7] joining the LNER Clyde paddle steamer fleet of Lucy Ashton, Jeanie Deans and Talisman.

[8] After a revival of fortunes in the 1950s, the 1960s saw a gradual change in holiday habits that led to a decline in passenger numbers and the closure of many of the small piers.

[9] By then, the Paddle Steamer Preservation Society had been set up as a registered UK charity and had bought the near-derelict small River Dart paddler PS Kingswear Castle.

[9] CalMac, keen to ensure that the ship was preserved, sold Waverley to the PSPS for the token sum of one pound.

[9] Since then, Waverley has been joined in the PSPS fleet by PS Kingswear Castle and MV Balmoral and has had a series of extensive refits and much restoration work, including a new boiler and improvements to meet modern safety standards.

Sailing in all weathers in salt water can cause pale brown rust streaks to appear by the end of each season, so cosmetic painting and improvements are done annually as the ship is drydocked and inspected by the Department for Transport.

Since 1962, when PS Waverley's original funnels were renewed, replacement items had been slightly out of parallel due to their heavier welded steel construction.

She regularly sails from Glasgow and other towns on the Firth of Clyde, the Thames, the South Coast of England and the Bristol Channel.

[21] She also undertakes private charters and has provided a period setting for television documentaries and movies, such as Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows (2011).