River Dart Steamboat Co

[1] Calls were made en route at Dittisham Pier, and off Duncannon, where passengers for Stoke Gabriel and Cornworthy embarked by small rowing boat.

In its early years the service was a true ferry, connecting Dartmouth with the markets and main line station at Totnes, and carried mail until 1929.

For the brief period between the Dartmouth and Torbay Railway reaching Brixham Road Station in 1861 and Kingswear in 1864, a regular connecting ferry service was run four times per day between Dartmouth and Greenway Quay, where the steamers were met with a horse-drawn omnibus to the station at Brixham Road.

[2] In the early years of the company, attempts were made to run long distance excursions from Dartmouth, to the Channel Islands, St Malo, Weymouth, Plymouth and other ports of the south coast using the PS Pilot.

The first vessel in the fleet was the purpose-built PS Louisa, a 90-foot paddle steamer built at Deptford on the River Thames in 1856.

For the next few years, the Pilot, having been refitted as a full-time passenger boat, ran coastal and cross-channel trips, in addition to the normal services.

This service was changed to run to Kingswear in 1864, when the railway reached its terminus, and a new steamer was built for the route: the PS Newcomin.

From 1872, therefore, the Dartmouth-Totnes service was run by the Newcomin, Dartmouth and Pilot, with the Dolphin on the Kingswear ferry and the Guide chartered out to the West Cornwall Steam Ship Company, as a replacement for their wrecked SS Little Western.

In 1879 the Dartmouth was replaced by the trend-setting paddle steamer Berry Castle whose basic design was followed for the next 44 years.

In 1883 a further screw-steamer, the SS Dart, was purchased, and in the following year the Newcomin was replaced by the first PS Dartmouth Castle.

Following this period of fleet modernisation were ten years of stability, with the two 'castles' on the Dartmouth–Totnes run, the Dolphin on the Kingswear ferry, and the three screw steamers assisting.

[1] In 1901 the Kingswear ferry lease was due for renewal, and the Great Western Railway decided to operate the service themselves, purchasing the Dolphin for the purpose.

It appears that the Nimble was not transferred to the incorporated company, so its fleet consisted of the four 'castle' class paddle steamers.

The small MV Dittisham Castle was introduced in the same year, to operate a shuttle service from Dartmouth to her namesake village.

The second Kingswear Castle inherited the engines from the first, which became an isolation hospital ship at Dartmouth, before being burnt at Fleet Mill Quay to avoid contamination.

In 1952, following the death of the managing director: John Tolman two years earlier, the company was taken over by Evans & Reid Investment Co Ltd of Cardiff.

Nevertheless, the service ran unchanged until 1961, when a controlling interest was bought in the Devon Star Shipping Co Ltd, operators of the MV Torbay Prince from Torquay.

[3] After the closure of passenger services the company was renamed River Dart Boat and Leisure Co Ltd.

It still survives today as part of Evans & Reid Investment Co Ltd, with its activities listed as development and sale of real estate.

PS Berry Castle was the first of a series of paddle steamers specifically designed for River Dart service.

the first PS Kingswear Castle was burnt in 1924 after being used as a fever hulk, and beached on the bank of the Dart south of Totnes at Fleet Mill Quay.

[1] The PS Compton Castle was used for a succession of ventures after being sold by the RDSC, including periods as cafes in Kingsbridge and Truro.

[11] Since 2013 the society has chartered her to the Dartmouth Steam Railway and Riverboat Company who operate her back on her home waters of the River Dart.

All have had major alterations, with the addition of a deck house saloon of various designs, with the exception of the MV Seymour Castle, which remains in original condition.

By the time of the introduction of the MV Dartmouth Castle of 1948, the motor vessels had their hulls and cabin sides painted white.

Of these, Dartmouth and Kingswear Castles are the pair of small fortifications which protect the mouth of the River Dart from attack by sea.