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Dover: Lock and Key of the Kingdom
The Forde
In 1928 Captain Townsend, formerly of the Honourable Artillery
Company, had started operating a car ferry service from the
Camber at the eastern end of the harbour. Initially with a small
collier the ‘Artificer’ and then, when the capacity of the small
vessel was exceeded , with another charter vessel the ‘Royal
Firth’. Due to the success of this venture, in May 1929, the
Southern Railway introduced a special service of fast cargo
boats for motor cars running from Dover to Calais and
Folkestone to Boulogne, at rates much lower than those
previously charged for carrying cars on the ordinary mail
steamers.
In spite of this Townsend prospered and in 1930 the ‘Forde’
entered service. Reconstructed from a Royal Navy minesweeper
HMS ‘Ford’, she was fitted with a stern door which folded down
onto the quay. Captain Townsend had hoped to use this stern
door in conjunction with a concrete slope at each port which
would allow the cars to be driven straight onto the ship, as was
used by the car ferry between Portsmouth and the Isle of Wight.
This arrangement may have worked in the calmer waters of the
Solent but it was not suitable for the unpredictable Channel.
What was required was adjustable bridges at both the French
and British ports, which were needed to compensate for the
great variations in the height of the tides . Unfortunately this
solution did not appear until after the Second World War.
Even though the cars still had to be craned on, the ‘Forde’ was a
great improvement on her two grimy predecessors. She could
carry 165 passengers and 26 cars and offered her passengers
two general saloons, a ladies’ saloon and three private state
rooms. The success of the ‘Forde’ was sufficient to rouse the
management of the Southern Railway to provide a brand new
ship of their own for car carrying services the ‘Autocarrier’.
During the Second World War the ‘Forde’ served under the
Admiralty as a salvage vessel. Afterwards she was refitted at
Southampton and returned to Dover as a car ferry on 12 April
1947. She was withdrawn in October 1949, sold and finished her
days as a car ferry between Gibraltar and Algiers, finally being
withdrawn in 1954.
Company, had started operating a car ferry service from the
Camber at the eastern end of the harbour. Initially with a small
collier the ‘Artificer’ and then, when the capacity of the small
vessel was exceeded , with another charter vessel the ‘Royal
Firth’. Due to the success of this venture, in May 1929, the
Southern Railway introduced a special service of fast cargo
boats for motor cars running from Dover to Calais and
Folkestone to Boulogne, at rates much lower than those
previously charged for carrying cars on the ordinary mail
steamers.
In spite of this Townsend prospered and in 1930 the ‘Forde’
entered service. Reconstructed from a Royal Navy minesweeper
HMS ‘Ford’, she was fitted with a stern door which folded down
onto the quay. Captain Townsend had hoped to use this stern
door in conjunction with a concrete slope at each port which
would allow the cars to be driven straight onto the ship, as was
used by the car ferry between Portsmouth and the Isle of Wight.
This arrangement may have worked in the calmer waters of the
Solent but it was not suitable for the unpredictable Channel.
What was required was adjustable bridges at both the French
and British ports, which were needed to compensate for the
great variations in the height of the tides . Unfortunately this
solution did not appear until after the Second World War.
Even though the cars still had to be craned on, the ‘Forde’ was a
great improvement on her two grimy predecessors. She could
carry 165 passengers and 26 cars and offered her passengers
two general saloons, a ladies’ saloon and three private state
rooms. The success of the ‘Forde’ was sufficient to rouse the
management of the Southern Railway to provide a brand new
ship of their own for car carrying services the ‘Autocarrier’.
During the Second World War the ‘Forde’ served under the
Admiralty as a salvage vessel. Afterwards she was refitted at
Southampton and returned to Dover as a car ferry on 12 April
1947. She was withdrawn in October 1949, sold and finished her
days as a car ferry between Gibraltar and Algiers, finally being
withdrawn in 1954.
