This builder's dockyard model is rare not only for the type of ship it depicts, a 19th century passenger liner, but also for the level of quality in its design and construction. When a shipbuilder would order a dockyard model for a new vessel they had a choice in level of detail and quality, and in how much to spend on it. This model is among the finest we have seen, with a very high level of detail. The model has many deck features with gold and silver plated fittings throughout. We don't come across models like this very often.
TSS COLCHESTER was a passenger vessel built in 1888 for the British Great Eastern Railway company. Built by Earle's Shipbuilding & Engineering Co. Ltd. (C. & W. Earle) of Hull. In its heyday Earle's was the largest yard building the biggest ships on the Humber based in Hull.
COLCHESTER was commissioned in 1889 and along with her sister ship, the TSS CAMBRIDGE ran a regular route from her home port of Harwich to Antwerp. With a length of 230 feet, the ship offered 134 first class and 56 second class berths, with a passenger capacity of 730 overall. At launch she ran at 2200 hp with a top speed of 14.5 knots. Her engines were upgraded in 1900 to a pair of four-cylinder triple expansion engines which increased her speed further.
During WWI, in 1916 the ship was captured in the North Sea by a German submarine and requisitioned by the German government. The ship then operated as a coastal steamer between Libau in what is today Latvia and Kiel. In March of 1918 the COLCHESTER ran into a German mine in stormy seas off Laboe and sank. The sinking was partial and in the following year the ship was scrapped completely by Royal Navy forces.
The two period postcard photos are shown for reference to the actual ship.
