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The TSS ''Duke of Lancaster'' is a railway steamer passenger ship that operated in Europe from 1956 to 1979, and is currently beached near Mostyn Docks, on the River Dee, north-east Wales. It replaced an earlier 3,600 ton ship of the same name operated by the London Midland and Scottish Railway company between Heysham and Belfast. ==In service== Along with her sister ships the TSS ''Duke of Rothesay'' and the TSS ''Duke of Argyll'' she was amongst the last passenger-only steamers built for British Railways (at that time, also a ferry operator). She was a replacement for the 1928 steamer built by the London Midland and Scottish Railway, RMS ''Duke of Lancaster''. Built at Harland & Wolff, Belfast and completed in 1956, she was designed to operate as both a passenger ferry (primarily on the Heysham-Belfast route) and as a cruise ship. In this capacity, the ''Duke of Lancaster'' travelled to the Scottish islands and further afield to Belgium, Denmark, Netherlands, Norway and Spain.〔 From the mid-1960s, passenger ships such as the ''Duke of Lancaster'' were gradually being superseded by car ferries.〔 Rather than undertake the expensive option of renewing their entire fleet, British Railways instead began a part-programme of conversion. In order to maintain ferry services whilst these modifications took place, the ''Duke of Lancasters duties as a cruise ship ceased.〔 On 25 April 1970 the ship returned to service, having had her main deck rebuilt to accommodate vehicles via a door at her stern. The ship now provided space for 1,200 single-class passengers and 105 cars, with a total cabin accommodation for 400 passengers.〔 The three ships continued on the Heysham-Belfast route until the service was withdrawn on 5 April 1975.〔 The ''Duke of Lancaster'' was then briefly employed on the Fishguard-Rosslare crossing, before becoming the regular relief vessel on the Holyhead–Dún Laoghaire service until November 1978.〔 The ship was then laid up at Barrow in Furness, Cumbria.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「TSS Duke of Lancaster (1956)」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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