.jpg) TheRaven at the Windermere Steamboat Museum in 1977 | |
| History | |
|---|---|
 United Kingdom | |
| Name | SSRaven |
| Owner | Windermere Jetty Museum |
| Builder | T.B. Seath & Co |
| Launched | 1871 |
| General characteristics | |
| Type | Steam Barge |
| Tonnage | 41 (gross) |
| Length | 70.95 feet (21.63 m) |
| Beam | 14.59 feet (4.45 m) |
| Draught | 4 feet (1.2 m) |
| Propulsion | Steam |
TheSSRaven, sometimes also referred to as theSYRaven, is a steam barge ordered by theFurness Railway for use on the lake ofWindermere in theEnglish Lake District, where she has spent her entire working life. She is a member of theNational Historic Fleet, and is now preserved. She is the second-oldest ship onLloyd's Register and the oldest with her original machinery.[1][2][3]
TheRaven was built in 1871, and was originally used to carry cargo from the Furness Railway terminus atLakeside station to houses, hotels and businesses around the lake, and to the railway warehouses atAmbleside andBowness-on-Windermere. She also served as an ice-breaker for the passenger steamers run by the railway on the lake. In 1922Raven was withdrawn from service and sold toVickers Armstrong ofBarrow-in-Furness for testingmine-laying equipment on the lake.[1][2][3]
By the 1950s theRaven was lying abandoned at Lakeside. She was bought for preservation in 1956 by George Pattinson, the founder of theWindermere Steamboat Museum. Her engine and boiler were refurbished in time for her 100th birthday, when she once again steamed down the lake. TheRaven was displayed at the Windermere Steamboat Museum from 1977 until the museum closed in 2006. The site and exhibits of the former museum are intended to reopen as theWindermere Jetty Museum of Boats, Steam and Stories, and in the meantime theRaven is in storage.[1][2][3]
TheRaven has a length of 70.95 feet (21.63 m), a beam of 14.59 feet (4.45 m), a draught of 4 feet (1.2 m) and a gross tonnage of 41. Her hull is of rivetted iron and she retains her original single cylinder steam engine. The present boiler was installed in about 1926.[3]