'TS QUEEN MARY' - lots of t.l.c from Dales

The TS Queen Mary is a two funnel Clyde steamer built in 1933 by William Denny of Dumbarton. She was powered by 3 x direct drive steam turbines and carried 2086 passengers making her the largest (although not longest) steamer on the Clyde.

Over the years she had many owners and routes around the Clyde and eventually in 1997 retired and laid up in Greenock.

She then became a floating restaurant for the Lau family on the Thames and after being sold to Bass PLC she underwent a £2.5m refurbishment. Bass moored her at Victoria Embankment and she became a reasonably successful venue.

Sold again in 2009 to Samuel Bouden, she remained at Tilbury Docks until 2011 and another change saw her being bought by Ranjan Chowdhury, but sadly, fell into disrepair.

In October 2015 the Glasgow based charity Friends of Queen Mary purchased the ship and engaged Dales Marine Services to make her seaworthy for the journey back to the Clyde.

She then docked at Garvel Clyde to have her hull inspected and repaired as necessary.

77m long, 10.7m wide and was 917GRT until all machinery was removed. She was capable of 21knots

Docked at Garvel for 30 days and workscope included:

Hull steelwork repairs

Old belting removed and new belting fitted

Lower hull paintwork removed by UHP

New lower and upper hull coatings applied.

She left dock and remains alongside Garvel awaiting the next phase of renovations.