PADDLE STEAMER IVANHOE
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Other vessels had become great drinking dens for Glaswegians and there was a market for passengers who wished a less raucous trip doon the watter.
PS Ivanhoe was built at the Hendersons yard on the upper Clyde for the Firth of Clyde Steam Packet Company and was launched in 1880.
At a length of just over 225ft and displacing more than 280 tons, she could cater for around 1200 passengers, accommodating them in a high degree of comfort and luxury.
She cruised between Helensburgh, Greenock, Dunoon, Rothesay and Arran under the management of part-owner Captain James Williamson.
In 1894 she was chartered to the Manchester Ship Canal before returning to upper Firth of Clyde duties in 1897 under the full ownership of the Firth of Clyde Steam Packet Company.
It installed a bar to compete with the other companies for passengers.
In 1911 a new firm bought over the company but retained the name.
Three years later the company was again sold, to Turbine Steamers Limited who used her on the Lochgoilhead run.
When the First World War broke out, Ivanhoe was chartered to the Caledonian Steam Packet Company for ferry work but after the war she returned to the Turbine Steamers service.
Ivanhoe continued to cruise until competition with the railway company run services became too great and in 1920 she made her final voyage to Dumbarton to be scrapped.
