ROYAL DAFFODIL II / ROYAL DAFFODIL (1958).
The next vessel to bear a “Royal Daffodil” name was built in 1958. She also was named Royal Daffodil II, as a Royal Daffodil was still in service on the Thames. Her builders were James Lamont & Co. Ltd., of Port Glasgow; she was the only Mersey ferry ever to have come from these builders. Her engines were conventional diesels, rather than the exotic diesel electric engines in the Royal Iris of 1951. Like the previous Royal Daffodil II, she had a third passenger deck, so
she was used extensively on the New Brighton service in summer. This third deck also came in useful in 1964, when she spent a day at Llandudno tendering to the Swedish American liner Kungsholm. One unique feature was that her funnel carried the badge of Wallasey Corporation above its normal white with a black top. Following the closure of the Thames excursion services after the 1966 season, the Thames ship Royal Daffodil was sold for breaking up. The name Royal Daffodil at last being available, Wallasey Corporation obtained permission to drop the “II” from their ferry’s name. This was carried out in 1968. Royal Daffodil was one of the ferries transferred to the Merseyside Passenger Transport Executive (M.P.T.E.) in December 1969. Under her new ownership, her funnel lost its Wallasey Corporation badge, and underwent two changes of funnel colour, first to cream and blue, and later to green and black. With the closure of the New Brighton service in 1972, any possible need for Royal Daffodil’s extra capacity had gone, and it was only a matter of time before she would be withdrawn. That happened in 1977, when she was sold to Greek owners, who renamed her Ioulis Keas II.
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