FRINTON: PART 1

One of the most beloved passenger ships in the history of the Greek Aktoploia was the great ship Frinton, a jewel of the Mediterranean, a passenger ship that traveled from Brindisi to Corfu and Piraeus, but also to Mytilene, Cyclades and Crete. It has graced numerous old pictures and postcards. Its classic, austere Scottish cut made her a great ship to look at. This was not a lordiko yacht (a yacht made for a rich British businessman and transformed later to a passenger ship in Greece, as it had happened with Kyknos, Glaros, Elvira, Petros, Doris and so many other ships. She was built especially a passenger route, and what a route! Liverpool-Dublin. Hundreds of thousands of passengers used her before she was transferred to Greece, the the Aktoploia Samou Iglessi, what is internationally known as the Igglessis Line.

Let's see first her technical characteristics from Miramar

Single Ship Report for "1117513"

IDNo: 1117513 Year: 1903 Name: KILKENNY Launch Date: 30.12.02 Type: Passenger/cargo Date of completion: 4.03 Flag: GBR Keel:

Tons: 1419 Link: 1596 DWT:
Yard No: 254 Length overall:
Ship Design:
LPP: 82.2 Country of build: GBR Beam: 11.0 Builder: Clyde SB Material of build:
Location of yard: Port Glasgow Number of
screws/Mchy/
Speed(kn): 1T-15

Owner as Completed: City of Dublin S.P.Co, Dublin Naval or paramilitary marking :
A: * End: 1941
Subsequent History:

19 FRINTON
Disposal Data:

ac/b Megara 22.4.41




She was built in the great Shipyards of Clyde SB and had a respectable 1,419 tons and a service speed of 15.1 knots. This explains, first, why she was great for the rough seas between England and Ireland and, second, why she was thrown into the Italy-Greece route when she first came to Greece.

She was a ship of the City of Dublin Line Steam Packet Co. The interested reader may follow the history of this Line in http://www.simplonpc.co.uk/CityofDublin.html This site notes
At the same time, the Liverpool-Dublin service was being run by the similar ships Carlow, Kerry, Wicklow, Louth and Cork, which ran an evening trip each way with goods and passengers, and a morning trip with passengers and fast traffic. Connaught and Leinsterwere lost in the war. After the war, the company's finances were not in a good state, having lost two of their best ships, and with the troubles in Ireland at this time. The company sold its Dublin-Liverpool route and ships to the British & Irish SP Co in 1919.


In addition, it provides the following information about Kilkenny (which is the name of an Irish County and town)

Kilkenny was the last steamer delivered new to the City of Dublin SP Co. She was a slightly larger version of the existing Liverpool steamers at 1419 gross tons, built by the Clyde Shipbuilding Co in Port Glasgow. She was sold to the Great Eastern Railway in 1917, and was later renamed Frinton.
I am reproducing here a 1910 postcard from the http://www.simplonpc.co.uk site so that our readers can get an idea of how she looked then. Also it is worth examining on an old map her route...
Kilkenny.jpg

Map.jpg

Her two years with Great Eastern Railway she was Frinton, a name that has attracted a lot of questions. Frinton-at-Sea is a small town in Eastern England. Frinton (with this name since 1917, not 1919 as mentioned elsewhere) was doing the Harwich-Rotterdam route (talk about winds and bad weather!).

And then, in 1919, She was sold to the Igglessis Line, who -wisely- decided to keep her name, thus transforming her into a magical ship!