Southern Belle, ex-Rothesay Castle
1. This steamer was built Clydeside by William Simons & Co. Ltd., Renfrew, in 1861, yard number 102, for the Glasgow - Rothesay passenger service.
| Name: ROTHESAY CASTLE | Official Number: 29290 | Flag: British |
| Year built: 1861 | Date launched: 11 May 1861 | |
| Description: Passenger excursion | Iron paddle steamer | Tonnage: 173 grt / 85 nrt |
| Length: 197.0' | Breadth: 18.9' (28.75' outside paddlewheels) | Depth in hold: 8.33' |
| Engine builder: William Simons & Co. Ltd., Renfrew | Two cylinder iscillating 40 x 46" stroke, 110hp. | |
| First owner: Alexander Watson of Partickhill, Glasgow | Ports of registry: Glasgow | Registration date: 25 May 1861 |
| Other names: 1866 SOUTHERN BELLE |
The steamer SOUTHERN BELLE in the Rathbun shipyards at Mill Point in 1892 prior to being broken up. Click for enlargement. Photo: (detail only), NMA, early cellulose film, ref: SW-rathbun_07.
Notes (historical timeline):
- Early owners: 06/1863 David McNutt, Glasgow, but officially owned by the Emperor of China for use as a blockade runner during the American Civil War; 08/1863 Robert Adger of South Carolina as a blockade runner.
- 1866 (sold at Halifax, Nova Scotia) to Leach & Heron, (Thomas Leach) for Gulf of Saint Lawrence and Great Lakes. 1866: excursions Toronto - Niagara.
- 1868 Ran Toronto to Hamilton, Ontario
- 1869 Returned to Gulf of Saint Lawrence
- 1874, February 10 Burned at Layup Dock, Point de Chene, New Brunswick, rebuilt, cabins added, re-measured 427 gross tons (482?)
- 1874, June Returned to Toronto, to run Toronto to Hamilton
- 1875, August 16 Sunk in Toronto harbor by running over wreck of steamer MONARCH, all crew & passengers safe
- 1876 Rebuilt at Toronto. She was rebuilt with a single mast forward and a bowsprit, but probably had two masts previously.
- 1876, April 26 Renamed SOUTHERN BELLE, re-registered at Toronto, chartered to Canadian Southern Railway, ran Toronto to Hamilton
- 1878 Southern Belle, class B1, New tonnage 370; Built Glagow, by Napier [sic], 1861; Owner: D.S. Kieth, Halifax; Value $20,000; Iron; formerly Rothsay Castle, rebuilt 1875. (Association of Lake Underwriters: Classification designed exclusivley for effecting insurance, Buffalo, NY)
- 1886 Owned Toronto & Hamilton Navigation Company, Limited, Toronto
- 1889 Laid up & retired
- 1891-1892 Owned (for scrap) by Frankel Brothers, Toronto (the Frankels probably removed the boilers and engine); broken up at Rathbun yard, Mill Point (Deseronto), Ontario
- Kingston, Ont., Nov. 5 - The old iron steamer SOUTHERN BELLE, which was a blockade runner during the war, is being broken to pieces at Deseronto. The Marine Review, November 5, 1891.
- 1892 No longer appears in "Inland Lloyd's Vessel Register".
- Broken up in 1888/89 [believed in error]
- Schooner Days, CCCLXVI (366) "Unscrambling Two Or Three Steamers" and MCCD (1250) "That Southern Belle"
- Some confusion exists over "Rothesay" (with an "e") vice "Rothsay" in the ship's name.
References and sources:
(1, etc) NMA various details and entry for the steamer ROTHESAY CASTLE renamed SOUTHERN BELLE in our ships Database.
(9) from a drawing in Robertson, Landmarks of Toronto, Toronto, 1914.
(6-10) C. Patrick Labadie, Alpena County George N. Fletcher Public Library
(2-4, 17) Caledonian Maritime Research Trust
(15) Maritime History of the Great Lakes, press cutting.
(18) C.H.J. Snider Schooner Days index, Naval Marine Archive.
Photo: NMA photograhic archives.