TSS Duke of Lancaster (1955)

TSS Duke of Lancaster is a former railway steamer passenger ship that operated in Europe from 1956 to 1979, and is beached at Llannerch-y-Mor Wharf near Mostyn Docks, on the River Dee, in north Wales. She replaced an earlier 3,600-ton ship of the same name operated by the London Midland and Scottish Railway company between Heysham and Belfast.

As of 2021 it was owned by Anthony Rowley and The Duke of Lancaster Appreciation Society.

In service
Along with her sister ships the TSS Duke of Rothesay and the TSS Duke of Argyll, she was amongst the last passenger-only steamers built for British Railways (at that time, also a ferry operator). She was a replacement for the 1928 steamer, RMS Duke of Lancaster (1927), built by the London Midland and Scottish Railway.

Built at Harland & Wolff, Belfast, launched on 1 December 1955 and completed in 1956, she was designed to operate as both a passenger ferry (primarily on the Heysham to Belfast route) and as a cruise ship. In this capacity, the Duke of Lancaster travelled to the Scottish islands and further afield to Belgium, Denmark, Netherlands, Norway and Spain.

From the mid-1960s, passenger ships such as Duke of Lancaster were gradually being superseded by car ferries. Rather than undertake the expensive option of renewing their entire fleet, British Railways instead began a part-programme of conversion. In order to maintain ferry services whilst these modifications took place, Duke of Lancaster's duties as a cruise ship ceased. On 25 April 1970 the ship returned to service, having had her main deck rebuilt to accommodate vehicles via a rear door at her stern. The ship now provided space for 1,200 single-class passengers and 105 cars, with a total cabin accommodation for 400 passengers.

The three ships continued on the Heysham to Belfast route until the service was withdrawn on 5 April 1975. Duke of Lancaster was then briefly employed on the Fishguard to Rosslare crossing, before becoming the regular relief vessel on the Holyhead to Dún Laoghaire service until November 1978. The ship was then laid up at Barrow-in-Furness.

Fun Ship
Duke of Lancaster arrived in Llanerch-y-Mor, North Wales from Barrow-in-Furness, in August 1979 to start her new life as a business venture and retail complex as "the Fun Ship" to circumvent the-then sunday trading laws as it did not apply to ships, the owner John Rowley saw this legal loophole. However, there were frequent legal battles with the local councils and the owners closed the business in 2004. As a result of this the owners "walked away". Subsequent owners have faced similar issues.

The dock built around the ship with aggregates was filled with sand to prevent drifting after the towyn storm in the 1980s as well as a F.B. 18 – FCB ferroconcrete barge in place. The 1941 dated barge 'Rea 3' (No. 182422) was towed from Liverpool on 19th August 1981 as water source for possible fire emergencies for the ship.

Another concrete barge 'Elmarine' the first of its type heralded as "the lightest sea-going concrete boat in the world" launched on the 4th January 1919 was previously positioned in the dock as a groyne, however over decades was filled in and is used as a breakwater.

In early 2012 several local arcade game collectors made a deal with Solitaire Liverpool Ltd and were able to purchase most of the coin-operated machines left behind inside the ship at the time the Fun Ship closed. Removing the games required the use of cranes and other heavy lifting equipment.

Art gallery
The plan was to transform the ship into the largest open air art gallery in the UK. As of August 2012, the Latvian graffiti artist "KIWIE" was commissioned to spraypaint a design on the ship. The ship was covered with graffiti described as "bright and surreal". The first phase of the project saw Kiwie and other European graffiti artists paint murals on the ship between August and November 2012, and the second phase (starting at the end of March 2013) included the work of British-based artists such as Snub23, Spacehop, Dan Kitchener and Dale Grimshaw. One of the artworks is a picture of the ship's first captain, John 'Jack' Irwin. However in 2017 both sides of the ship were painted black.

In 2021 some work was being done on the interior of the ship and deck areas refurbished for anticipated use as a dockside attraction. In 2022 the ship was used as a 1957-era film set for an ITV series. However the restoration project encounted difficulties and stalled. As of early 2024 the future of the ship was uncertain. Due to illegal dumping activity near the ship, a local proposal would place vehicle barriers at the ship's access road. Without emergency vehicle access the ship could not be open to the public.

In popular culture

 * The ship was featured in the 2011 series of BBC Two's Coast.