MV Jupiter (1974)
 MV Jupiter approaching Dunoon with passengers for the 2009 Cowal Highland Gathering. | |
| History | |
|---|---|
 United Kingdom | |
| Name: | MV Jupiter |
| Namesake: | Jupiter and earlier vessels, MV Jupiter |
| Operator: | Caledonian MacBrayne |
| Port of registry: | Glasgow |
| Route: |
1986 – 2000: Gourock-Dunoon/Rothesay-Wemyss Bay/Clyde Cruises 2000 – 2005: Gourock-Dunoon/Rothesay-Wemyss Bay 2010 – 2011: Laid up, Rosneath |
| Builder: | James Lamont & Co, Port Glasgow |
| Yard number: | 418[1] |
| Launched: | 27 November 1973 |
| Maiden voyage: | 19 March 1974 |
| Out of service: | 12 October 2010 |
| Identification: |
|
| Fate: | Laid up at Rosneath October 2010-June 2011, towed away from the Clyde 25 June 2011, scrapped Grena, Denmark August–October 2011. |
| General characteristics | |
| Tonnage: | 849 GRT; 203 tons deadweight (DWT)[1] |
| Length: | 66.45 m (218 ft) |
| Beam: | 13.8 m (45 ft) |
| Draft: | 2.41 m (8 ft) |
| Depth: | 4 m (13 ft)[2] |
| Installed power: | 2 x Mirrlees Blackstone 4SCSA 8-cylinder diesel engines, 1000 bhp each |
| Propulsion: | 2 Voith Schneider propellers, one at each end of the hull, on the centreline |
| Speed: | approximately 12 kn (22 km/h) |
| Capacity: | 531 passengers, 38 cars |
| Crew: | 10 |
| Notes: | [3] |
MV Jupiter was a passenger and vehicle ferry in the fleet of Caledonian MacBrayne in the Firth of Clyde, Scotland. She was the oldest of three "streakers" and the third River Clyde steamer to bear the name 'Jupiter'. Her open car deck was accessible by stern and side ramps ro-ro. She entered service in 1974, and operated the Gourock to Dunoon crossing for much of her career. In 2006, she became the oldest vessel in the CalMac fleet and operated for longer than any vessel ever in the fleet. Jupiter was sold for breaking in 2011.
History
MV Jupiter was the first of a new generation of car ferries built in the 1970s to serve the routes on the Firth of Clyde. These ships came to be nicknamed the "Streakers" because of their greater speed (compared to what had served the area’s routes previously) and superb manoeuvrability (due to her novel propulsion units, which greatly reduced loading and unloading times at each end of her route).[4]
Just as the 1970s saw the Streakers replace an earlier generation, so they in turn are being replaced by a new generation of CalMac ferries designed for the Upper Firth. MV Argyle and MV Bute are now in service and only MV Saturn remains. Jupiter continued on the Gourock-Dunoon run until October 2010 and was thereafter laid up at Rosneath. In June 2011, she was sold to Fornaes Shipbreaking of Denmark to be broken up and recycled in compliance with the DEFRA UK ship recycling strategy. She was towed away down the Clyde on 25 June 2011[5] and arrived in Grena, Denmark on 1 July, scrapping commenced in August and she was gone by late October.
Layout
Jupiter incorporated a large open car deck towards the stern, with enclosed passenger accommodation and services towards the bow across three decks. Her design was of the roll-on/roll-off type (but not drive through), with cars driving on via either the stern ramp or via one of the ramps amidships that lower to port and starboard respectively.
The ship housed two passenger lounges, one with a cafeteria. There was crew accommodation on the upper deck.
The ship sports a “flying bridge”, an additional deck directly above the main bridge with platforms extending to port and starboard to allow crew better views of the ship’s approach to piers during docking manoeuvres. The flying bridge was not an original feature of the Jupiter; it was an innovation integral to the design of younger sister ship MV Juno (launched in September 1974) that was felt so useful it was retrofitted into Jupiter during her first annual refit.[4][6]
Service
Alongside her younger sister ship, MV Juno, and the third “streaker”, MV Saturn, Jupiter operated the Upper Firth routes from the mid 70s. Jupiter primarily operated the Gourock to Dunoon crossing on the upper firth. For much of her first decade of operation, the phrase "Gourock-Dunoon Ferry" was emblazoned on her hull. Following government rule that the Calmac Gourock-Dunoon service was to be limited to one sailing per hour Jupiter was displaced and operated peak services between Ardrossan-Brodick to assist the ageing vessel operating that service until 1984. She also operated the Wemyss Bay to Rothesay route slightly further downriver from Gourock,[6] and continued to until the new MV Bute arrived and Jupiter was displaced from Rothesay, and spent the winter of 2005/2006 laid up at Rosneath. She returned in the Summer of 2006 and operated the Gourock-Dunoon service only until October 2010 when she was replaced by the Saturn and was laid up at Rosneath with her sister Juno.
As well as normal car ferry duties, Jupiter also undertook many special, passenger-only cruise voyages to various locations in the Firth of Clyde and surrounding areas. In the 1980s and 1990s such cruises were regular occurrences in the summer months, with destinations such as Largs and Tighnabruiach seeing visits from Jupiter or one of her sister ships.
Footnotes
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to MV Jupiter. |
- 1 2 3 "7341051". Miramar Ship Index. (subscription required (help)).
- 1 2 "Jupiter". Vessel Assessment System. Retrieved 12 April 2009.
- ↑ "Jupiter". Ships of CalMac. Retrieved 8 January 2012.
- 1 2 McCrorie, Ian (1980). Ships of the Fleet -- Caledonian MacBrayne. Caledonian MacBrayne. ISBN 0-9507166-0-X.
- ↑ "FAREWELL To Ferry Jupiter". Inverclyde Now. 25 June 2011. Retrieved 14 July 2011.
- 1 2 McCrorie, Ian (1985). Hebridean and Clyde Ferries of Caledonian MacBrayne. Caledonian MacBrayne.