Manx Maid (II). No. 186352. Steel; twin-screw geared turbine. Manx Maid was built by Cammell Laird at Birkenhead

Birkenhead

Birkenhead is a town within the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral in Merseyside, England. It is on the Wirral Peninsula, along the west bank of the River Mersey, opposite the city of Liverpool...

 in 1962, and was the second ship in the Company's history to bear the name.

Dimensions

Tonnage 2724; length 325'; beam 50'; depth 18'; speed 21 knots; bhp 9,500. Construction costs were £1,087,000 and she was the first vessel of the Isle of Man Steam Packet Company to cost over one million pounds.

Service life

Manx Maid was certified for 1400 passengers and a crew of 60. In engineering terms she was very similar to her predecessor Manxman

Manxman

Manxman may refer to:*an inhabitant of the Isle of Man*Peel Manxman is the earlier name of Peel Manxcar — a car made on the Isle of Man in 1955*HMS Manxman - ships of the Royal Navy...

(II) except for Babcock and Wilcox integral furnace boilers, installed instead of the sectional header type. Manx Maid was a great success and was of major importance in the history of the Isle of Man Steam Packet Company, as she was the first vessel to be designed as a car ferry; she had the capacity for up to 90 cars and light commercial vans. The design principle for vehicle loading was simple. A spiral set of ramps at the stern linked with the car deck, so that vehicles could be driven on or off from the appropriate level on departure or arrival. This patented system of ramps facilitated loading and unloading at any state of the tide, at any of the ports served by the company.

Cars had been carried to the Isle of Man for many years prior to Manx Maid's arrival, but with the tidal range at Douglas

Douglas, Isle of Man

right|thumb|250px|Douglas Promenade, which runs nearly the entire length of beachfront in Douglasright|thumb|250px|Sea terminal in DouglasDouglas is the capital and largest town of the Isle of Man, with a population of 26,218 people . It is located at the mouth of the River Douglas, and a sweeping...

 being considerable, it necessitated taking the vehicle on and off by crane, a slow and irksome process.

The decision to construct a new generation of car-ferrying vessels was taken by the company in 1959, and Manx Maid was launched in January 1962. The design of the 'side-loader' with a spiral ramp at the stern was a unique feature of the Steam Packet Company's car ferries (Manx Maid, Ben-my-Chree

Ben-my-Chree

-Ships:Six ships of the Isle of Man Steam Packet Company:**HMS Ben-my-Chree, seaplane carrier converted from Ben-my-Chree, sunk in 1917*TSS Ben-my-Chree *TSS Ben-my-Chree — launched 1998...

, Mona's Queen and Lady of Mann).

Manx Maid was the thirteenth vessel built for the Steam Packet by Cammell Laird

Cammell Laird

Cammell Laird, one of the most famous names in British shipbuilding during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, came about following the merger of Laird, Son & Co. of Birkenhead and Johnson Cammell & Co. of Sheffield at the turn of the twentieth century.- Founding of the business :The Company...

; since the first was delivered by the yard in 1910. In 1979, Manx Maid was fitted with a 500 horsepower bow thruster mechanism, similar to that fitted to her younger sister Ben-my-Chree

Ben-my-Chree

-Ships:Six ships of the Isle of Man Steam Packet Company:**HMS Ben-my-Chree, seaplane carrier converted from Ben-my-Chree, sunk in 1917*TSS Ben-my-Chree *TSS Ben-my-Chree — launched 1998...

the previous winter.

Disposal

With the introduction of Manxline's RO-RO service between Douglas

Douglas, Isle of Man

right|thumb|250px|Douglas Promenade, which runs nearly the entire length of beachfront in Douglasright|thumb|250px|Sea terminal in DouglasDouglas is the capital and largest town of the Isle of Man, with a population of 26,218 people . It is located at the mouth of the River Douglas, and a sweeping...

 and Heysham

Heysham

Heysham is a large coastal village near Lancaster in the county of Lancashire, England. Overlooking Morecambe Bay, it is a ferry port with services to the Isle of Man and Ireland. Heysham is the site of two nuclear power stations which are landmarks visible from hills in the surrounding area...

, the inefficiency of the Steam Packet's side-loading car ferries became increasingly apparent. The decision was made to retire both the Manx Maid and her sister 'Ben-my-Chree

Ben-my-Chree

-Ships:Six ships of the Isle of Man Steam Packet Company:**HMS Ben-my-Chree, seaplane carrier converted from Ben-my-Chree, sunk in 1917*TSS Ben-my-Chree *TSS Ben-my-Chree — launched 1998...

'. After over 20 years of reliable service, Manx Maid (II) made her final sailing from Douglas on Sunday, September 9, 1984, ten days before her younger sister.