MV Argyle

MV "Argyle" is a ferry operated by Caledonian MacBrayne, on the route between Wemyss Bay and Rothesay. She is the seventh Clyde ship to have the name "Argyle".

History

Until 2007, there had not been an "Argyle" on the Clyde for over a hundred years, but the present vessel is the seventh of the name. The first was a paddle steamer built only two years after the pioneer steamship PS "Comet" appeared on the river in 1812. The second was commissioned in 1815; the third and fourth had connections with Loch Fyne, while the fifth was a cargo steamer sailing to the Outer Hebrides.cite web| url=http://www.calmac.co.uk/mv_argyle.html| title=MV Argyle| publisher=CalMac| accessdate=2007-08-27]

In the mid nineteenth century the spelling of the county changed to Argyll. The old spelling, however, is appropriate as the ship’s most prominent ancestor was a paddle steamer built in 1866 and sold by her original owner within a month to the Wemyss Bay Steam Boat Company. She was the successor to their PS "Bute" and remained on the Wemyss Bay route for almost quarter of a century.

Built in Poland, she was launched on 12 September 2006. Following delivery, the fitting out process took into account design modifications based on lessons learned from MV "Bute". She was formally named at Rothesay Bay on 4 May 2007 before joining the Caledonian MacBrayne fleet later in the month.

Layout

MV "Argyle" has a semi-open car deck with a clearance height of 5.1m. Like the MV "Coruisk" before her, she has bow and stern access and in addition has a vehicle ramp aft on the starboard side. This allows operation from older piers without provision for full roll-on/roll-off operation.

Passenger accommodation is located on two levels, the first housing forward and aft lounges with a kiosk area and toilets between, while the second level is open deck space from the twin funnels to just forward of the bridge. The bridge sits on its own perch above the open deck.

Superficially there is very little to differentiate "Argyle" from "Bute". "Argyle" has a second lift from the car deck and the passenger lounge is a little larger than on her sister.cite web| url=http://www.shipsofcalmac.co.uk/h_argyle.asp| title=History of MV Argyle| publisher=Ships of Calmac.co.uk| accessdate=2007-08-27]

ervice

MV "Argyle" operates the route between Wemyss Bay and Rothesay on the Isle of Bute, joining her sister ship MV "Bute" which was already serving on the route. Being more manoeuvrable than the new vessels, the streakers MV "Juno" and MV "Saturn" returned to provide the service during work to build a new end-loading linkspan at Rothesay pier in 2007.

Footnotes