When driving through Flintshire, gogledd Cymru (north Wales), you might sometimes notice an old ship on the coast near Mostyn.

This ship is called the TSS Duke of Lancaster, and it was a railway steamer passenger ship which was in service between 1956 and 1979. It had covered the seas of north, central and southern Europe before its eventual retirement.

The ship is neither abandoned, nor is it a shipwreck; it is a former cruise ship and funship that is the subject of a serious restoration project and misinterpreting that the ship is abandoned, or a shipwreck, is dangerous because it leads to trespassers believing it is okay to trespass. This causes further damage to the ship and makes the lives of those restoring/renovating it far more difficult.

The ship was the last steam turbine ship to have been built by Harland and Wolff (whose name you likely associate with that other famous ship, the Titanic); a railway steamer passenger ship which was in service between 1956 and 1979.

It had covered the seas of north, central and southern Europe before its eventual retirement and it is too historic to be damaged further or, indeed, destroyed by trespassing.

It has become quite the landmark here in Gogledd Cymru and a certain talking point for those not native to the north who come here for tourism!

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Sally George

Sally is a proud wife of a Welshman, editor & writer of Welsh Histories. She’s all about stories—that shout ‘anything Welsh.’ Drop her an email if you have an advice, insight, experience, or a story to share.