PLYMOUTH |
The Encyclopaedia of Plymouth History |
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It would appear that the in May 1895 there were only two petrol-driven boats in the Plymouth area. One was described by the local press as being of 'diagonal build' and had a small cabin equipped with cooking facilities. She had a five horse-power 'capitaine' engine and was stated to be 30 feet in length, 6 feet in beam and of five feet in depth. On the afternoon of Wednesday May 8th 1895 she was used to run an excursion from the Promenade Pier as a trial prior to the purchase of a small vessel for use as a tug or for passenger traffic and a larger one for excursion and general purposes. It was claimed that the boat could travel about 150 miles on ten gallons of oil. It was also stated that a local merchant had recently bought such a launch that could travel at around 9 miles per hour and that it had proved 'very satisfactory'. Unfortunately no names were given for the vessels or the owners. Sources:
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