READER John Steven contacted us with this rather delightful image of a Viking ship being towed into Weymouth Harbour.
He said: “I have done some research on the photograph which leads me to believe that it was taken in the late 1950s or 60s. The ferry in the centre of the picture is the St Patrick, with a red and black funnel, and astern of her is either the St Helier or St Julien with a buff and black funnel. The white line along the sheerstrake of the more distant vessel was introduced in 1948, the hulls previously being all black.
“The St Helier and St Julien sailed out of Weymouth from 1925 until 1960 or 1961. The St Patrick was built in 1947 and sailed out of Weymouth until 1963. The Caesaria and Sarnia, which took over the Weymouth service from 1960-61, looked nothing like these ships.” The building behind the St Patrick’s superstructure looks like the current Pavilion built 1958-1960.
He adds: “I wonder if your archives or any of your readers could put a date to the image and a reason why the longship was in Weymouth.”
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