SY Gondola
Gondola on Coniston Water. | |
| History | |
|---|---|
| United Kingdom | |
| Name | Gondola |
| Owner |
|
| Operator |
|
| Port of registry | Barrow |
| Builder |
|
| Cost | £1050 |
| Yard number | The rebuilt hull is the only ship built at Vickers not to be numbered |
| Launched | 1859 |
| Recommissioned | 1979 |
| Out of service | 1936-79 |
| Refit | Every November - March |
| Motto | 'Cavendo Tutus' |
| General characteristics | |
| Type | Steam yacht |
| Tonnage | 42 |
| Length | 84ft |
| Beam | 13ft 6inches |
| Draught | 4ft 6inches |
| Installed power | V twin steam engine |
| Propulsion | Propeller |
| Speed |
|
| Capacity | 86 |
| Crew | 3 |
| Time to activate | 1.5 hours |
The steam yacht Gondola is a rebuilt Victorian, screw-propelled, steam-powered passenger vessel on Coniston Water, England. Originally launched in 1859, she was built for the steamer service carrying passengers from the Furness Railway and from the Coniston Railway. She was in commercial service until 1936 when she was retired, being converted to a houseboat in 1946. In 1979, by now derelict, she was given a new hull, engine, boiler and most of the superstructure. She is back in service as a passenger boat, still powered by steam and now operated by the National Trust.
Gondola is one of the inspirations for Captain Flint's houseboat in Arthur Ransome's book Swallows and Amazons. In Coniston's Ruskin Museum there is a black and white post card of Gondola that Ransome sent to his illustrator, with changes to the outline in ink to show how he wanted the houseboat to look.