A history of the ferry service between Harwich and Hook of Holland from its launch in 1893 to the present day.
The book describes the vessels used on the route and how the service changed over the years, starting with its forerunners in the form of the Great Eastern Railway paddle steamers that ran between Harwich and the ports of Rotterdam and Antwerp from the 1850s and 1860s onwards.
The first chapter describes the main developments between the 1850s and the early 1950s, including the sinking of the “Berlin” shortly before arrival at the Hook in 1907, the part played by the vessels in the war effort during both world wars and the last traditional passenger-carrrying vessels on the route. This is followed by a chapter on the car ferry era from the 1950s and 1960s onwards, ending with the introduction of HSS fast ferries in 1997 and their replacement once again by conventional vessels a decade later. The third chapter gives a detailed account of the construction of the world’s largest car ferries, the “Hollandica” and the “Stena Britannica”, which were introduced on the route in 2010. At the back there is a full fleet list of all vessels to have operated on the route.
128 pages. Approximately 200 photos. Softback.