History
Originally a British Railways steamer, the TSS Duke of Lancaster was launched on 1 December 1955 and first carried passengers in 1956. The ship was built at Harland & Wolff in Belfast and was the sister ship of TSS Duke Of Rothesay and TSS Duke Of Argyll. The original design allowed it to act as both a passenger ferry and cruise ship. It replaced an earlier ship of the same name operated by the London Midland and Scottish Railway company, a steam turbine passenger ship called the RMS Duke of Lancaster.
The ship began operating as a passenger ferry between Heysham in Lancashire, England and Belfast in Northern Ireland. It also operated a cruise ship travelling around the British Isles, to the Scottish Islands and on short European tours to Belgium, Denmark, the Netherlands, Norway and Spain.
