The
Isles of Scilly Steamship Company operates a seasonal passenger service from
Penzance, in the
English county of
Cornwall, to the offshore
Isles of Scilly, together with a year round cargo service. The name of the company's principal ferry, the
Scillonian III, is perhaps better known than that of the company itself.
The company is based in the Isles of Scilly Travel Centre Penzance, and also owns
Isles of Scilly Skybus Ltd, an operator of
fixed-wing aircraft services to the Isles of Scilly, and
Westward Airways, an operator of sight seeing flights.
History
From 1858 services were provide by the
Scilly Isles Steam Navigation Company which was replaced in 1870 by the
West Cornwall Steam Ship Company. This was wound up in 1907 and the services operated by John Banfield until 1917. For the rest of the war the services were operated by Government vessels.
The company was founded with £20,000 raised by selling shares, mostly in the Isles of Scilly. Initially services were operated by the
Peninnis (ex-HMS Argus) from 1920 until 1927, which the company purchased for £7,000. (£ as of ),.
The original
Scillonian was built for the Isles of Scilly Steamship Company in 1925 by
Ailsa Shipbuilding Company Ltd of
Troon,
Scotland to carry 400 passengers and cargo. The first regular trip of this vessel took place on Thursday 2 February 1926 from St. Mary's to...
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