What happened to the four Tyne ferries, Tyne Princess, Duchess, Queen and Countess?

TYNE QUEEN became JACOBITE QUEEN in 1987.

See: http://www.jacobite.co.uk/the-jacobite-loch-ness-fleet/

And the Princess became Radio Galexy in 1987.
http://youtu.be/SDS0GCHZ0yc

Tyne Countess was built, I think, in Montrose and came down to the Tyne as deck cargo on Gardner's SAINT BRANDAN.
Again one, or four, of life's mysteries. You see then everyday and don't miss them when they are gone.
Last I saw of Blyth Harbour Commission's BHC 5 was on the quayside in AMEC's yard by the, old, entrance to the Tyne Tunnel. Got a pic of her but no idea what happened to her.

Graham

I have nothing on the DUCHESS.

QUEEN here being the only Tyne-built one among the 4!
http://www.tynebuiltships.co.uk/M-Ships ... 31949.html

If my memory is correct (not necessarily a valid assumption!) Countess was built by Robb Caledon at Dundee - the last, or one of the last, vessel(s) built there during the BS run-down.

COUNTESS was the last vessel built by Robb Caledon at Dundee, launched March 1981 and completed that year. She was Yard No. 579. She is listed as COUNTESS in the WSS Yard List, presumably she became TYNE COUNTESS later.

Just picked up this thread as I am editing Robb Caledon for the Scottish shipbuilding site but she is listed there as having been built for British Shipbuilders (Swan Hunter). Maybe it was a sub-contract from them to R-C?
Do we not know what became of TYNE COUNTESS?

Mid Tyne Ferries was run by and for the Tyneside shipyards (but was also used by the public) but was, I think, legally a Swan Hunter company and was therefore presumably subsumed within British Shipbuilders in 1977. By 1980 the demand for the service was dropping rapidly as the number of shipyard workers declined and more cross-river journeys were made through the Tyne Tunnel. There was little appetite for replacing the three older vessels but I think that the Countess was seen not just as a replacement vessel but also as a potential life-line giving Caledon a breathing space whilst BS was seeking new work for the yard. I don't think that there was ever an intention that she should be built on the Tyne.

Jacobite Queen on Loch Ness in September 2008