Mersey Luggage Boats: Bebington and Oxton

Builder's model representing Bebington and Oxton, at the Williamson Art Gallery and Museum, Birkenhead

The Bebington and the Oxton were ferry boats for foot passengers and vehicles, built in 1925 by Cammell, Laird and Co.

1925 'NEW VEHICULAR STEAMER. LAUNCHED BY CAMMELL LAIRD AND CO. MESSRS. Cammell Laird and Co. launched from their Birkenhead yard on Friday the first of two double twin-screw vehicle ferry steamers, building to the order of the Birkenhead Corporation. The launching and christening ceremony was performed by the Mayor of Birkenhead, Mrs. M. A. Mercer, who was presented by the builders with a diamond wristlet watch as a souvenir of the occasion. Messrs. Cammell Laird and Co. had invited a very representative gathering of guests, including many of the members of the Birkenhead Council, the Lord Mayor and Lady Mayoress of Liverpool, Sir Archibald and Lady Balvidge, Mr. Robert Whitehead (director of Messrs. Cammell Laird and Co.), Mr. Lawrence D, Holt, Mr. E. C. Thin, Mr. R. J. Hall, Mr. John Dykes (Principal Officer of Lloyd's Register, Liverpool), Mr. Norman Vernon (chairman of the Birkenhead Chamber of Commerce), etc. After the launch the guests adjourned to the model room, where the luncheon proceedings were presided over by Mr. R. S. Johnson (Birkenhead managing director of Messrs. Cammell Laird and Co.). The Chairman, in proposing "Success to the Bebington," said the Birkenhead ferry service was not only a local but a national institution. The Mayor of Birkenhead took an interest not only in the higher walks of life, but she also took an interest in the workingmen and their wives, and they in the shipyards heard of the help and assistance she always gave to the poor. He welcomed the Mayor on behalf of his firm.
The Bebington, which was 150 feet long and and of 1,600 h.p., was the first ship the firm had built for the Corporation, but it was not the first ferry ship they had built for the Mersey. He had been looking up some of their records, and he found they built a boat in 1837, which was 57 feet long, called the Eliza Price. She was a paddle steamer constructed of wood, and after that they built, in 1840, a vessel called the Nun. She was 105 feet long, and built of iron, with 170 h.p. That vessel, one of the first iron vessels built, met with an accident. Her nose got on one end of the slipway, and her stern on the other, and when the tide left her, strangely to say, she did not break her back, and the fact was broadcasted with the result that it was a very good advertisement for the iron and steel ship that eventually came to the fore. The Mayor of Birkenhead said Birkenhead was primarily a shipbuilding port, but they had, fortunately, other industries, and she hoped in a little while to be able to bring those industries to the notice of the public. She hoped that the firm of Messrs. Cammell Laird and Company would have a very better time than they had recently, but it made a very great difference to the town when that firm had plenty of work on hand.'

Continued under 'LAUNCHES AND TRIAL TRIPS:-

'CAMMELL LAIRD AND CO., LTD. BEBINGTON.— This vessel, which has been launched by Messrs. Cammell Laird and Co., as detailed on page 2 to-day, is of the following dimensions :—Length overall, 150 ft. bp. 143 ft.; breadth moulded, 50ft.; depth moulded, 15ft. 6in.; speed about 11 knots. She is constructed of mild steel and has been built under special survey of Lloyd's Register, and classed 100 Al "vehicle steamer." She also complies with the requireinents of the Board of Trade for a passenger vessel. The hull is divided into watertight compartments by 5 transverse and 2 longitudinal bulkheads. The propelling machinery is in a large compartment amidships, and special attention has been devoted to keeping the under deck as free of obstructions as possible. There are 4 strong steel gangways, two on each side of the ship, worked by means of strong steam-driven lifting engines fitted in the wing compartment immediately below each gangway, and operated by a control lever adjacent to the gangway. High steel bulwarks are fitted all round the vessel. The steel deck is double sheathed, the lower layer being of pitch pine and the upper of chamfered greenheart. The officers and crew are accommodated in the after-compartment, the entrance to which is through a hinged W. T. scuttle in the upper deck aft. Steam steering gear of strong design is installed aft and operates the rudder by means of a chain and wheels to a miximum angle of rudder of 60 degs. P. and S. of the centre line of the vessel. The steam gear is controlled from the navigating house on the funnel casing top by means of rods and bevel gearing. The anchors and cable are worked by means of a hand and steam capstan, forward. A capstan engine is fitted in the fore peak compartment, immediately aft of the chain locker, and is controlled from the upper deck. The capstan head is arranged to take capstan bars for working by band.
A small steel house aft contains lavatories for crew and passengers; also a deck storeroom. A class 3 life-boat is fitted on top of this house and is operated by round bar davits. Four buoyant deck seats are provided aft.'

In 1941 two cranes (scotch derricks) were fitted to each vessel for unloading American aircraft direct from ships.

Scrapped 1949.

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