Moored at Trinity Buoy Wharf, SS Robin is internationally recognized as being the only complete Victorian steam ship in existence and the only one left fitted with original steam engine and boiler, she is also the last large coastal cargo steam ship surviving of several thousand built around the world between 1850 and 1950.
A unique survivor from when Britain’s Empire was at its height and London was the world centre for maritime trade and shipbuilding. She was launched at Orchard Wharf in 1890, 300m from where she’s now moored. Following the launch and her trip to Scotland to have the engine fitted, she sailed UK and continental waters, carrying a variety of cargo under several owners before ending her career in Spain in 1974, by then the last of her kind still sailing.
Saved from scrap by the Maritime Trust, she steamed back to the UK to be restored, preserved and opened as a museum ship. She is cared for by the SS Robin Trust, a registered charity in partnership with Trinity Buoy Wharf (Urban Space Management).
Visit the SS Robin website here.