The Ferries – 1947 to 1964 – The End

 
By the end of World War II, “Dundee” was seventy year’s old, and looked her age. Her engines were worn out, and she could no longer cope with the complex tides across the river. In 1947 Denny ordered a new boat – “Mary Queen of Scots.”

She was meant to have the same propulsion system as “Queen Margaret” and “Robert the Bruce” but electric motors were in short supply after the war, so she began life with marine diesels driving the paddles through hydraulic couplings and chains.

She arrived at Queensferry in 1950, and “Dundee” was scrapped.
With three modern vessels, Denny operated a twenty-minute service – one vessel at each pier with the third in transit.

But once again competition loomed: Parliament passed a Forth Road Bridge order.

Meantime, traffic increased rapidly, with the growth in private car ownership, and long queues for the ferry became common-place.

Denny responded by resurfacing the Hawes Pier, adding a new slip to the Railway Pier, dredging both terminals, and ordering a new ship – “William Wallace.”

She arrived in 1956, and allowed 15-minute operation. The Wallace was of similar design to the other three boats, but was ten feet longer, and proportionally broader.

This allowed her to carry a few more cars, but loading took longer, and she was a little slower than the others.
As the crossing became busier and busier the formal timetable was abandoned, and all four ships ran as fast as they could be loaded.

All four ferries, berthed overnight at North Queensferry

Wallace was the weak link: her longer loading time and slower speed, dictated the overall speed of the service.

Denny was on the point of commissioning a fifth vessel, when plans for the Forth Road Bridge were finally approved.
The days of the ferry were numbered.

On a misty 4th September 1964, Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth opened the Forth Road Bridge.

She crossed from south to north by car, then sailed back on the “Queen Margaret,” which was decorated for the occasion.

After running a normal service for the rest of the day, the ferry service finally closed as “Robert the Bruce” left the Hawes Pier at 7.45 pm.

Two days later, “Queen Margaret” made a final crossing and a service was held on board in remembrance of that Queen who had started regular ferry operations eight centuries earlier.