Southtown and Cobholm

By Neil Cox

The end of the double ended steamers Cobholm and Southtown came with out ceremony  The Southtown was taken to scrap along with a Belguim trawler it was noted in the local paper that if the trawler broke down enroute then the Southtown could have taken over the tow as she was still in good running order. She operated as a ferry service in the early part of her life on the Hythe- Southampton ferry service.

The Southtown was built in Great Yarmouth in 1896 and went for scrap in august 1965

The Cobholm, although built a little later then the southtown, also met her end going to the breakers yard along with a wooden drifter Wydale.The other double ended steamers all had different ends which can be seen on other sites on this web site.

The cobholm was built by Fellowes in 1902 with a Le-Page steam engine and after working as a ferry was towed away in october 1961

So here are some photographs of the Cobholm and Southtown.