At Wessex Film and Sound Archive you can see and hear history, from late Victorian times to the present day, through moving images and sound recordings. The Archive contains over 36,000 film and sound recordings relating to Hampshire, the Isle of Wight, Berkshire, Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire, including film and tapes of local TV and radio.
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Townsend Thoresen's newest car ferry - the Viking II
Join these visitors to Townsend Thoreson's latest acquisition - the car ferry Viking II - as she visits Southampton on a publicity tour
From the collection of:
Overview
We start at Southampton Docks where the Viking II awaits her visitors. We tour through the passenger lounges and the Duty Free shop before proceeding, via the radio room, to the ship's bridge. Here the guests look at various instrument and control panels before we move to the outside decks. Here we see lifeboats and an outdoor snack bar. The film closes by showing a pair of container lorries.
The MV Viking II was launched in April 1964 and delivered to the Townsend Shipping Company, a Norwegian firm based in Oslo. In July of that year, she commenced services between Southampton and Cherbourg and Le Havre. In the autumn of 1964, she went on a nationwide publicity tour; calling at Liverpool, Cardiff, Southampton (where this film was made), Hull, Newcastle and Leith. The ship has since had several owners, names, re-fits and adventures in various parts of the world since she first entered service with Townsend Thoreson. At one time she was even used as a migrant detention ship in Harwich.
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