Steamer La Palma

Santa Cruz de Tenerife · Category: Memory · Subcategory: Historic sites · Year: 1912

This ship, now moored in the port of Santa Cruz, has remained a true relic of a time when relations and communications between the islands were carried out thanks to the voyages of steamships.

In 1888 the Compañía de Vapores Interinsulares Canarios (Canarian Inter-island Steamship Company) was founded, actually a Spanish subsidiary of Elder Dempster, which from that date ensured maritime connections between the islands on a regular basis. The voyages were inaugurated on 6 September 1888, with the arrival in Santa Cruz of the ship Viera y Clavijo , followed later by the León y Castillo , two steamers of 511 gross register tons that for years were true elements of union in a region fragmented by the sea. 

The steamer La Palma was built at the beginning of the second decade of the 20th century in the English shipyards W. Harkerss & Sons Ltd. It is a mixed passenger-cargo ship with a steel hull, two decks and one propeller. It has a length of 61 metres and a beam of 9.14 metres. It was equipped with a triple expansion engine and could reach a speed of eleven knots. Its capacity was 190 passengers in three different classes.

Its launch took place on 15 February 1912, arriving at the port of Las Palmas on 24 April of the same year. It immediately provided services in inter-island traffic, being militarised from July 1936 to 1938, during the Spanish Civil War.

After years of operation, in 1976 it suffered a serious breakdown in one of its boilers and since its withdrawal was already planned at that time, it ended up moored at the Las Palmas dock. From here it was first bought by Jürgen Flick to convert it into a floating casino-restaurant, an idea that never materialised and, later, in 1986, acquired by the Cabildo de Tenerife. In 2003 the Fundación Canaria Correíllo La Palma (Canarian Steamer La Palma Foundation) was created, with the intention of undertaking its restoration and subsequent operation.

After years of recovery work, the ship was anchored for a time at the North Dock of the Santa Cruz port and is now located in the South dock. It has been the setting and filming location of some period films and is awaiting to house some type of museum related to the sea. Its heritage, cultural and historical importance is evident, in islands where ships like this provided great service to the community.

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