The Duke of Lancaster was one of the last passenger-only railway ferries, built by Harland and Wolff and launched in 1955. Until 1966 she operated cruises to Norway, Denmark, Holland and Spain, after which she served on the Heysham to Belfast ferry route until this closed in 1975, and she was used for a few years between Holyhead and Dun Laoghaire, before being moved to the current location, beached on the Dee Estaury near Mostyn in North Wales.