The large naval presence at Portland required transport and often Cosens’s were used to transport sailors in large numbers from the base at Portland to Weymouth for a spot of leave. Here, P.S. Premier makes its way out of the harbour to Portland with a large number of Royal Navy personnel. When she was withdrawn from service in 1938 she was at 92 the oldest vessel registered at Lloyds. On the Nothe side P.S. Monarch receives attention.
Sometimes however things went a little awry. Many years ago a former police officer who had joined Weymouth Borough Police in 1908 told the writer’s father that the police would round up many sailors who were either drunk and incapable or had missed the liberty vessels for other reasons. They would commandeer the last paddle steamer which had just returned to the Pleasure Pier on an evening cruise to take the miscreants back to base!
