Lesson plan

Seaspeed

Seaspeed was a British hovercraft operator which ran services in the Solent and English Channel between 1965 and 1981, when it merged with a rival to form Hoverspeed. Seaspeed was a jointly owned subsidiary of railway companies British Rail (under British Rail Hovercraft Limited) and France's SNCF, and was established in 1965. Seaspeed operated several services; its first route, running between Cowes and Southampton, was launched on 6 July 1966. Initially operating a fleet of SR.N6s for these short-distance services, it opted to procure larger SR.N4s for its cross-Channel ferry service; the first of these hoverferries was introduced in 1968. On this route, Seaspeed competed against traditional ferries and rival SR.N4 operator Hoverlloyd. In 1976, after concluding that it could not attain suitable profitability from its smaller SR.N6 services, Seaspeed sold these to rival hovercraft company Hovertravel. Focusing upon its cross-Channel service, it opted to repeatedly upgrade the SR.N4 fleet. During the late 1970s, Seaspeed introduced the stretched SR.N4 Mk.III, greatly increasing its capacity; it also introduced a single French-built SEDAM N500 hovercraft, although the latter's performance was found lacking and it was returned to SNCF after a few years.…

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Article summary

Seaspeed was a British hovercraft operator which ran services in the Solent and English Channel between 1965 and 1981, when it merged with a rival to form Hoverspeed. Seaspeed was a jointly owned subsidiary of railway companies British Rail (under British Rail Hovercraft Limited) and France's SNCF, and was established in 1965. Seaspeed operated several services; its first route, running between Cowes and Southampton, was launched on 6 July 1966. Initially operating a fleet of SR.N6s for these short-distance services, it opted to procure larger SR.N4s for its cross-Channel ferry service; the first of these hoverferries was introduced in 1968. On this route, Seaspeed competed against traditional ferries and rival SR.N4 operator Hoverlloyd. In 1976, after concluding that it could not attain suitable profitability from its smaller SR.N6 services, Seaspeed sold these to rival hovercraft company Hovertravel. Focusing upon its cross-Channel service, it opted to repeatedly upgrade the SR.N4 fleet. During the late 1970s, Seaspeed introduced the stretched SR.N4 Mk.III, greatly increasing its capacity; it also introduced a single French-built SEDAM N500 hovercraft, although the latter's performance was found lacking and it was returned to SNCF after a few years.…

Key claims

  1. date of establishment: 1965 — source: Wikipedia · confidence 0.95

Discussion questions

  1. Summarise the article in your own words. Which single claim would you verify first, and why?
  2. The record states that the date of establishment is "1965". What evidence would count against this claim?
  3. Which claim in this article is most likely to be revised as the sources update? How would you check its current status?
  4. If two sources disagreed about one of these facts, what would you need in order to trust one over the other?

Bibliography

  1. Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1359475136

Key claims and bibliography are generated from the same tracked claims and sources as the article page.