Collision in the Gareloch

on Nov 26, 2014

On 8th January 1912 the Lucy Ashton was sailing from Craigendoran to Garelochhead in a snowstorm when she ran into the stern of the Allan liner Siberian which was moored between Rahane and Mambeg. She was travelling at speed when the accident occurred and stove in her bow both above and below the waterline. The vessel was able to make Garelochhead and disembark her passengers. She then returned to the Siberian to see if assistance was required. The skipper was Roderick McDonald who had a reputation for driving the little steamer hard. The Siberian was laid up at the time.  Apparently, the moorings of the Siberian had dragged her anchor in the storm and moved her into the track normally taken by the steamer. Siberian in Service The following account is from a contemporary newspaper: “During the severe snowstorm in the Gareloch on Monday night the North British steamer Lucy Ashton,...

Hornby at Gourock

on Nov 26, 2014

On 23 March 1907 the tug, Hornby, sank off Greenock after a collision with MacBrayne’s Handa.  The Hornby was launched in 1890 from the yard of Samuel McNight & Co. Ltd of Ayr for the Alexandra Towing Co. of Liverpool. At 197 tons and with her engines delivering 80 hp to her two screws, she was a powerful vessel, capable of over ten knots in service.  She had been on the Clyde for some repairs and was returning to Liverpool when the accident occurred. Hornby sunk off Greenock MacBrayne’s Handa at Blackmill Bay The Hornby was beached next to the coastguard station at the end of the Caledonian Pier at Gourock. The photograph below shows two Ross and Marshall puffers, one of them the Mellite, and a diving barge in attendance.  The Hornby was raised and repaired and sold to French owners who used her on the Mediterranean under the name Lutece.  She was replaced by Alexandra...

Thomas Bollen Seath

on Nov 25, 2014

A small album of old cartes de visite of ships got my attention.  When it was opened, it revealed some images that were familiar and some that were not.  Many of the ships were connected with the Rutherglen shipbuilder Thomas Seath.  It took me quite some time to identify all the ships and the original owner and purpose of the collection still remains a mystery, but the little album remains one of my favorite finds. The most intriguing picture in the collection is a sweet pose of a young bearded man and, presumably, his wife.  The connections of the pictures of the ships to this picture is readily apparent.  The man is surely Tommy Seath, born on 20th September of 1820 at Prestonpans in East Lothian, and the young lady he married in 1848 was Helen Young. T B Seath and wife (Bell, Trongate, Glasgow) When he was eight years old, Seath’s family moved to Glasgow and at the age of...

Comte de Smet de Naeyer

on Nov 20, 2014

The Comte de Smet de Naeyer was a full rigged sailing vessel launched on the 11th of October 1904 by the Greenock and Grangemouth Dockyard Company at their Mid-Cartsdyke Yard in Greenock as a sail training vessel for cadets of the Association Maritime Belge. At 1863 tons, she was 267 feet long and just over 41 feet in breadth with a draught of almost 24 feet. On the 20th of October, when fitting out in James Watt Dock, she capsized. From the Greenock Telegraph As the following sequence of pictures reveals, she was righted and completed for service. Capsized on 20th October 1904 The turbine steamers King Edward and Queen Alexandra can be seen on their winter lay-up in the background. Initial salvage efforts Initial salvage attempts were not successful and she sank completely Here the puffer Mellite helps as a new attempt is made Counter-weights attached and in place and the parbuckling...

The Anchor Line

on Nov 16, 2014

The Anchor line originates from the efforts of the Handyside Brothers and Thomas Henderson who began a steamship service between Glasgow and New York in 1856. In 1872, the had Victoria built from the yard of Robert Duncan & Co. of Port Glasgow for the New York service. She was one of two built for the service that year, the other coming from Messrs Alexander Stephen & Sons, Linthouse, named California. They were designed to compete with the new vessels on the Liverpool route and at 360 ft long with accommodation for 170 saloon. 100 second and 700 third-class passengers, were well suited to the trade. Victoria (Annan, Glasgow) Victoria California Handyside retired in 1873 and the Hendersons took over Tod & MacGregor’s shipyard as D & W Henderson and formed a strong association with the Barrow Steam Ship Co., expanding their routes and their interests.  One of the new...

Metagama: Liner and Cargo Steamer in Collision

on Nov 11, 2014

The Metagama, of the Canadian Pacific Line, outward bound from Glasgow for Quebec and Montreal, and the cargo steamer Baron Vernon, inward bound from Italy, collided in Clyde waters near Dumbarton Rock on Friday night, 25th May 1923, between nine and ten o’clock. On board the liner there were fully 1100 passengers, most of whom had retired to rest. For a while the vessels remained locked together, and, when the liner backed out, the Baron Vernon heeled over, having, been, holed below the water line; her port bows were stove in, and she was thrown stem first towards the north bank of the river. Realising the danger of the situation, the captain of the cargo steamer beached his vessel, grounding her in the mud at a point off Helenslea, not far from the Garmoyle light. The damage to the Metagama was comparatively slight. She had one of her plates broken on the port bow, about nine feet...

Fly-boats

on Nov 10, 2014

Before the advent of steamboats on the Clyde, coastal sailing craft, ranging from gabberts, wherries and scows to smart sailing packets maintained communications between the various communities on the Firth. On occasion one or other of these would proceed up the shallow river to Glasgow but progress was possible only at certain points in the tidal cycle, making the river unusable for traffic of any urgency. Around 1792, the shipbuilder, Mr. William Nicol of Greenock, designed and built suitable sailing craft with a shallow draft that could be used successfully on the river. These fly-boats as they were called, were built for three owners: John Fairlie, Malcolm Campbell, and Andrew Rennie, and they dominated the trade on the river between Glasgow and Greenock for over thirty years. The boats were about 28 feet long in the keel and from 7½ to 8 feet beam, 8 tons burthen, drew 4 feet of...

Clyde River and Firth

on Oct 27, 2014

For more than two centuries, the River Clyde has provided an artery for the industry and commerce of Glasgow while the Firth of Clyde has served as the playground for the population of the city, from the captains of industry to the most humble labourer.  Over the years the role of each of these two geographic areas has changed and the interplay between them provides a fascinating backdrop on the development of the West of Scotland.  There is no dearth of literature on the subject and this site will draw on much of this material.  There will be some focus on the early years of the use of steam in marine propulsion and marine engineering.  The development of the tourist trade in the area is another area that will focus on early accounts of the resorts both in text and in picture.  The great engineering feat of deepening the river to allow the flow of commerce into the center of Glasgow...