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...