In the years leading up to World War 1, it was a common sight to see naval craft undergoing speed trials on the Skelmorlie Measured Mile. The photograph above shows a destroyer at speed on the measured mile. The original photograph is not identified but it is an E class destroyer, none of which were built on the Clyde although they conducted trials on the Skelmorlie Mile. A closer view of the vessel is shown below.

For one particular vessel, however, the experience on the measured mile was an encounter with near disaster as she turned at the end of one of her trial runs. Laverock was a product of the Messrs Yarrow who had moved to Scotstoun from the Isle of Dogs on the Thames in 1906. Laverock ran firmly aground, high and dry, just north of Largs. Although the vessel sustained some damage, she was salvaged and able to be repaired and enter service.

Laverock ashore (Hampton)

Laverock ashore

Laverock ashore, clearing the site (Hampton)

Laverock ashore

“Destroyer Ashore—Remarkable accident in the Clyde—Vessel high and dry—H.M. torpedo boat destroyer, Laverock, built by Messrs Yarrow and Co., Glasgow, on Saturday afternoon went ashore in the Firth of Clyde; off Blackhouse, midway between Largs and Wemyss Bay. The vessel was running her trials on the Skelmorlie measured mile, and had completed a downward trip, the weather at the time being wet and dirty but fairly clear, with a stiff southerly breeze. On making the sweep for the run back the Laverock was headed to port, and as she had a good offing there seemed no imminent risk of getting too near the beach. It is conjectured that the steering gear must have jammed in the course of the movement, as the vessel failed to come round sufficiently to clear a spit of land, and she steamed hard aground, practically abeam of the shore, and at a high rate of speed. The impact, necessarily a severe one, occasioned considerable disturbance and a little alarm on board.

“There was an element of good fortune attaching to the accident in the fact that on a shore almost wholly composed of rock the destroyer took the ground in the easiest and least dangerous part. The tine was about half an hour on the ebb, and she brought up not far short of the high water mark, on an even keel in a bed of sand and small boulder, and lay astride of the channel of a stream that there falls into the firth. It was lucky, too, that life was not endangered and that the breakages were confined mostly to delf and other ware, with some damage to interior fittings.

“The hull of the boat naturally suffered most in the passage over the rugged bottom. There is evidence of severe straining, and several of the underplates were ripped and torn so that water to the depth of about five feet rushed into the boiler-room. Getting ashore was no difficult task. Most of the officers and crew were landed by small boats, and a member of the latter waded thigh deep.

“A telephone message to Greenock brought down the Clyde Shipping Company’s tug Flying Mist, but as the tide was then unsuitable for any kind of towing operation the steamer returned to port. Later on the Greenock Towing Company’s tugs Defiance and Dauntless were called on to stand by in case of need. Representatives of the builders arrived in the evening, and an examination showed that the boat will be subject to a good deal of repair. This, it is expected, will be carried out where she lies while high and dry on the ebb tides. Yesterday one of the tug steamers remained off the Laverock. There was a fresh wind from the west and a running sea fair on to the shore.

“Mr. Yarrow, his shipbuilding and engineering managers, and a Lloyd’s surveyor yesterday afternoon motored to the scene of the accident and returned to Glasgow in the evening. It is estimated that the temporary repairs will occupy a week or ten days.

“Another account of the accident—The Maverick left Messrs Yarrow’s yard at Scotstoun about eight o’clock on Saturday morning in charge of a Clyde pilot, to undergo speed trials, manœuvering trials, and gun trials. When turning at the south end of the measured mile—about two miles south of Wemyss Bay—the vessel turned inshore and, failing to describe a sufficiently narrow circle, she ran aground in a line parallel with the roadway. She ran inside a jagged rock, and her port bilge was ripped open and both the propellers and propeller shafts and also the rudder were torn off. She ran so far up the beach that she is now high and dry at low water, while at high water all her compartments are flooded. The hull is practically a wreck, and it is expected that it can only be removed to dry dock by being patched up during the intervals when the tide is out, so that it can be floated off, as the structure is so light that it could hardly be carried in slings between other vessels. It is understood that, apart from the loss of the propellers and the shafting outside the hull, the machinery is undamaged.

“The stranded vessel—The Laverock is of the “L” class, and was originally named Hereward. She is the third of the four destroyers of the 1912-13 programme which Messrs Yarrow have built for the Admiralty. Her principal dimensions are:— length, 260 ft.; and breadth, 27 ft. 6 in. The main engines consist of Brown-Curtis turbines, driving two shafts transmitting equal powers, one propeller being fitted on each shaft. Steam is supplied by three of the latest and most improved type of Yarrow boilers, each of which is fitted with Yarrow’s patent feed heating and superheating arrangements, and is designed for burning oil fuel exclusively. She was launched in November of last year.”— Glasgow Herald, March 2, 1914

A high tide with tugs (Simpson)

Attempts to refloat the vessel were made after boulders and other obstacles had been removed. It took almost a month before success was achieved.

Success on the final pull (Robertson)

“The Laverock refloated.—H.M. torpedo boat destroyer Laverock which ran ashore midway between Wemyss Bay and Largs a month ago while running her trials on the measured mile, was refloated at high spring tide yesterday afternoon. Several efforts were made last week to tow her off, but the water never rose sufficiently to allow the vessel to get clear of the shore. About 130 men were engaged in the salvage operations. The aperture of 45 feet on the port side, extending from the break of the forecastle to the engine-room, was patched up with timber, while 10 tons of cement were put in the boiler-room to make certain that there would be no leakage. The Laverock was towed by the Clyde Shipping Company’s tugs to Messrs Inglis’s Pointhouse yard where repairs will be carried out. She is a destroyer of the “L” class, and is the third of four vessels of the 1912-13 programme which Messrs Yarrow, Scotstoun, have built for the Admiralty.”—Glasgow Herald, March 30, 1914.

Afloat again on the upper river

When Alfred Yarrow began shipbuilding on the Thames, the firm specialized in small shallow draft craft for rivers and inland lakes. It was the focus on the spar torpedo in the American Civil War that brought a realization that the craft that the firm produced could be used for delivering the new weapon. Speed was also an essential component in these early small steamers as the spar torpedo required contact with the enemy target and a quick get-away to avoid being damaged in the subsequent explosion. The development of the self-propelled torpedo in 1877 enhanced the fighting capability of the tactics and soon fast, light, steam-driven torpedo boats were being developed by navies around the world.

By the 1880s, Yarrow had achieved speeds in excess of 21 knots with these craft using accurately-balanced reciprocating engines and high-pressure water-tube boilers that were to become one of the specialties of the firm. However, for every new weapon, counter-measures are developed and yarrow led the way in the development of the torpedo-boat destroyer in the 1890s. Highly manœverable, larger, and fast, this new class of vessel was designed to protect against the smaller, lightly armoured torpedo boats. One important milestone was the first destroyer to achieve a speed in excess of 30 knots. The Sokol for the Swedish navy appeared in 1896 and was built with high-tensile steel for lightness.

In 1906, the firm began a move from the Thames to a green-field site at Scotstoun on the Clyde that was accomplished in just two-years with little interruption in production. Although the Clyde was farther from the Admiralty, the availability of inexpensive skilled labour and proximity to the measured mile were convincing factors in the move. In addition to the tenements, new housing, “Yarrow Cottages” were built to attract some of the key workers from London.

Destroyers in the covered berth at Scotstoun

Yarrow’s (Ritchie, Edinburgh)

Many of the early advertising cards that the firm used featured successful orders from the Isle of Dogs on the Thames.

A shallow draft steamer (Yarrow)

Sokol, Swedish Destroyer (Yarrow)

Felicitas (Yarrow)

Shallow draft steamer (Yarrow)

However, with the approach of war, the emphasis was placed on building destroyers. One of the early vessels launched from Scotstoun was Para for the Brazilian navy. She was 240 feet long and achieved 27 knots.

Brazilian destroyer Para

The Yarrow works in 1912

The new turbine technology was incorporated and speeds approaching 40 knots were soon achieved. Laverock was one of four vessels in that class.

“Yarrow and Company Limited, 1865-1877,” Alastair Borthwick and others, Yarrow and company, Scotstoun, 1977.