Duchess of Hamilton (1932)

on Jun 11, 2019

The success of the Duchess of Montrose in 1930 as a one-class cruise steamer brought forth a proposal to the L.M.S. board to build a second steamer of the same class. In the trade depression of the early 1930s, there was an incentive to take advantage of the low rates for shipbuilding on the Clyde and at the end of the 1931 season, an order was placed with Messrs Harland and Wolff, Govan. The new steamer was launched as Duchess of Hamilton on May 5, 1932. “New steamer for Clyde Service.—Duchess of Hamilton names the ship.—Brightening the lives of city dwellers.—The Duchess of Hamilton performed the naming ceremony at the launch of the new L.M.S. steamer named after her at Messrs Harland and Wolff’s Govan Shipyard yesterday. “The new ship, said the Duchess, was one of the hopeful signs of the future, as she was designed and built to bring to the people of towns the opportunity of...

Ardnadam Pier

on Jun 6, 2019

The pier at Ardnadam, at 200 feet, the longest in the upper Firth, was built in 1858 to facilitate feuing at the head of the Holy Loch and along its southern fringe at Sandbank. The water at the head of the loch is quite shallow and the length of the pier was dictated to achieve sufficient depth of water at all states of the tide. Glasgow Herald, April 5, 1858 “Extension of feuing at the coast.—Notwithstanding the mercantile depression, feuing and house building seem to be going on briskly at several of the watering places on the Clyde. The new pier erected at Ardnadam, Holy Loch, has led to some feus being taken off in its neighbourhood, and in a brief period there will, no doubt, be a continuous line of villas from Sandbank to the Lazaretto Point. At Hunter’s Quay a new terrace above the road has been laid off this year, and there are at present eight pretty cottages in various...

David Napier and the Belfast trade

on May 28, 2019

Most of what is known of the career of Mr. David Napier, the eminent engineer responsible for many of the early advances in the application of steam to navigation on the Clyde and around the coasts of Great Britain, comes from his autobiographical memoir and the associated biographical notes published in 1912. It would appear that Napier was setting down these memoirs around 1860 when he was resident in Worcester, and at that time he engaged in a letter-writing campaign with the newspapers in Glasgow and Greenock. In a few essays, it is my aim to document the impact that Mr. Napier had on the steamboat traffic on the Clyde and on Loch Lomond. In this first part, the early years of Napier’s career as an engineer and steam-ship owner are covered, with an emphasis on the cross-channel shipping that initially brought him to the public’s attention. David Napier was born on October 29, 1790...

Collision off Greenock

on May 2, 2019

On Hogmanay, 1904, a collision occurred between the steamers Kathleen and Stromboli off Garvel Point, Greenock. Two engineers in the Kathleen were lost in the accident. This article provides some postcards of the incident and a day-to-day account of the ensuing salvage operations and recovery of the bodies of the engineers from the pages of the Greenock Telegraph. “Disastrous collision at Greenock.—Steamers sunk off Garvel Point.—Two engineers drowned.—Narrow escapes.—The closing hours of 1904 were marred by a lamentable collision which occurred on Saturday night in the river off Garvel Point. The colliding steamers were the Kathleen (Captain Dawson) 1,017 tons register, inward from Bilbao with 2,300 tons of iron ore, and the Stromboli (Captain Drummond), 1,011 tons, outward from Glasgow for Mediterranean ports with a general cargo. During the week the weather on the Clyde has been...

Glenfinart

on Apr 26, 2019

The steam coaster Glenfinart was built by Messrs Burrell & Son in 1892 at their Hamilton Hill yard on the Glasgow extension of the Forth and Clyde Canal. As befits a puffer, for that is what she was, her dimensions conformed to the necessities of the locks on the canal, 65.6 ft length by 17.4 ft breadth and 6 ft depth, 52.47 tons gross and 31.46 net. She was constructed of steel and had a compound, direct-acting vertical engine supplied by Messrs Walker, Henderson & Co., Ltd., Glasgow, that was rated at 10 h.p., driving her single screw. Glenfinart around 1900 at Blairmore with Caledonia Her first owner was Robert Muir of Ardentinny, one of a family of fishermen who were about to embark on an adventure in the coasting trade. The name of the vessel was an appropriate one as Glenfinart House and the associated estate were adjacent to Ardentinny on the shores of Loch Long....

Laverock

on Apr 1, 2019

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...

Duchess of Montrose (1930)

on Mar 16, 2019

The addition of the Duchess of Montrose to the L.M.S. fleet in 1930 was a successful attempt to improve facilities for cruising on the Clyde. The previous addition to the fleet, Glen Sannox, was based on the model of the Duchess of Argyll, built in 1906, and although the builders, Messrs William Denny and Sons, had provided high-pressure geared-turbine propulsion machinery for the King George V, the L.M.S. returned to the lower-pressure direct-drive turbine model for the new vessel. However, rather than a copy of the Glen Sannox, the accommodation and facilities were much more up-to-date, and for the first time, the ship was designed for one-class of passenger, giving much more flexibility for the comfort of passengers. “New Clyde turbine launched.—On Saturday the new triple-screw steamer Duchess of Montrose was successfully launched by William Denny & Brothers (Ltd.), Dumbarton....

MacBrayne’s Comet

on Feb 21, 2019

The twin-screw motor vessel Win was built on the Thames by Messrs A. W. Robertson & Co. in 1905. She was just 65 feet long and 14 feet in the beam, 43 tons, and was powered by two 4-cylinder paraffin motors. In 1907, Messrs MacBrayne acquired the little craft and renamed her Comet. For the next ten years she was employed on Loch Leven and the Caledonian Canal. In 1917, Comet was transferred to the Clyde and became the Lochgoil Mail Steamer sailing from Greenock and Gourock to Lochgoilhead. The route by road to Lochgoilhead was difficult and the direct sailing was viewed as an essential lifeline for the villagers, especially over the winter months. Comet at Gourock (Robertson) Glasgow Corporation received the Ardgoil Estate as a gift from Mr A. Cameron Corbett in 1906. During the summers, Lochgoilhead was a popular destination for steamers that allowed the good folk of Glasgow...