Daniel Adamson

on Dec 11, 2014

When, in 1862, the Dumbarton Steamboat Company sold their two-funneled Chancellor to run the blockade for the Confederates in the American Civil War, sailings to Arrochar were left in the hands of the Lochgoil Steamboat Company. The important tourist connections with the steamers on Loch Lomond at Tarbet were neglected and as a result, there was an opportunity for the Loch Lomond Company to provide its own steamboat to complete the popular circular tour. A new company was formed, the Loch Long Steam Boat Company, and the new Chancellor was ordered from Blackwood and Gordon. She was 171 tons with a length of 163 ft and breadth almost 19 ft and her single diagonal engine provided 80 hp, giving her a comfortable speed for the tourist traffic. She was designed as a saloon steamboat with deck saloons the full width of the hull and the alleyways created by carrying the sponsons from stem to...

Dumbarton Steamboats

on Dec 9, 2014

The Dumbarton Steamboat Company was one of the earliest steamboat companies in the world and in its different reincarnations lasted for almost a century. It served the traffic between the town of Dumbarton and the city of Glasgow, was intimately involved in the lucrative tourist trade to Loch Lomond, and in doing so, took advantage of the oft disputed charters that allowed shipping registered at Dumbarton free access to the Glasgow harbour. This article is heavily based on a summary of the sederunt book of the company that is presented in Thomson’s “Affairs of an Early Steamboat Company” (1932). Further details come from Hume and Moss’ “A Bed of Nails,” and several of Donald MacLeod’s books; “God’s Acres of Dumbarton,” (1888), “Castle and Town of Dumbarton,” (1877), “Dunbarton Ancient and Modern,” (1892), and “Loch Lomond Steamboat Companies,” (1888). Additional information comes from...

Old Gourock

on Nov 28, 2014

The town of Gourock achieved some prominence when it became the home base of the Caledonian Steam Packet Co.’s operations on the Clyde around 1889. Before then it was a bathing resort, much frequented by the population of Paisley from where, when the pennies were short, the inhabitants could use Shank’s pony to reach the sea shore. Descriptions of the town appear in early guides to the Clyde including Lumsden’s “Steamboat Companion” of 1820:— “Having left Greenock, many neat villas are seen on the left along the shore; and, at a short distance, a small battery to protect the town. About 2 miles from Greenock, is the village of Gourock, resorted to, in summer, as bathing quarters; and above which stands the House of Gourock, Darroch; on the east side of the bay is a whin dyke running into the sea. Here are some mines which formerly produced copper and fluor spar, but are not now...

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...

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...