Builders: J & G Thomson Ltd Clydebank 1895
Propulsion type: Paddle Compound diagonal
Owners: Caledonian Steam Packet Co
Service dates: 1895 - 1945
Tonnage: Gross 386
Comments:
Built at a cost of £20,000 she was a well fitted ship, elaborately furnished and with fine lines. In her early days she was regularly raced by the Glasgow and South Western's Glen Sannox and Mercury, although this was not encouraged by the boats owners or the authorities! She was re boilered in 1914 and subsequently requisitioned for war service by the Admiralty. Serving as a minesweeper out of Sheerness, then Portland, she was said to have destroyed over 500 mines. She had a lucky escape when two bombs exploded simultaneously either side of her, lifting her clean out of the water. Fortunately she came down in one piece with minor damage. Returning to Gourock after decommissioning in 1919, she sunk at her berth in June after mooring ropes were not slackened off to compensate for the tide and she filled with water as the tide rose. She was refloated soon after as she was a hazard to other shipping. She was requisitioned again for minesweeping in the Second World War and was based at Dover. Engine trouble precluded her from assisting at Dunkirk She later operated out of Harwich and survived the war only to be found to be too worn out to recondition and she was broken up in Holland in 1945.
My thanks go to Frankie Lakiere for the above picture.