Builders: J&G Thomson Clydebank 1885
Propulsion type: Paddle, compound oscillating
Owners: David MacBrayne Ltd.
Service dates: 1885 - 1927
Tonnage: Gross 357
Comments:
PS Grenadier, as can be seen from the photograph above, was clipper bowed which gave her a rather old fashioned although elegant appearance. The traditional nature of the steamer was continued with her oscillating engines, which were generally considered obsolete by the 1880's.In the summer season she undertook the Oban to Staffa and Iona excursion service and in the winter she sailed from Greenock to Ardrishaig on the mail service. In the Great War from July 1916 to October 1919 she was requisitioned as HMS Grenade as a minesweeper in the North Sea, resuming her peacetime duties in 1920. Whilst at the North Pier at Oban on 6 September 1927 she was gutted by fire, with the sad loss of her master Capt McArthur and two others. Her hulk was towed to Greenock then later to Ardrossan where she was broken up. Her two boilers (which had been fitted in 1902) were salvaged and one was placed in PS Fusilier (another source states they were installed into PS Glencoe) with the other being installed in PS Gondolier. Her nameboards and figurehead were also preserved and at one time were stored in the Kelvingrove Art Gallery.