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Side-Wheeled Paddle Steamers
Western
Isles,
Scotland
Ferry
services in the western isles of north Britain are dominated by the
state-owned Caledonian-MacBrayne company which was formed by merging
the Scottish Transport Group's Western Isles and Clyde ferry
interests. The MacBrayne name was synonymous with transport to and
from the many scattered islands off the UK's north west coast, of which
Syke, Mull, Iona, Harris and Lewis are just some of the
better-known.
Steam navigation commenced in 1819 when Henry Bell's PS Comet, which
had pioneered British steamboating on the Clyde, opened up a service
from Glasgow to Oban and Fort William via the Crinan Canal.
Most main islands are now served by modern "roll on - roll off" car
ferries, with link-spans being built in the 1970s and 1980s to
provide an efficient lifeline to the small and remote island
communities. In earlier years, cargo was an important, if not
dominant, part of the MacBrayne service and this was reflected in the
utilitarian design of many of their vessels. MacBrayne became the
dominant shipping company in the later part of the nineteenth century
and even before this, competing companies in practice served
different islands. There was never the cut-throat competition that
characterised, for example, shipping on the Firth of Clyde : traffic
could not justify the wasteful duplication and the area was never a
battleground for competing railway companies. Railways came late to
this lowly populated backwater, reaching the coast at Strome Ferry
(from Inverness) in 1870 and Oban and Fort William/Banavie (from
Glasgow) in 1880 and 1894/5 respectively. The lines were later
extended from Strome to Kyle of Lochalsh in 1897 and Banavie to
Mallaig in 1901, improving the railway connections to the Isle of
Skye and onward to the Outer Hebrides (Harris and Lewis).
Following a visit of Queen Victoria to the western isles in 1847,
this remote area became increasingly important as a tourist
destination, although never in the mass numbers experienced further
south at Rothesay and Dunoon. The so-called "Royal Route" from
Glasgow to Ardrishaig on Loch Fyne and thence through the Crinan
Canal for onward connection to Oban became a popular service with
David Hutcheson (later David MacBrayne) putting the Clyde's most
luxurious steamers (PS Iona and PS Columba) on the Glasgow-Ardrishaig
leg of the run. Patrons of the route, especially before the arrival
of the railways, were the local absentee landowners, grouse shooters
and higher-income tourists.
Oban became the main "resort" and centre for excursion steamer
services. After World War II, excursions became synomymous with the
mighty turbine steamer TS King George V, which cruised to Fort
William, Tobermory, around the Island of Mull to the islands of Iona
and Staffa, the places on the route of the famous visit of Queen
Victoria one hundred years earlier. Iona was famous for its monastery
and its place as the point where St Columba introduced Christianity
to the northern part of Great Britain. The much smaller island of Staffa was famous for
Fingal's Cave, a geological formation named in the late eighteenth
century after a legendary hero of 1500 years earlier, and accessible
only by smaller ferry from the main steamer during fine weather on
account of the heavy swell from the Atlantic ocean.
Paddle steamer excursions have recently been revived in the area. PS
Waverley spends a few days each year at the beginning of her
season.
Hutcheson
(and therefore later MacBraynes) also operated a service direct from
Glasgow via the Mull of Kintyre to Fort Augustus and along the Caledonian Canal and Loch Ness
to Inverness after taking over the business of the main incumbent
Messrs. Burns in 1851 (who had bought out their main rival Ainslie in
1849)
David
Hutcheson & Co : David MacBrayne
Ltd
David
Hutcheson
became a steamboat owner in 1851, when he took over a number of vessels
of the Western Isles
fleet of the G & J Burns shipping empire, of which he was the
local manager and long-time employee. Burns sold out to concentrate on his other
instercsts but in a short time had brought some organisation to west
Highand services and had bought out local operators, latterly William
Ainslie. His business was the largest of the local operators
and came to dominate the area totally, latterly in connection with
the railways, but continuing until 1969 with direct services from
Glasgow.
The
company operated from Glasgow to Oban and Corpach via Ardrishaig which
involved a change of vessel to transit the Crinan Canal between
Ardrishaig and Crinan. From Corpach services ran via the Caledonian
Canal and Loch Ness to Inverness. Over time, services were
increased to the Hebridean islands and remaining competitors taken
over.
David MacBrayne was nephew to an one of three partners in David Hutcheson's
company and eventually took exclusive control in 1879 after the
retirement of David Hutcheson in 1876 and Alexander Hutcheson in
1878. MacBrayne died in 1907 , aged 92, having worked up until the
previous year, by which time the operation had become David MacBrayne
Ltd. It was reconstructed in 1928 as David MacBrayne (1928) Ltd,
owned jointly by Coast Lines Ltd and the LMS railway. As David
MacBrayne Ltd from 1934, 50 percent remained with the private Coast
Lines Ltd until it was purchased by the Scottish Transport Group in
1969 and on January 1, 1973 was merged with STG's other subsidiary,
the Caledonian Steam Packet Company to form Caledonian -
MacBrayne.
The company became totally connected with the life of the western
isles - the fragile economies of the remote islands became dependent
on MacBraynes services and MacBraynes dependent on the continued
requirement for freight (and in the summer, tourists), to and from
the isles. They purchased many of their paddle steamers second-hand and
also operated an extensive fleet of screw steamers, especially for
their cargo services. In 1931 they took ownership of the new and
innovative diesel-electric ship Lochfyne which latterly became
associated with its Clyde mail service to Ardrishaig and other new
diesel-electric vessels in the 1930s for their general passenger and
cargo island runs and by the outbreak of World War II had ended their
association with paddle steamers.
The
company also operated the "Ardrishaig Mail" steamer service on the
Clyde to the eponymous Loch Fyne port where transshipment along the
Crinan Canal allowed passengers and mail to get to Oban and beyond.
This route was also named the Royal Route on account of being taken by
Queen Victoria and Prince Albert for their holidays in the area, thus
popularising the West Highlands with a wider, particularly English,
clientele. The route featured the magnificent long-lived paddlers Iona
and Columba until replaced by turbine steamers bought second hand from
Clyde operators in 1935 (see Clyde Services below)
Hutcheson
bought out the operators of services along the Caledonian Canal and
Loch Ness in 1851 and operated a connection to Inverness with a
long sea voyage around the Mull of Kintyre and inland at Fort Augustus
as well as local services on the canal (see Caledonian Canal and Loch Ness services below)
Above : Mountaineer
of 1910. MacBraynes were well-known for purchasing old paddle
steamers second hand for their western Isles services but a change in
policy came in 1905 with the purchase of Pioneer new from A&J
Inglis and Mountaineer, which proved to be their final purchase of a
paddle steamer. At 180 ft long, she was of modest size but 20 ft
longer than Pioneer although with a similarly rated compound diagonal
engine (20.5 and 38.5 inches with 48
inch stroke)
Long
used to owning screw steamers for its cargo services, MacBraynes did
not follow the Clyde ferry owners when it came to replacing their old
vessels with new tonnage in the 1930s. The company took a remarkably
modern view and introduced a number of new diesel-electric powered
screw vessels. DEPV Lochfyne looked considerably different to the
highly traditionally-styled Mountaineer.
MAIN FLEET : Paddle Steamers ex- G & J Burns - built
before 1851
Duntroon Castle (1842-1853) Built for the Inveraray service. Sold to the London, Brighton & South Coast Railway
Dolphin (1844-1862) sold for blockade running in the USA
Pioneer (1844-1893) Built for the Greenock-Rothesay service. scrapped in 1895
Built to link Glasgow and Inverness via the Crinan Canal
Cygnet (1848-1882) wrecked in Loch Ailort
Lapwing (1848-1859) sank in a collision off Kintyre
Note : Edinburgh Castle and Curlew were used on Caledonian Canal services and later renamed Glengarry (see below)
Paddle Steamers purchased after 1851
Mountaineer
(1852-1889)
Chevalier (1853-1854)
Iona (1855-1862) sold for blockade running in the USA
Clansman (1855-1869)
Inveraray Castle (1857-1891) built in 1839
Mary Jane (1857-1931, renamed Glencoe in 1875) built in 1846
Duke of Argyll (1857-1858) built in 1852
Stork (1858-1861) built in 1851
Plover (1859-1879) built in 1849 as Maid of Lorn
Fairy (1861-1863)
Iona (1863) sold for blockade running in the USA
Iona (1864-1936)
Chevalier (1866-1927)
Dolphin (1868) built in 1849 as Islay
Islay (1876-1890) built in 1867
Columba (1878-1936)
Grenadier (1885-1927)
Fusilier (1888-1934) later Lady Orme, Crestawave until 1939
Hero (1890-1909, renamed Mountaineer in 1892) built in 1858
Islay (1890-1902) built in 1872 as Princess Louise for the Larne & Stranraer Steam Boat Company
Great Western (1891-1904, renamed Lovedale in 1893) built 1867, ex- Great Western Railway Irish and later French services
Gael (1891-1923) built in 1867 by Robertson & Co of Greenock. 211 ft : 361
GRT. Oscillating 45 and 45 in x 63 in by Rankin & Blackmore. ex-
Campbeltown & Glasgow Joint Stock Steamship Co. and Great Western Railway
Cygnus (1891-1896, renamed Brigadier in 1892) built in 1854
Carabinier (1893-1909) built 1878 as Albert Edward
Glendale (1902-1905) built in 1875 as Paris, later Flamingo, La Belgique
Pioneer (1905-1943) sold for use as underwater research and training ship HMS Harbinger, surviving until 1958
Mountaineer (1910-1937)
Above : A&J Inglis product Pioneer
of 1905 was one of the few paddle steamers commissioned new by
Hutcheson or MacBraynes. Mountaineer was to follow five years later
from the same Glasgow yard. She was of modest size (160 ft long) with a GRT of 241.
Her small compound diagonal engines were of 20 and 38 inches with 48
inch stroke.
Pioneer
outlasted her younger sibling and survived on the mail service to
Islay, Jura and Gigha for most of her life before a final year serving
Skye before the outbreak of World War II. She spent the remainder of
the war as a Submarine HQ ship on the Clyde at Fairlie and was later
sold to the Admiralty outright. With her paddles and sponsons removed,
she was used as a laboratory at Portland until scrapped in 1958 in the
Netherlands. Photo is in the public domain
Turbine Steamers (ex - Turbine
Steamers Ltd) : for details please go to : Clyde
Turbine Steamers website
Purchased in late 1935 for service from 1936
Saint Columba (1936-1958) built
in 1912 as Queen Alexandra
King George V (1936-1974) built in 1926
CLYDE SERVICES
MacBraynes maintained one service on the Firth of Clyde - the
"Ardrishaig mail" route from Gourock, bringing mail, and
in the summer months, tourists to the Loch Fyne port on what became
kown in the later 19th century as the "Royal Route" to
the isles after a visit by Queen Victoria. After a short ferry ride
along the Crinan Canal, passengers saw open water at Crinan and
continued their journey by a MacBrayne's steamer
MacBraynes continued to operate the Ardrishaig
service until shortly after the company was nationalised as part
of the Scottish Transport Group in 1969. The service was transferred
to the STG's new Clyde subsidiary the Caledonian Steam Packet Company
but was withdrawn shortly afterwards.
See
Hutcheson / MacBrayne -
Clyde Services
CALEDONIAN CANAL and LOCH NESS SERVICES (Banavie - Fort Augustus - Inverness)
Hutcheson
(and therefore later MacBraynes) also operated a service direct from
Glasgow via the Mull of Kintyre to Fort Augustus and along the Caledonian Canal and Loch Ness
to Inverness after taking over the business of the main incumbent
Messrs. Burns in 1851 (who had bought out their main rival Ainslie in
1849).Ex-Burns Paddle Steamers (purchased in 1851)
Curlew (1837-1853, built as Glencoe and renamed in 1849 when taken over by Burns from Messrs. Ainslie)
Edinburgh Castle (1844-1927, renamed Glengarry in 1875)
Further additions :
Gondolier (1866-1939)
Lochness (1885-1912) built 1853 as Lochgoil and later Lough Foyle. * Loch Ness mail service
Gairlochy (1894-1919) built 1861 as Sultan, then Ardmore
OTHER OPERATORS
Sir James Matheson
Purchased the Isle of Lewis in 1844 and instituted a service from Glasgow via various islands with the Mary Jane ( of 1846-1851, which later became part of the Hutcheson fleet in 1857 and survived until 1931) and added Marquis of Stafford (1849-1853, which was sold for use at Genoa, Italy, renamed Piemonte)
Bibliography
Steamers of the
Highlands and Islands : An Illustrated History
By Ian McCrorie
Published in 1987 by Orr, Pollock & Co
ISBN 1 869850 017
Return
to
Clyde
Turbine Steamers
Hutcheson / MacBrayne -
Clyde