Colonsay I

The puffer Dorothy was built by Burrell & Son (Yard No.46) and launched from their Hamilton Hill yard in Glasgow on 27th June 1901. Designed to work both within the local canal network and for coastal trade the small 99 gross ton steamship measured 65.6′ x 18.4′ x 9.2′. She was powered by a 2 cylinder compound steam engine generating 15 nominal horse power manufactured by Walker Henderson & Co Ltd., Glasgow.  Her official number was 110990.

The Dorothy was ordered by the Dundee & East Coast Shipping Company and was first registered by them in July 1901. Her tenure with this company was short lived when she stranded at Castlefoot, Tynemouth in thick fog on 24th November 1901 while on a voyage from Queensferry to Hull with a cargo of whin dust. She was towed off by tugs soon after but sank near the south pier inside Tynemouth Harbour in three fathoms of water. Further salvage attempts proved unsuccessful and the wreck was abandoned by the underwriters. However the wreck was a hazard to navigation and was advertised for demolition and removal.

Fortunately the wreck was acquired by the well known shipbuilders and owners J & J Hay Ltd of Glasgow who raised the wreck and took it to their yard in Glasgow where it was repaired and returned to sea in January 1903. She remained in their ownership for the next 35 years until fate once again took a hand in her destiny. During the height of a storm on 15th December 1938 the Dorothy ran aground on the west side of Castlebay Harbour on Barra. The Barra lifeboat was soon in attendance and managed to tow the Dorothy off the rocks . Making water, the heavily damaged vessel had to be beached in a nearby inlet called Bagh Beag. Her cargo of coal was later salvaged but the vessel was declared a constructive total loss and the register for the Dorothy was closed in January 1939.

The wreck of the Dorothy was purchased and repaired by Alexander McNeil, 10 Bank Street, Greenock who registered her in Greenock in 1939 re-named Colonsay.  The change of name did not improve things for this unfortunate little ship.  

Around 1am on Friday 18th February 1949 sea conditions were not good. It was pitch black and the Colonsay was ploughing through a rough sea and heavy rain heading south down Loch Striven. The ship was light having delivered a cargo of gravel to the Glen Tarsan hydro-electric scheme at the head of the loch. The engineer, James Cameron recalled that the vessel gave a lurch, after which the engine room quickly began to flood extinguishing the boiler fire. He immediately went on deck and could immediately see the vessel was sinking. The three crewmen, skipper Bernard McLoone, engineer Cameron and deckhand Charles Collins got into the ship’s dinghy just in time before the Colonsay sank in deep water. They made for the head of the loch which took them 3 hours in the prevailing weather conditions. Once ashore they sheltered in a workman’s hut until the first bus arrived for Dunoon.

There was no coming back this time for the Colonsay the crew estimated that she sank in around 40 fathoms. It was never confirmed if they struck a floating object or perhaps grounded on a offshore reef but  she would not be resurrected for a third time. It is worth recording that in all her scrapes and near misses no lives were lost, although the services of the RNLI were required at Tynemouth and again at Barra.

There are two wrecks located in the middle of Loch Striven between Brackley Point and Inverchaolain, they both lie in 67-70 metres on a seabed of thick mud. They were both surveyed by sidescan as part of the project – Operation Highball in 2017 undertaken by East Cheshire Sub Aqua Club, the University of Dundee and the Royal Navy. 

This mark, the most northerly of the two, is lying on a flat mud seabed in 69-70 metres and is most probably the Colonsay. The sidescan measured length for this wreck was 20.4 metres which converts to 66 feet, which is pretty close to the built length of the Colonsay.  This wreck lies in position 55° 55.789’N 05° 04.223’W and is oriented 135/315° with bow south. The sidescan image below is most probably the wreck of the Colonsay as it lies, and is included with thanks to the East Cheshire SAC.