The Dunara Castle was a small cargo passenger steamship built by Blackwood & Gordon at Port Glasgow (Yard No.130) and launched on 6th May 1875. Her iron hull had measured 180.4′ x 24.5′ x 12.5′ and her tonnage was 450 gross tons, 186 net tons. She was powered by a 2 cylinder compound steam engine by her builders, developing 130 nominal horse power. The vessel’s official number was 70319.
The Dunara Castle was a very reliable steamship and served her owners, Martin Orme and Company, without incident on many routes from the Clyde to the Western Isles for a number of years.
In the early hours of the morning of 29th August, 1922 she was returning to the Clyde with one hundred passengers on board and a cargo of sheep. As she passed Gourock pier head her captain had to veer to starboard to avoid colliding with an unidentified tug which appeared without warning out of the dark, foggy night. Unfortunately this resulted in the Dunara Castle running aground at Battery Park. The grounding caused considerable damage to her hull and propeller and as the tide receded she was left high and dry on the shore. Thankfully none of the passengers, crew or even her live cargo were injured in the incident.
Dunara Castle aground Battery Park, Greenock
She was refloated after nearly a week ashore and taken to James Watt Dock for repairs. She returned later to a long and successful career which included the sad evacuation of the last inhabitants of St Kilda in 1930. She was finally scrapped in 1948.
