The Saint Kearan, a steel cargo steamship, was built by Scott & Sons of Bowling (Yard No.316) and launched on 6th June 1929 for J & A Gardner & Company of Glasgow. The ship measured 185.4′ x 28.6′ x 10.6′ and her tonnage was 691 gross tons, 318 net tons . She was powered by a triple expansion steam engine developing 93 nominal horse power supplied by Aitchison, Blair Limited of Clydebank. The vessel remained under the same ownership until her loss. Her official number was 160256.
Saint Kearan dockside – 1929
Lloyds register 1939
She sank following a collision with a large French troopship in the early hours of Friday 17th May 1940. The collision took place around 8 miles south east of Pladda lighthouse and resulted in the loss of the Saint Kearan with her valuable cargo of 800 tons of coal.
Builders Drawings Profile and deck plan
The Saint Kearan had dearted from Ayr harbour around 11 pm the previous evening bound for Londonderry on one of her regular trips to ports of Northern Ireland and north west England. Around 2.00am on the 17th May she strayed into the path of outbound convoy FR.1, a convoy of four large French troop transports with supporting French and British naval escorts. The Saint Kearan collided with the requisitioned French liner, the Explorateur Grandidier (10,268 tons). The small collier would have been dwarfed by the liner which was 15 times the gross tonnage of the steamer.
Explorateur Grandidier collided with Saint Kearan
The French vessels Koutobia, Chantilly, Compienge and Explorateur Grandidier were originally bound for Norway as part of convoy FP.5 and were loaded with French troops but were diverted to the Clyde where they arrived on 10h May. Due to the changing wartime situation in Norway, the convoy was recalled and sailed for Brest on the afternoon of 16th May. The Explorateur Grandidier, probably damaged in the collision was left behind as the other liners, packed with French troops, would have maintained their speed and destination of Brest. The Explorateur Grandidier was subsequently allocated a separate escort, the British destroyer HMS Vanquisher and was then safely escorted to Brest.
The eleven crew of the Saint Kearan and her master, Captain Hannah were rescued following the collision. It is not clear where they landed but may have been onboard escort vessels Jason or Gleaner who were relieved off the Skerries and returned to patrol duties on the Clyde.
The wreck of the Saint Kearan lies approximately 5.5 WNW of Turnberry Point in position 55°21.167’N 04° 57.767’W. The wreck is substantially intact, lying on its starboard side oriented approximately 130/310 degrees with bow pointing towards the Ayrshire coast. Seabed depths around the wreck are generally 54-55 metres with a least depth over the bridge section of 49 metres. There appears to be little or no tide on the wreck, even on spring tides, with visibility generally 4-5 metres.
The wreck appears to have fallen away towards the stern with portion likely below seabed level suggesting this area damaged as a result of the collision. Nets are also draped across the wreck midships with a smaller section of netting towards the bow on the upper rail.
Lloyd’s Casualty Report – Saint Kearan
We would like to thank Lloyd’s Register Foundation – Heritage & Education Centre for allowing us to reproduce documents from their archive in this article.
