Technical
Official Number: 148217
Yard Number: 384
Completed:1909
Gross Tonnage: 231
Net Tonnage: 74
Length: 120.8 ft
Breadth: 21.5 ft
Depth: 11.6 ft
Engine: T.3-cyl by W. V. V. Lidgerwood, Coatbridge
Built: Mackie & Thompson Govan
History
10.12.1908: Launched by Mackie & Thompson Ltd, Govan (Yd.No.384) for F. Briere, La Rochelle as CORMORAN.
2.1909: Completed. Registered at La Rochelle (??).
1913: Sold to Charles Rémy & Pierre Huret, Boulogne sur Mer. La Rochelle registration closed. Registered at Boulogne (B303).
1919: Sold to F. Rimbert, Dieppe for 400.000 francs. Boulogne registry closed. Registered at Dieppe (D759).
1921: Sold to Soc. Industrielle Nationale de Pêche et d’Armement, Dieppe.
1925: Sold to George Hindle, Wilpshire, Lancs (Taylor & Co (Fleetwood) Ltd, managers).
1925: Re-measured 228g 101n.
5.12.1925: Registered at Fleetwood (FD67).
31.12.1925: Sailed Fleetwood for West of Scotland grounds (Sk. John Buckley); twelve crew.
12.1.1926: Homeward at 6.00 am. stranded in Kilchiaran Bay, Rinns of Islay. Part crew thrown into sea when launching boat, but managed to climb in. Boat was unseaworthy but with great fortitude rigged sail from boat cover and twine for rowlocks. At daylight, with no sign of the boat and crew members, remaining crew lowered on to rocks and made for nearest habitation.
14.1.1926: After three days and two nights in open boat made landing on Tiree.
16.1.1926: Picked up by steamer CYGNET (201grt/1904) at Scarinish and landed at Oban and placed in Cottage Hospital.
28.1.1926: Fleetwood registry closed. “Total Loss”.
(All Fleetwood unless stated. Survivors to shore: M.Stewart, Ireland, Ch Eng; F. Howard, Ireland, 2nd Eng; Archie Shaw, Blackpool, Cook; J. Green, fireman.
Survivors from boat. Horace Palmer, Mate; Arthur Bantoft, Bosun; Joseph Barton Room and Nathan Jeffries, Bolton, deckhands; Hugh Slavin, fireman. Lost. Sk. John Buckley. Deckhand J. G. Diamond, Grimsby was not onboard at the time of stranding but in hospital at Portree)
Around 06:00 on January 12th, the skipper decided to try a few more hauls off Kilchiaran Bay before finally turning south for home. The night was dark and there was a heavy swell running when there was a series of bumps and CORMORAN came to a shuddering halt. The crew realised that they were making water fast and it was decided to abandon the vessel but, before they could do so, a series of violent lurches threw the lifeboat and the men launching it into the sea. The crew still on board jumped from the deck onto the rocks and spent a miserable night beneath a couple of blankets. The following morning they spotted a house and walked to it where they were given hot food and drink. The rest of the crew, who they thought were lost, had managed to clamber aboard the lifeboat and had made it to Tiree, The skipper was the only man lost.
Click to enlarge image
Cormoran ashore at Kilchiaran Bay, Rinns of Islay
Changelog
14/01/2009: Page published. 4 updates since then.