David Allan (c1839-1911)

David Allan (c1839-1911) of D. Allan and Co

1911 Died at Rosa Street, South Shields.

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1911 Obituary.

DAVID ALLAN, BUILDER OF THE FIRST STEAM TRAWLER. Dies in South Shields. This death took place at South Shields of Mr David Allan, who was 72 years of age. The deceased, who came from Leith, was credited with being the designer, builder, and sailor of the first successful steam fishing vessel ever put into the water. Combining the practical knowledge and experience of a fisherman with the skill of a naval architect and shipbuilder, the deceased conceived the idea of constructing a vessel similar in many respects to those universally used for herring fishing in these days. It was not a new experiment on the part of Mr Allan.

Mr Allan fitted an ordinary sailing craft with an auxiliary engine, and this vessel he named Pioneer. This vessel was the origin of the steam drifter and trawler of the present day. A steamship was specially designed Mr Allan for fishing purposes, and where others had failed he succeeded. Subsequently he launched a vessel which he named Onward, and it is claimed that this was the first successful screw steam drifter, and the only one afloat that time. It was from that type of vessel that the present flourishing industry has grown and developed. The Onward, which was built at Leith, was launched in 1877, and Mr Allan took her, fitted a drifter and liner, to Newhaven, and there offered her to the fishermen ready for sea, with 14 miles of line on board, on condition that he had charge of the vessel and was given an opportunity of teaching them how to work the ship. The men, however, ridiculed the idea, and would have nothing to do with either him or his boat. Eventually he succeeded in raising a crew, but even when the vessel was working all night the Newhaven fishermen were by no means pleased with the innovation, and went so far as to boycott the local salesmen who disposed of the drifter's catches, with the result that the fish had eventually to be sent to Edinburgh for disposal.

The Onward was a success from the first, though for a considerable period those concerned in the fishing industry at our home ports would not have anything to do with Mr Allan's vessel. It was not until 1881 that the deceased received the first order from British firm. In that year he built the Sea King, and afterwards the Ocean Rover, for Granton owners, and in the following year he supplied the first steam trawler to Aberdeen, the Kingfisher, from which sprang the enormous fishing trade now carried at that port. The Gannet was built for Aberdeen in 1883, and this vessel was worked with remarkable results for ten years. The steam trawler had at this time become famous all over the world, and Mr Allan's firm subsequently supplied the first vessel this type to France, Belgium, and the West Indies. Prior to 1882 there was not a single ship of this kind afloat that had not been built Mr Allan, and about this time was awarded the gold medal and special prize at the National Fisheries Exhibition Edinburgh. It was Mr Macader, of Macader and Sons, general merchants, of San Sebastian, who proved to the world the capabilities of the screw steam fishing vessel introduced by Mr Allan.

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