PS Comet: Successors by James Williamson
Note This is a sub-section of PS Comet
See also PS Comet: By James Williamson
Successors to the Comet[1]
WHEN the “Comet” was wrecked, Henry Bell was on his way to Glasgow to make arrangements with subscribers for the building of a new and more powerful boat for the West Highland trade. So rapidly had events marched, that in the space of eight years the pioneer steamer had become antiquated, and was being pushed from the waters by newer and more powerful rivals.
The second steamboat on the Clyde was the “Elizabeth.” She was also built by John Wood, and to judge from an advertisement in the Glasgow Chronicle of 3rd April, 1813, she appears to have met with immediate success. That advertisement intimated that “the proprietors of the ‘Elizabeth passage steamboat are happy to inform the public that for their accommodation there will be another boat ready in the course of a few weeks, when one will start from Glasgow and one from Greenock every morning, and return the same evening.” The “Elizabeth” was transferred to Liverpool in 1814.
The “Clyde” being next in the list, must have been the other boat referred to in the foregoing advertisement. She was re-named the “Gourock” in 1823, the “Lord Byron” in 1825, and the “George IV.” in 1826, and was broken up in 1828.
Judging from the records of the early steamboats, re-christening seems to have been very common. No reason is stated, but possibly the device was necessary to hide identity in those experimental days.
The “Glasgow,” built in the same year, was supplied with machinery by Anderson and Campbell, of Greenock, under the superintendence of Henry Bell. The engines proved a failure, and by involving Bell in much litigation, contributed seriously to his financial embarrassments. New engines were substituted by James Cook, of Tradeston, and they seem to have given satisfaction. This was the first steamer placed on the Largs trade.
In the following year (1814) no fewer than nine steamers were launched. They were the “Morning Star” and “Inveraray Castle,” by John Wood, Port-Glasgow; the “Trusty” and the “Marjory,” by Archibald MacLachlan, Dumbarton; the “Princess Charlotte” and “Prince of Orange,” by James Munn, of Greenock; the “Duke of Argyle,” by Martin, Port-Glasgow; the “Oscar,” by Smart, of Dundee; and the “Industry,” by William Fyfe, of Fairlie.
Most students of Clyde river steamer lore are more or less familiar with the fact that Fairlie’s reputation for shipbuilding originated in the construction of a trading steamer, not of a racing yacht. It is not so well known, however, that had the William Fyfe, who founded the yard - just about a hundred years ago - not been passionately determined to be a yacht builder, and nothing else, the destiny of the now world-renowned yacht-building yard might have been different. Nay, more; but for the enthusiasm of this William Fyfe for boats of pleasure, rather than for the ships of commerce, much of the shipbuilding that is now carried on above Greenock, might have been conducted on the foreshore of Largs and Fairlie.
The “Industry,” which was built at Fairlie in 1814 by William Fyfe, the grandfather of the present famous Fairlie yacht designer and builder, was the seventh river steamer to be constructed on the Clyde, and she earned the distinction of being the oldest steamer in the world before she was broken up. Mr. Fyfe built the “ Industry,” with oak grown in his native parish of Kilbirnie, for a small syndicate of far-seeing speculators belonging to Beith. So well pleased were these gentlemen with the “Industry” that they would gladly have advanced Mr. Fyfe money on easy terms for the purpose of equipping his yard at Fairlie for the construction of trading vessels — more particularly vessels like the “Industry.” They would give him neither help nor countenance, however, if he persisted in building yachts; but yachts and smart fishing smacks, and nothing else, would William Fyfe build, and so, from that day to this, among the 500 and odd boats that have been built at Fairlie there never has been another trading steamer.
The original engines of the “Industry” were made by Dobbie, but in 1828, she was re-engined by Caird and Co., of Greenock, and it is this later machinery which now rests in Kelvingrove Park, Glasgow.
In this connection the description given by Mr. John Hastie at the meeting of the Institute of Engineers and Shipbuilders in Scotland on 21st December, 1880, is of interest. Mr. John Hastie said he was the last engineer that had to do with the “Industry” before she was laid up, and could supply some information regarding her. The original engines were taken out and replaced with the engines now on board by Caird & Co., of Greenock; he could not state the date, but it was at least thirty years ago. The spur gearing for driving the paddle wheels was retained to the last, and was a constant source of trouble on account of the cogs giving way, and spare wheels were always kept in readiness to replace them. She was known in Greenock harbour as the “coffee mill,” from the grinding noise caused by the cogs.
Of the other vessels built in 1814, the “Princess Charlotte” and the “Prince of Orange” were the first steamers engined by Boulton & Watt of Birmingham for Clyde traffic. The former was re-named the “Greenock” in 1815, and in 1826 the machinery was removed, and she was converted into a sailing craft. There is no record as to whether the hull or the engine was at fault, or as to what became of the machinery. The “ Prince of Orange ” was re-named the “Port-Glasgow” in 1819, and broken up in 1828. The “Argyle” sailed a very short time on the river, being sold to foreign owners. She was taken abroad under sail, the funnel being used as a mast. London owners acquired the “Marjory.” She was taken through the Forth and Clyde Canal, and down the east coast, and the story is told how, when she entered the Thames, she created an immense sensation among the crews of the British fleet. She was the first steamer they had seen.[2] All the steamers built in 1814 traded for shorter or longer periods between Glasgow and Greenock, except the “Inveraray Castle” and “Oscar ” - the former running between Glasgow and Loch Fyne, and the latter between Glasgow and Loch Goil, commencing in 1818.
The “Dumbarton Castle,” built in 1815, was the first steamer in the Rothesay trade, and to celebrate her advent Captain Johnston, her master, was presented by the local authorities with a punch bowl. These early admirers, it would appear, considered the command of one of these craft a post calling for nerve and daring—somewhat similar, perhaps, to the control of a sixty miles an hour motor to-day.
An interesting circumstance belongs to the history of this steamer. During his last visit to Greenock, in 1816, James Watt made a voyage to Rothesay on board of her, accompanied by his friend Mr. Walkinshaw. The excursion then occupied the greater part of a day. Naturally, Watt entered into conversation with the engineer of the boat. In the course of their talk the latter told him of an incident which had occurred on the previous evening. The steamer had been aground on the river bank, and, as the tide rose, the pressure of the current on the paddle floats had caused the engines to reverse. Watt instantly grasped the situation, and proceeded to demonstrate with a footrule the importance of what had occurred. Failing, however, to make the engineer understand, he at last, under the impulse of the ruling passion, threw off his overcoat, and putting his hand to the engine, gave a practical illustration of his lecture. Previous to that date the reversing of machinery was either unknown or not generally practised. The custom was to stop the engine a considerable distance the point of mooring, and drift alongside, was a difficult operation, and involved consideration of both wind and tide. Watt’s discovery, therefore, was momentous, and enabled the steamer to take the pier with precision and promptitude. The incident appears to have occurred at Rothesay quay, and was evidently the first intentional reversing of an engine.
During the five years, from 1815 to 1819, there seems to have been quite a “boom” in steamboat building on the river. Including the “Dumbarton Castle,” already alluded to, the construction of twenty-six steamers is recorded. Of these, the most notable was the “Britannia,” built in 1815 by John Hunter, Port-Glasgow, and engined by D. M‘Arthur, Glasgow. Her principal owner was Archibald M‘Taggart, who was also the first distiller in Campbeltown, and great-grandfather of Mr. Dan; M‘Taggart, present Procurator-Fiscal at that place.
After trading for a time to Campbeltown via Rothesay, she was acquired by Messrs. Alex. A. Laird & Co., of the Londonderry fleet, and was the first steamer owned by that old and energetic firm. She was wrecked at Donagha- dee in 1829.
Among the other steamers of the period, the “Caledonia” was sold to go to Hull, the “ Argyle ” (second of the name) to go to Alloa ; the “Waterloo” was re-named “Maid of Islay” in 1825, and the “Neptune” was broken up in 1826.
The construction and equipment of the “Albion” cost £3,450. John Kay was her master, and his crew consisted of a pilot, two seamen, one engineer, one fireman and two stewards. Captain Kay, who superintended her construction, was long and favourably known on the Clyde, and on his retiral was presented by his owners with a valuable testimonial of their “esteem, gratitude, and approbation.”
The “Albion” was a famous boat on the Glasgow and Largs route, but she did not achieve much of her fame through the instrumentality of her speed. So little blessed was she, in fact, with this valuable quality that the boys of Largs and Skelmorlie were often wont, in their youthful glee, to run her races, so to speak, and as they dashed away from her they would toss their caps in the air and shout derisively to her to come on or they would be at the quay before her. Mr. George Riddle, a Largs mason, who died there only a few years ago at an advanced age, was wont to tell how when he was working as an apprentice at a house near the Parish Church of Largs, his master came to him one Saturday morning and told him to run home, wash his face, change his clothes, get his breakfast, and go in the “Albion” to Greenock for money to pay the wages of the workmen. There was no bank in Largs in those days. The lad replied that he could not do all that, as the steamer was already round the Farland Point. “Aye, you can dae that, an’ be in plenty d time," the master insisted, on which young Riddle at once set off to try. True, the toilet of an apprentice mason of those days was not elaborate, nor was it burdensome to count the courses of his breakfast, and Riddle had ample time to catch the steamer.
It is usually supposed that the “Mars” was the only one of the old steamers that came to grief on the shores of Largs, but this same “Albion” was badly damaged on one occasion by drifting on to the top of some rough piles that constituted the face of a rude sort of wharf which occupied the site of the “inner” part of the present harbour. The tops of the piles ripped the bottom out of the steamer, and so serious did her plight become that her regular crew left her.
Her skipper, happily, was a man of courage and resource as well as humour, and pressing a few of his old Largs friends into the service he contrived to patch her up in a way that enabled her to keep afloat till he got her to Greenock, where she was soon made “as good as new.”
The “Rothesay Castle,”[3] of 34-horse power, and a speed of about 12 knots, traded first between Glasgow and Rothesay, and latterly between Glasgow, Ardrishaig, and Inveraray. She was then lengthened, re-engined, and sold to Liverpool owners, and in August, 1831, she was lost with a large number of passengers, on the Dutchman’s Bank, off Beaumaris.
The “Marion,” named after the wife of her owner, David Napier, sailed on the river for one year. She was then taken to Loch Lomond and was the first steamer to ply on that lake. The “Duke of Wellington” was re-named the “Highland Chieftain” in 1821, and the “Lady of the Lake” was transferred to Alloa in 1828. The “Defiance,” built in 1817, was the first steamer on the Loch Goil route. She was re-named the “Highland Lad.” and was broken up in 1827. Captain Graham, formerly of the “Comet,” was one of the original shareholders of the Loch Goil Steamboat Company and continued in that trade for over thirty years. When he died, on nth January, 1849, he was the oldest steamboat master in Europe.
The “Talbot,” built at Port-Glasgow in 1819 by John Wood, and engined by David Napier, was the first steamer fitted with feathering floats; but, of course, her apparatus had not the perfection of the present day paddle-wheel.
The “Marquis of Bute” was re-named the “Bangor Castle” in 1825, and crossed to the Green Isle, where she ran as a passenger steamer between Belfast and Bangor.
Second last of the list belonging to this period was the “Post Boy,” built at Dumbarton, by Denny, in 1820. She ran between Glasgow and Greenock, and had a connection at Dumbarton with the Loch Lomond tourist route, and she was the first steamer advertised to sail at a regular hour, regardless of wind or tide. This last fact was due, not only to the increased power of machinery, but to the “Post Boy’s” shallow draft (three feet) and to the rapid deepening of the river, which the Clyde Trustees had been carrying on. When the “Comet” began to run, in 1812, though she drew only four feet, she found it necessary to leave both Glasgow and Greenock at or near high water, to avoid taking the ground in the river; and lighters depending on sails, oars, and horse haulage, though they drew no more than four feet six inches, had been known to take six weeks for the trip up the river. There is a tradition, indeed, of one of the steamer captains of this period, who was so anxious about the limited depth of the Clyde, that he would not allow an old woman to draw a stoupful of water till he had passed.
During the same period, another event as vital and significant as the deepening of the river had taken place. The Government had at last begun to take notice of the new means of marine propulsion, and to make regulations in its conduct for the safety of the lieges. In the Annals of Lloyd's Register^ it is noted that as other vessels followed quickly in the wake of the “ Comet,” a Committee of the House of Commons sat in 1817 to consider means of preventing accidents arising from explosions on board steamboats. As the result of the Committee’s investigations, regulations were issued which required steamboats to be registered. Further, in the case of passenger vessels the boilers, which it was thought necessary to prescribe should be of wrought iron or copper, were to be fitted with two safety valves, and to be tested to three times the working pressure, which was not to exceed one-sixth of the pressure the boiler was calculated to withstand.
In 1820, encouraged by the increased facilities for travelling, Messrs, James Lumsden and Son published one of the pioneers of our modern descriptive guidebooks. It is entitled The Steamboat Companion and Strangers Guide to the Western Islands and Highlands of Scotland. Its description of the scenery of Loch Lomond, the River and Firth of Clyde, the West Highlands and Hebrides, with the antiquities, traditions, and natural history of each locality, displays an accuracy quite equal to that of similar books of the present day. In a footnote to the description of Loch Lomond it informs the reader of the means of conveyance:— “The ‘Post Boy’ steamboat leaves Glasgow every morning, at 6.0 o’clock, with passengers for the ‘Marion,’ plying on Loch Lomond, and lands them at Dumbarton, five miles from Balloch, from whence the ‘Marion’ starts every day, at 10 o’clock. The “Post Boy” again takes them up on their return to Dumbarton, at 6 o’clock in the evening; so that by this conveyance a stranger can leave Glasgow in the morning, visit the beautiful scenery of Loch Lomond, and be again at Glasgow, in 14 hours. A coach runs from Dumbarton to Balloch, for the convenience of passengers by the ‘Post Boy,’ and again brings them back to meet the boat in the afternoon.” The book also contains a list of twenty-three steamboats plying on the river and Firth of Clyde, with their date of building, tonnage, horse-power, and draft. A list of the fares charged is given on p. 36.
As Lumsden’s little Companion is now somewhat scarce, and important changes have taken place upon the river banks since 1820, it may not be amiss to quote the description of the sail from Glasgow to Greenock at that period: [pages not copied]
See Also
Sources of Information
- ↑ By James Williamson. Published 1904. Chapter 2 (part).
- ↑ The over-all beam of the “Marjory” was 4 feet 4 inches more than the width of the canal locks, and the fact necessitated the removal of one or both wings.
- ↑ Captain John McKinnon, a well-known figure in his time, was master — his son, Sandy, being Captain Young’s successor in the first “Lord of the Isles.”