Sad events
Boat party 1873
:: 'Leslie' :: TS King George
V :: Christina Dawn ::
Tug Garnock
We ought also to record some sad events:
- In June 1873 a party of nine
men, mainly Irvine bricklayers, went off in a boat on a pleasure excursion
to Troon on a Saturday afternoon, leaving at about 4.30 pm, and staying
there till about 9pm. The boat was in the charge of Roderick McCafferty,
an experienced boat man, but unfortunately some drink had been enjoyed
at Troon. When, near Lappock Rocks, one of the party suggested he
give the helm to his nephew, he refused, and there was some confusion,
during which he turned the helm the wrong way - the sail was caught
by the wind, and all nine were thrown into the sea. The helmsman and
his nephew struck out for shore (two miles away) and the others clung
to the boat which, with sail in the water, could not be righted. One
after another succumbed, as did the would-be swimmers, leaving two
who survived till the boat neared the shore, by which time rescuers
saw what was happening and carried them ashore. The accident had not
been noticed, otherwise help would have quickly reached them. The
seven dead are recorded on a white obelisk near the
back gate of Irvine Old Parish Churchyard. Details of the whole episode,
including details of the nine men, were recounted in the 'Irvine Times'
of April 9th, 2014, by historian Billy Kerr, whose account we acknowledge
as the source of the details included here. On the following Wednesday,
the harbour workmen (nearly 500 in number) and a similar number of
local residents made up one of the largest known processions to the
churchyard. Of the nine, eight had drunk no more than two tumblers
of ale and a glass of whisky - this being recorded at the time to
dispel the rumours of a drunken party.
- In 1888, the 58-ton Glasgow schooner
'Leslie', carrying coal from Irvine destined for
Killibegs, ran onto the Tor Beg Rocks, near Inishtrahull, Co. Donegal.
In
Sept 1927 the pioneering passenger turbine steamer 'King George
V' (built at Denny, 1926, and in use till 1981) was making
its way to Irvine harbour, at the end of its summer season. Unfortunately,
its water-tube boilers were thought to be safe to work at a pressure
of 550 lb and at a toe-curling steam temperature of 750 degrees F,
but this was not so, and the resulting accident scalded two engineers
to death. A similar accident happened again in 1929, but luckily no
lives were lost the second time.
- The coaster SS 'Christina
Dawn' of Gloucester ran aground on the north shore of Irvine
bar in April 1949, with a crew of nine, carrying a cargo of carbide
from Port Talbot to the Nobel munitions factory at Ardeer. The pilot
house at Irvine contacted Troon lifeboat, who took off all the men.
The ingress of salt water led to gas and, after all the crew were
off, the drums of carbide exploded with tremendous force. See http://www.ladyisle.com/tp%2053.htm
for more detail.
The
tug 'Garnock' was busy depositing nitro-glycerine
in the estuary off Irvine in 1984 (Feb.) when switching on the engine
too soon (at the end of the working day) led to extensive damage to
her aft end and to the Troon lifeboat having to tow her in - more
details in the Dredgers and Tugs
article.