Tag Posted 9 March , 2005 Share Posted 9 March , 2005 Can any one tell me the fate of the River Clyde?......Tag Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frev Posted 9 March , 2005 Share Posted 9 March , 2005 Tag, From the Epilogue of Alan Moorehead's "Gallipoli": "The River Clyde was gone. Although she had been shelled a thousand times they towed her off the beach at Sedd-el-Bahr and at Malta engineers soon patched up her broken plates. In 1920 she was sold to a Spanish owner, and in the nineteen-fifties she was still sailing the Mediterranean under the name of Muruja Y Aurora." Cheers, Frev. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
michaeldr Posted 9 March , 2005 Share Posted 9 March , 2005 To continue on after Frev from Col Michael Hickey’s “Gallipoli” “In 1936, the Cunarder Lancastria was returning to England following a Dardanelles pilgrimage. On board were board many of the heroes of the campaign, among them Lord Birdwood, Admiral of the Fleet Roger Keyes, and Captain Unwin VC. As the ship approached Gibraltar, the captain informed the passengers that he had sighted the old River Clyde, on a reciprocal course. The two captains steered their ships so that they slowly passed close to each other. The Maruja y Aurora’s ensign dipped in salute and the Lancastria returned the compliment, her decks lined with hundreds of silent and deeply moved veterans. Then the Spaniard vanished into the afternoon haze. She was sold for scrap in 1966, when she could have been purchased for a few thousand pounds by the British government as an enduring memorial to a great enterprise.” Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frev Posted 9 March , 2005 Share Posted 9 March , 2005 The two captains steered their ships so that they slowly passed close to each other. The Maruja y Aurora’s ensign dipped in salute and the Lancastria returned the compliment, her decks lined with hundreds of silent and deeply moved veterans. Then the Spaniard vanished into the afternoon haze. What a truly amazing moment that must have been - it brought a lump to my throat just reading it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
michaeldr Posted 9 March , 2005 Share Posted 9 March , 2005 The picture below shows the old lady in her finest hour. It is the property of Ushaw College, County Durham and the commemorative plate attached to the frame of the picture tells the full story The collier transport ‘River Clyde’ Landing troops at ‘V’ Beach, Sedd-el-Bahr In the Dardanelles, 25th April 1915 By Frank H. Mason RBA The troops included the Royal Dublin Fusiliers and the Munster Fusiliers. Here the Rev. Father William J. Finn, Chaplain to the Forces Was killed in the exercise of his sacred duties They achieved The Impossible Presented to Ushaw College by his sister Mary Holland. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jonathan Saunders Posted 9 March , 2005 Share Posted 9 March , 2005 She was sold for scrap in 1966, when she could have been purchased for a few thousand pounds by the British government as an enduring memorial to a great enterprise.” Just to clarify what Michael already knows - she was offered to the British Government for a few thousand pounds ... so it wasnt as if the Spaniards did not try and do the right thing or that she was scrapped ignominously by them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tag Posted 9 March , 2005 Author Share Posted 9 March , 2005 Thank you gentlemen for the reply.... it is almost beyond belief that with all the money these governments seem to waste on frivolous endeavers., that they would let her slip away to end up in a scrap pile... Tag Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
T8HANTS Posted 10 March , 2005 Share Posted 10 March , 2005 Hi I think the sum requested was £6500, but that said the bill would have increased year on year as old ships need a lot of maintenance. The brass letters of the name RIVER CLYDE are in the Royal Hampshire regiment museum at Serle House Winchester Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PhilB Posted 10 March , 2005 Share Posted 10 March , 2005 Hi I think the sum requested was £6500, but that said the bill would have increased year on year as old ships need a lot of maintenance. More than the Royal Yacht Britannia, say? How great the River Clyde would have looked alongside Victory! Phil B Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oak Posted 18 April , 2005 Share Posted 18 April , 2005 Can any one tell me the fate of the River Clyde?......Tag <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Rather than start a new thread -- May I use this one to ask a related question? Does any one know the history of the River Clyde pre-1915 please? All I have been able to find out to date is that she was built in Glasgow in 1905. I'd be grateful if anyone could tell me the name of the dockyard/the name of her owners/her early service history etc. Regards, Philip Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
michaeldr Posted 18 April , 2005 Share Posted 18 April , 2005 Originally built as a collier, she had found her war to Gallipoli as the transport for mules from North Africa See http://www.spoulton.fsnet.co.uk/Photos/clyde2.html for the ‘River Clyde’ aground at V Beach and see http://www.spoulton.fsnet.co.uk/Photos/clyde.htm for how she looked when afloat [though this is probably her post-WWI incarnation] As used at V Beach she held 2,000 men and as per the British O. H; “Further advantages to be gained from the employment of the River Clyde were that her tanks would supply an abundance of fresh water on the beach, which could be added to by her condensing plant; an unlimited supply of S.A.A. could be taken ashore in her; after the landing her holds would be available as temporary dressing-stations for the wounded; and subsequently she would be most useful as a breakwater or pier for light-draught vessels to run alongside when disembarking stores.” The O.H.’s author might have also added that the River Clyde provided perhaps the only close fire cover for the infantry landing at V Beach, in the shape of the machine guns of the RNAS Armoured Car Squadron which were mounted in sandbagged casemates constructed on the foredeck and under the command of Lt. Cdr. Josiah Wedgwood MP. Regards Michael D.R. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oak Posted 19 April , 2005 Share Posted 19 April , 2005 Many thanks Michael, Any idea what "an unlimited supply of S.A.A." means, please? Regards, Philip Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
michaeldr Posted 19 April , 2005 Share Posted 19 April , 2005 SAA usually refers to Small Arms Ammunition In this case mostly rounds for the infantry’s rifles I suspect Regards Michael D.R. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ianw Posted 19 April , 2005 Share Posted 19 April , 2005 Extraordinary that such an historic vessel was not saved from the scrap-yard so soon after the 50th anniversary of Gallipoli. Nowadays HMG would use lottery money to buy it and then bask in the reflected glory of saving a bit of heritage. Obviously the Wilson Government didn't have the same sensibilities. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oak Posted 22 April , 2005 Share Posted 22 April , 2005 Thanks again Michael, Those websites you mentioned are very interesting. I strongly agree with those who said that it was extraordinary that the 'River Clyde" wasn't bought and turned into a memorial to those who lost their lives in Gallipoli Regards, Philip Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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