Rathlin Island Wreck List
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Vessel Type:

Troop Transport Ship

Location:Co. Antrim
Date of Loss:21st January 1942Place:Rathlin Island
Cause of Loss:FounderedBoat Dive from:Ballycastle
Charted Depth:34mIrish O.S. Map:Discovery Series No. 5
Height of Wreck:7m Admiralty Chart No:2798
Hull Material:SteelLatitude (GPS):55° 15' 58.26" North
Type of Seabed:Stones and shaleLongitude (GPS):06° 10' 24.36" West
Average Visibility:10 - 15mConvert Lat. & Long. to -Decimal - CLICK HERE
Image available?Yes - see belowDiving Experience:Experienced
 
Diving Information:  
  • Lies approx. 0.5 mile off Doon Bay on the East side of the island and is sitting upright but is starting to collapse.
  • China with McBraynes monogram have been found in and around the wreck.
  • Hold filled with chain by Navy as she was carrying rifles.
  • The wreck is usually buoyed.
  • Plenty of fish around.
  • Best dived at slack water. Tide times are the same as Belfast.
  • There is a fee to pay for using the slip at Ballycastle Harbour.
  • Warning!! There is "live"ammunition lying around.
 
Historical Information:
  • Built 1898 by A & J. Inglis, Glasgow, as the "Vulture" for Burns & Laird's Ardrossan to Belfast run.
  • Propelled by triple expansion machinery, 3 single ended oil fired boilers, installed by D & W Henderson in 1924. Length - 265.0ft x 33.5ft x draft 15.5ft; 1,670 gross tons; 367 net HP.
  • In 1929 she was re-named as "Lairdstock". In 1937 she was finally re-named "Lochgarry" after purchase by David McBrayne Ltd.
  • She was converted to a Government Transport ship and had previously been involved in Dunkirk evacuation.
  • While on a trip from Glasgow to Oban to collect a group of soldiers bound for the Faroes she struck rocks off the Mull of Kintyre.
  • Drifting and crippled, she finally went down off the East coast of Rathlin Island.
  • Twenty-three men drowned when their life-boat was dashed against the rocks north of Doon Bay.
  • Thirty-two survived.
  • Screw removed by Karl Bialowas.
 
S.S. Lochgarry

via Joe Breen, IRTU

All external copyrights respectfull acknowledged


 

S.S. Lochgarry

  via Michael Montgomery, Castlereagh SAC

All external copyrights respectfull acknowledged

 
Source Publications:
by
Roy Stokes & Liam Dowling
"Shipwreck Index of Ireland"
by
Richard & Bridget Larn
Lloyd's Register - Fairplay Ltd 2002 - ISBN: 1900839970
"Shipwrecks of the Irish Coast 932 - 1997"
by
Dr. Edward J. Bourke
Edward J. Bourke 1998 - ISBN: 0952302713
"Shipwrecks of the Ulster Coast"
by
Ian Wilson
Impact Printing 1997 - ISBN: 0948154993
"The Fighting Ships in the Royal Navy"
by
E.H.H. Archibald
Blandford Press Ltd. 1984 - ISBN: 0713713488
"The Harsh Winds of Rathlin"
by
Tommy Cecil
Impact Printing 1990 - ISBN: 0948154659
"West Highland Steamers"
by
Duckworth & Langmuir
Richard Tilling 1950
 
Other Sources:
Randal Armstrong
-
Castlereagh SAC (1985)
Alan Wright
-
Castlereagh SAC (1985)
Vic Foster
-
Castlereagh SAC (1996)
Joe Breen
-
IRTU (2002)


Rathlin Island Wreck List

Last update - 10-Oct-2005

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