MV Lochiel (1939)
| History | |
|---|---|
 United Kingdom
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| Name: |
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| Namesake: | Loch Eil, sea loch to the west of Fort William |
| Operator: | David MacBrayne Ltd |
| Port of registry: | Glasgow, United Kingdom |
| Route: | Islay mailboat |
| Builder: | William Denny and Brothers of Dumbarton |
| Cost: | £62,805 |
| Yard number: | 1341 |
| Launched: | 4 April 1939 |
| Identification: |
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| Fate: | sold 1970; scrapped 1995 |
| General characteristics | |
| Tonnage: | 577 GT |
| Length: | 55.95 m (183 ft 7 in) |
| Beam: | 9.78 m (32 ft 1 in) |
| Draught: | 2.31 m (7 ft 7 in) |
| Installed power: | 2 x 8-cylinder, 4-stroke, 880 bhp Paxman-Ricardo diesel engines |
| Propulsion: | twin 3-blade propellers |
| Speed: | 12 knots (14 max) |
| Capacity: | 599 passengers |
MV Lochiel was the Islay mailboat operated by David MacBrayne Ltd from 1939 until 1970. Sinking in West Loch Tarbert in 1960, she was refloated and repaired. She became MacBrayne's last surviving mailboat, seeing out her life as a floating bar in Bristol.
Lochiel was the first of two mailboats ordered in 1938; the second, Loch Seaforth was delayed until 1947. Built in 1939, she was the fourth MacBrayne's vessel named Lochiel. The earlier Lochiels had been single-screw steamers, two serving Islay.
On 8 October 1960,Lochiel hit submerged rocks in West Loch Tarbert, Argyll and sank. She was raised by the salvage-tug Plantagenet, and was out of service until the following March. Liability for a car lost on this crossing was challenged in the courts, and decided in favour of the car owner by the House of Lords.
When replaced as the Islay mailboat in 1970, she was sold to Norwest Shipping Ltd, Douglas, Isle of Man. Re-fitted on the Mersey, she emerging as Norwest Laird and had a short career operating between Fleetwood and Douglas. The service was not a success and her operator went bankrupt in August 1970. Late in 1974, she was acquired by Courage (Western) Ltd and was towed to Hayle in Cornwall, to be renovated for use as a floating bar and restaurant in Bristol. Her engines were removed in 1975, but it was 1978 before she reached Bristol. As "Old Lochiel", she became a popular haunt and survived until 1994. In November 1995, she was sold for scrap and broken up at Bristol that December.
Lochiel had a single funnel, a steel mast and a derrick over the forward cargo-hold. An innovation for MacBrayne's was a cold store on the lower deck. A clear area of plated main-deck forward allowed carriage of cars or cattle. Her deck was strengthened to take a 4-inch gun. Her accommodation originally had two-classes, with the usual lounges, dining saloons and smoke-rooms. Officers cabins were on the lower deck, with the crew quarters in the forecastle at main-deck level. To cope with the shallow West Loch Tarbert, she was flat bottomed, resulting in much pitching and rolling in even slight seas.
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