''Glen Strathallan'' was a British ship originally built as a trawler, but then converted into a private yacht, which also served in the Royal Navy in World War II. She was finally scuttled in 1970 at
Plymouth Sound
Plymouth Sound, or locally just The Sound, is a deep inlet or sound in the English Channel near Plymouth in England.
Description
Its southwest and southeast corners are Penlee Point in Cornwall and Wembury Point in Devon, a distance of abo ...
, England as a
diver training site.
Ship history
The ship was built in 1928 by
Cochrane & Sons of
Selby
Selby is a market town and civil parish in North Yorkshire, England, south of York on the River Ouse. At the 2021 Census, it had a population of 17,193.
The town was historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire; from 1974 until 2023, ...
,
Yorkshire
Yorkshire ( ) is an area of Northern England which was History of Yorkshire, historically a county. Despite no longer being used for administration, Yorkshire retains a strong regional identity. The county was named after its county town, the ...
, as a steam
fishing trawler
A fishing trawler is a commercial fishing vessel designed to operate fishing trawls. Trawling is a method of fishing that involves actively dragging or pulling a trawl through the water behind one or more trawlers. Trawls are fishing nets tha ...
and registered at Glasgow as F/V ''Glen Strathallan'' (GW.15). Unfortunately, the company that ordered her went bankrupt before she was completed, so she was bought by Robert Alfred Colby Cubbin,
who spent £30,000 converting her into a yacht under the same name, registered at
Douglas, Isle of Man
Douglas (, ) is the Capital (political), capital city and largest settlement of the Isle of Man, with a population of 26,677 (2021) and an area of . It is located at the mouth of the River Douglas, Isle of Man, River Douglas, and on a sweepi ...
.
On the outbreak of World War II in September 1939, ''Glen Strathallan'' was requisitioned by the Royal Navy. As the Armed Yacht HMS ''Glen Strathallan'' (FY–010) she served as an anti-submarine vessel until late 1945.
Returned to Colby Cubbin, she was used for cruises between the Isle of Man and Scotland until his death in 1955. Under the terms of his will she then served as the training ship T/S ''Glen Strathallan''
at King Edward VII Nautical College,
training future officers of the
Merchant Navy until 1970.
The elderly ship had her main engine removed (it was acquired by the Science museum and was on display at the
Science Museum
A science museum is a museum devoted primarily to science. Older science museums tended to concentrate on static displays of objects related to natural history, paleontology, geology, Industry (manufacturing), industry and Outline of industrial ...
in London from 1978 until 2004. It now resides in the museum's storage facility) and she was scuttled about 200 yards from the Shagstone on 27 April 1970. Intended to be used as a diver training site, she was sunk in shallow water, but soon found to be obstructing the entrance to the port and was dispersed using explosives.
The remains currently sit in of water south of the
Plymouth
Plymouth ( ) is a port city status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Devon, South West England. It is located on Devon's south coast between the rivers River Plym, Plym and River Tamar, Tamar, about southwest of Exeter and ...
breakwater at . The wreck is considerably broken up, but the boilers remain and are currently home to a number of
conger eel
''Conger'' ( ) is a genus of marine congrid eels. It includes some of the largest types of eels, ranging up to or more in length, in the case of the European conger. Large congers have often been observed by divers during the day in parts of ...
s.
See also
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References
External links
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Glen Strathallan
1928 ships
Shipwrecks in the English Channel
Wreck diving sites in England
Ships sunk as dive sites
Ships built in Selby
Maritime incidents in 1970
1970 in England
1928 in England
Auxiliary ships of the Royal Navy