MV ''Plassy'', or ''Plassey'', was a cargo ship in the Irish Merchant Service, operating during the 1950s. It was built as HMS ''Juliet'', a

naval trawler Naval trawlers are vessels built along the lines of a fishing trawler but fitted out for naval purposes; they were widely used during the World War I, First and World War II, Second World Wars. Some, known in the Royal Navy as "Admiralty trawlers ...

of the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the naval warfare force of the United Kingdom. It is a component of His Majesty's Naval Service, and its officers hold their commissions from the King of the United Kingdom, King. Although warships were used by Kingdom ...

at the start of the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, and sold into merchant service at the end of the conflict. As ''Plassy'' it was wrecked in a storm off

Inisheer Inisheer ( , or ) is the smallest and most easterly of the three Aran Islands in Galway Bay, Ireland. With 343 residents as of the 2022 census, it is second-most populous of the Arans. Caomhán of Inis Oírr is the island's patron saint. ...

, and is best known as the wreck seen on the foreshore of 'Craggy Island' in the TV comedy, ''

Father Ted ''Father Ted'' is a sitcom created by Irish writers Graham Linehan and Arthur Mathews (writer), Arthur Mathews and produced by British production company Hat Trick Productions for British television channel Channel 4. It aired over three seri ...

''.

As ''Juliet''

''Juliet'' was built by Cook, Welton & Gemmell at

Beverley Beverley is a market town and civil parish in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. It is located north-west of Hull city centre. At the 2021 census the built-up area of the town had a population of 30,930, and the smaller civil parish had ...

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 ...

, at the beginning of World War II. It was ordered on 12 December 1939 and laid down the following May. It was launched on 2 October 1940 and entered service with the Royal Navy on 20 March 1941 as a minesweeper. ''Juliet'' served in home waters until November 1942 when it took part in

Operation Torch Operation Torch (8–16 November 1942) was an Allies of World War II, Allied invasion of French North Africa during the Second World War. Torch was a compromise operation that met the British objective of securing victory in North Africa whil ...

, the Allied landings in French North Africa. Thereafter it worked in the Mediterranean. At the end of the conflict ''Juliet'' was no longer required by the Royal Navy and in 1947 it was converted into a cargo vessel and sold into the British Merchant service as ''Peterjon''.

As ''Plassy''

In 1951 it was acquired by the Limerick Steamship Company and renamed ''Plassy'' after the

Plassey Palashi or Plassey, , ) is a town on the east bank of Bhagirathi River, located approximately 50 kilometres north of the city of Krishnanagar in Kaliganj CD Block in the Nadia District of West Bengal, India. It is particularly well kn ...

area near Limerick, which was in turn named after

Robert Clive Robert Clive, 1st Baron Clive, (29 September 1725 – 22 November 1774), also known as Clive of India, was the first British List of governors of Bengal Presidency, Governor of the Bengal Presidency. Clive has been widely credited for l ...

(Baron Plassey), who took his title from the 1757

Battle of Plassey The Battle of Plassey was a decisive victory of the British East India Company, under the leadership of Robert Clive, over the Nawab of Bengal and his French Indies Company, French allies on 23 June 1757. The victory was made possible by the de ...

, in India. As ''Plassy'' (sometimes spelled ''Plassey'')''

The Irish Times ''The Irish Times'' is an Irish daily broadsheet newspaper and online digital publication. It was launched on 29 March 1859. The editor is Ruadhán Mac Cormaic. It is published every day except Sundays. ''The Irish Times'' is Ireland's leading n ...

'' (Monday, June 23, 1958), page 8. it operated around the coast of Ireland carrying general cargo until her loss in 1960.

Fate

On 8 March 1960, while sailing through

Galway Bay Galway Bay ( Irish: ''Loch Lurgain'' or ''Cuan na Gaillimhe'') is a bay on the west coast of Ireland, between County Galway in the province of Connacht to the north and the Burren in County Clare in the province of Munster to the south; Galway ...

carrying a cargo of

whiskey Whisky or whiskey is a type of liquor made from Fermentation in food processing, fermented grain mashing, mash. Various grains (which may be Malting, malted) are used for different varieties, including barley, Maize, corn, rye, and wheat. Whisky ...

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and

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, it was caught in a severe storm and ran onto Finnis Rock,

Aran Islands The Aran Islands ( ; , ) or The Arans ( ) are a group of three islands at the mouth of Galway Bay, off the west coast of Republic of Ireland, Ireland, with a total area around . They constitute the historic barony (Ireland), barony of Aran in ...

. A group of local Islanders, the Inisheer Rocket Crew, rescued the entire crew from the stricken vessel using a

breeches buoy A breeches buoy is a rope-based rescue device used to extract people from wrecked vessels, or to transfer people from one place to another in situations of danger. The device resembles a round emergency personal flotation device with a leg harne ...

; an event captured in a pictorial display at the

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. Several weeks later, a second storm washed the ship off the rock and drove it ashore on the island.

The wreck today

The wreck still lies on the shoreline and is a tourist attraction. It is visible in the opening credits of the television series ''

''. In early January 2014, Storm Christine shifted the wreck's position on the coast for the first time since 1991.Geraldine Gittens (6 January 2014
''Disappointment for father Ted fans as storm ravages the familiar wreck''

Irish Independent The ''Irish Independent'' is an Irish daily newspaper A newspaper is a Periodical literature, periodical publication containing written News, information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray backgrou ...

Gallery

Image:Shipwreck of MV Plassy on Inisheer 01.jpg, The wreck, July 1991 Image:Shipwreck of MV Plassy on Inisheer 04.jpg, The stern of the wreck, July 1991 Image:Wreck of the 'Plassy'. Inisheer - geograph.org.uk - 289299.jpg, The wreck, 2005 Image:Mv Plassy Shipwreck, June 2010.jpg, The wreck, June 2010 Image:Plassy shipwreck 2016.jpg, The wreck, June 2016 Image:MV Plassy, Inisheer.jpg, The wreck, October 2016

References

External links

HMS ''Juliet'' (T136) at uboat.net
* * Michael Kirwan (winter 2010
"The Last Voyage of the M.V. Plassy"
*Robert Straughton (12 April 2016
"The Plassey Story"
{{DEFAULTSORT:Plassy 1940 ships Aran Islands Maritime incidents in 1960 Merchant ships of the United Kingdom

Juliet Juliet Capulet () is the female protagonist in William Shakespeare's romantic tragedy ''Romeo and Juliet''. A 13-year-old girl, Juliet is the only daughter of the patriarch of the House of Capulet. She falls in love with the male protagonist Ro ...

Ships built in England Ships sunk with no fatalities Shipwrecks in the Atlantic Ocean Shipwrecks of Ireland