THE STORY OF
THE LOCHINVAR
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Caledonian Maritime Assets Ltd
THE STORY OF THE LOCHINVAR
A
s the twentieth century dawned, David MacBrayne,
who was in his late eighties, realised that he had
to relinquish some of the day-to-day management of
his shipping firm. In 1902 he admitted his two sons,
David Hope and Laurence, to full partnership and on
1st January 1906 a private limited company was formed
and David himself retired. Unlike their father, the sons
were well-versed in modern technology and it was not
long before the internal combustion engine made its
appearance, first with an omnibus and then with two
small motor vessels fuelled by paraffin. The third motor
vessel was rather larger and, although not aesthetically
pleasing, it became a favourite in the fleet for around
fifty years. This was LOCHINVAR.
The LOCHINVAR was launched from the yard of Scott
& Sons in Bowling on 16th April 1908 and her prototype
engines came from L. Gardner & Sons of Manchester.
Three six-cylinder, single-acting paraffin engines generating
288 BHP drove her at around 8 knots through three
independent shafts. Her gross tonnage was originally 178.
At first she had a single tall, thin funnel quite far aft, with a
cargo winch and crane amidships, however it was not long
before a separate exhaust pipe was provided for each of
the three engines. She had a
well-designed hull and good,
The first Lochinvar
though restricted, passenger
accommodation. Her dining
saloon was decorated with
eight prints representing the
adventures of the ‘Young
Lochinvar’.
The story of the LOCHINVAR
The LOCHINVAR
replaced the old paddle
steamer CARABINIER
on the mail run from
Tobermory to Oban and
soon endeared herself
to the islanders of Mull.
She left the island capital
around 7am each morning
(except Sundays, of
course) and made several
calls before reaching Oban
around 10.15am. She
would carry passengers,
mail, cargo and livestock
and also connected with
the Oban trains. She left
for the return journey after
two and a half hours, giving
Mull mailboat Lochinvar
at Tobermory
the Mull folk ample time
to go about their business,
like shopping or visiting
the doctor or dentist.
The only problem was
that she had no reserves
of speed and so if severe
weather or, for example,
a difficult embarkation
of livestock at one of the
ferry ports occurred, time
ashore could be drastically
reduced.
The advent of the First
World War in 1914
changed everything.
Although few of the
MacBrayne fleet were
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requisitioned to sail under
the white ensign, the
service to and from the
islands was curtailed.
Mull was now served only
by the SS DIRK, which,
like the LOCHINVAR,
was normally based at
Tobermory and sailed to
Coll, Tiree, Bunessan (on
Mull’s west coast) and
Oban. LOCHINVAR’S first
recorded wartime sailing
was in late August 1916
when she relieved on the
run to Lochgoilhead, on
the Clyde, from late-March
to mid-May the following
year.
Following four weeks off
duty in Greenock, the
LOCHINVAR was called
upon to replace the SS
DIRK back on her ‘own’
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Caledonian Maritime Assets Ltd
run as the screw steamer
had been requisitioned and
was eventually blown up
in 1918. This allowed the
LOCHINVAR to return
to her old haunts on 29th
June 1917.
After the Great War,
rampant inflation and
industrial unrest were
the order of the day:
traffic had plummeted
and MacBrayne’s found it
more and more difficult
to stay solvent. In 1927
the Company suffered the
disastrous loss of three of
its most prominent ships
resulting in David Hope
MacBrayne withdrawing
the tender for the mail
contract and effectively
declaring himself bankrupt.
Coast Lines Ltd and the
LMS Railway jointly took
The Lochinvar towards
the end of her career
over and the company,
which was renamed David
MacBrayne (1928) Ltd.
This did not seem to
affect the LOCHINVAR,
which continued to serve
Mull throughout the year
and in fact incurred a
considerable amount of
expenditure. In 1926 when
she was re-engined, while
in 1933 her three exhaust
pipes were replaced by a
single conventional funnel,
forward of the cargo space.
In 1938 the LOCHINVAR
took over from the paddle
steamer, the PIONEER on
the Islay mailboat route.
She sailed between West
Loch Tarbert and the two
Islay terminals at Port
Askaig and Port Ellen.
However, her relatively
slow speed meant that
she could not keep to the
timetable of the regular
steamer and she did not
endear herself to the
islanders.
Unlike the First World
War, the LOCHINVAR
remained largely on the
Sound of Mull roster
throughout the Second
World War from 1939-45.
She continued to relieve
at Islay (except in 1940)
The story of the LOCHINVAR
and from 1942 she also
returned for a spell to
Lochgoilhead. The traffic
on this latter route had
increased considerably
because of the presence
of a Royal Naval
establishment at Douglas
Pier in Loch Goil. The
timetable involved a run
from Gourock via Carrick
Castle and Douglas Pier
to Lochgoilhead, with an
additional call at Kilcreggan
on the return leg.
The LOCHINVAR
operated under the
Ministry for War Transport
and was painted battleship
grey, although for a while
she sported a black hull
with horizon-yellow
superstructure. An
interesting variation to her
routine had occurred on
15th May 1941 when, after
repairs in Greenock, she
sailed to Glasgow to have
her cargo and livestock
facilities improved. She then
made for Portree in Skye
and undertook two sheep
runs to Kyle of Lochalsh.
In the immediate post-war
period the LOCHINVAR
was unpopular for two
different reasons. Her use
on the run to Lochgoilhead
was alleged by the locals to
be a deliberate ploy by the
management to increase
the cost of providing the
service, as she was much
more expensive to run
than the regular ferry
COMET. MacBrayne’s
were trying to replace the
age-old sea road up Loch
Goil by much cheaper road
transport. They succeeded,
incidentally, in May 1946.
In Mull, the trouble was
that the LOCHINVAR’S
wartime relief had largely
been the much-superior
LOCHNEVIS and the
islanders began to realise
the inadequacies of the
older ship, especially
as regards speed and
accommodation. She
soldiered on until midJune 1949 when she was
withdrawn for re-engining
in the summer, her place
on the Mull run being
taken by one or other
of MacBrayne’s 1930s
motor vessels, mainly the
LOCHEARN.
Her three Gardner
4-cylinder engines were
replaced by two sets of
6-cylinder Davey Paxman
motors developing 330
BHP: she became twin
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Caledonian Maritime Assets Ltd
screw. She was also given
a very extensive refit: she
was re-decked and her
hull was re-plated. A large
wheelhouse appeared on
top of the deck saloon.
The whole operation
cost £16,988. After trials
she sailed for Tobermory
and took up the Sound
of Mull roster once again.
Her speed, comfort and
reliability were much
improved and all the
complaints about her
evaporated. One of the
last significant changes in
her external appearance
occurred in 1953 when she
acquired a mainmast, half
the size of the foremast
and sporting a small gaff.
She was given radar in
1957.
During the early fifties the
LOCHINVAR continued as
the Sound of Mull steamer.
Following the boom in
private car ownership that
followed the derationing
of petrol, her capacity for
only three cars – loaded
by plank rather than crane
– was becoming more and
more of a disadvantage.
Her last full year on
the Mull run came in
1955. A new vessel, the
CLAYMORE, displaced
the LOCHEARN, which in
turn took over the Sound
of Mull run and the old
LOCHINVAR essentially
became spare.
In July 1956 she started
to offer short cruises out
of Oban and sometimes
offered special sailings, for
Isle of Cumbrae at
Tarbert with the Waverly
in the background
example for the annual
Argyllshire Gathering or
when the Queen visited
Oban. August 1957 saw
her make a unique visit
to Fort William for the
Glenfinnan Gathering,
while for three days in
September that year she
acted as tender to the
American fleet off Oban.
1958 saw her spend over
six months on the Mull
run – until early July and
for October and most of
November.
During this period, in early
April, she had problems
with a propeller shaft and
had to be slipped at Port
Glasgow. Her only real
mishap had occurred in
March 1956 when, on her
way back north after a
previous shaft repair, she
had run aground near the
island of Sanda – although
she was successfully
refloated and repaired
in Greenock. She spent
the summer of 1958 in
Greenock, after a proposal
to use her as a cruise
steamer from Inverness to
Loch Ness fell through.
Meanwhile, that same
summer, MacBrayne’s
announced that they
The story of the LOCHINVAR
hoped to withdraw the
two remaining pre-Great
War veterans in the fleet.
Following the increase of
vehicles since the early
fifties new and more
substantial car ferries
being added to the fleet
operating between Kyle
and the nearby Skye
port of Kyleakin, the
age-old service between
Mallaig, Kyle and Portree
was becoming grossly
uneconomic.
It made sense to transfer
the mailboat, LOCHNEVIS
to Oban and withdraw
the TS SAINT COLUMBA
and sell the LOCHINVAR,
as she was already a spare
vessel. Unfortunately
the people of Skye
were very unhappy with
the arrangement and
so, as a compromise,
the LOCHINVAR was
reprieved and transferred
to Skye in May 1959.
She lay overnight at
Portree and left daily
for Kyle and Mallaig and,
depending on the day of
the week, called at Raasay,
Glenelg and Armadale.
With the tidal range,
especially at Mallaig, rather
greater than any she had
had to experience before,
her companionway was
extended to the top of
her deckhouse, the lifeboat
container moved farther
aft with the result that a
landing platform had been
created for low tides.
Sadly, the LOCHINVAR
was perceived to be a
disaster in her new role
and a campaign led by
landowner Dame Flora
MacLeod succeeded in
having her removed at
the end of October 1959.
The LOCHNEVIS and
LOCHEARN continued on
the run until a converted
inshore minesweeper
renamed LOCH ARKAIG
was commissioned in April
of the following year and
was able to take over.
The LOCHINVAR was not
immediately sold, however.
From 30 January 1960 she
returned to her old haunts
and it was appropriately
between Tobermory and
Oban on 28th May of that
year that she gave her last
service for MacBrayne’s.
She retired to Greenock’s
East India Harbour but
did not remain long there.
On 3rd June, bought
by Timbacraft Ltd., she
moved to Shandon in the
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Gareloch and was stripped
of her radar, seats, lifeboats
and other fittings.
She returned to Greenock
in October and, intriguingly,
had BRIGHTON BELLE
painted on her, apparently
without authority. She soon
left for the Thames and
in the following summer,
renamed ANZIO I, started
an excursion service
between Sheerness and
Southend. This employment
lasted for three years. She
was laid up at Tilbury, but
was subsequently bought
by Cromarty Cruises Ltd.,
for summer employment
between Inverness and
Invergordon.
On her way north, on 3rd
April 1966, LOCHINVAR
met a disastrous end when
she was driven ashore
by a ferocious storm at
Donna Nook, south of
the Humber, with the loss
of her entire crew and
some of her new owners’
directors. This was a tragic
end for a ship which had
served the Scottish islands
with a degree of distinction
for over fifty years.
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Caledonian Maritime Assets Ltd
SAILING FROM TARBERT TO PORTAVADIE
T
he first public mention of a proposed ferry service
across the mouth of Loch Fyne between Tarbert
and Portavadie was in April 1990 when a discussion was
reported among Caledonian MacBrayne, the Highlands
and Island Development Board and Argyll Tourist Board.
They initially hoped that slipways, terminal buildings and
approach roads might be in place by the following year,
but it was not until August 1992 that test-drilling started
at Tarbert at sites for a slipway, although the service
was further postponed following a delay in obtaining
planning permission in 1993. Improvements were also
made to the existing slipway at Portavadie.
The island class ferry RHUM eventually handseled the
service on 7th July 1994 and it was officially opened three
weeks later by Col. Archie Fletcher OBE, Lord Lieutenant
of Argyll and Bute. The contract was between CalMac and
Argyll and the Isles Enterprise, the terminals having been
paid for by the Enterprise organisation. The ferry sailed
hourly from Tarbert and returned from Portavadie half an
hour later. Despite problems over the depth of water and
underwater obstructions at Portavadie, the service was
very successful with 18,813 passengers and 4,563 cars
carried when it ceased for the
winter in October 1994.
The Loch Striven
unloads at Portvadie
There was no service during
the 1994/95 winter, the
steamer pier being reckoned
unsafe for vessels to berth
overnight during that season
and the RHUM returned to
service in April 1995. With an
agreement between CalMac
and Tarbert Harbour Authority
for a winter overnight berth in
Sailing from Tarbert to Portavadie
the inner harbour, the new
service could continue all
year.
In October 1995, a
combined service
embracing Tarbert,
Portavadie, Lochranza
(Arran) and Claonaig
(Kintyre) was introduced
on certain days of the
week, originally on Tuesdays
and Wednesdays. However,
the service was actually
designed for a vessel of
the larger “Loch” class, with
capacity for twelve cars
and the LOCH STRIVEN
duly arrived to take over in
November, remaining on
the run until December,
when her sister, the LOCH
LINNHE, replaced her.
The LOCH STRIVEN was
back in harness when the
service restarted early
in 1996 and remained
on the combined roster
till the end of the winter
timetable. One reason
for the winter run via the
‘back door’ to Arran was
that dangerous goods, for
example petrol tankers,
could be transported that
way rather than by the
Ardrossan to Brodick ferry,
CALEDONIAN ISLES,
whose enclosed car deck
made it illegal to carry such
vehicles while passengers
were on board. Once
again the RHUM was the
summer vessel on the
Portavadie route.
1997 saw the greatest
number of vessels
appearing on the Tarbert
to Portavadie service.
The LOCH LINNHE was
followed by the LOCH
STRIVEN, the larger LOCH
TARBERT and the LOCH
RIDDON, while in summer
two other island class ferries
appeared, the CANNA and
the BRUERNISH.
Unfortunately, during the
1997/98 winter there was
once again no service on
the route. The Tarbert to
Portavadie route had been
absorbed into the statefunded network of services
and the considerable losses
occurring in winter led to its
withdrawal.
From 8th March 1998,
however, the LOCH
RIDDON reappeared in
emergency, caused by a
closure on the A83 north
of Tarbert. The route to the
central belt via Portavadie
was the alternative to a
long diversion. The winter
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Caledonian Maritime Assets Ltd
Tarbert to Portavadie route
was restored in 1998/99 as
it had become part of the
CalMac undertaking, initially
for a year’s trial with its
continuation depending on
results.
The vessel on the roster
also transported dangerous
goods and other vehicles
to Lochranza in the middle
of the day: the winter
sailings between Lochranza
and Claonaig were not
reintroduced. At the end of
February 1999, when the
LOCH LINNHE was on
duty, a stranger put in an
appearance on the route.
Yet another closure of the
A83 necessitated a back-up
vessel to cross Loch Fyne
and the one available was
the LOCH ALAINN, which
was normally the Cumbrae
ferry.
That summer a further
change took place when
the ISLE OF CUMBRAE
replaced the regular
“Loch” on the Tarbert run.
Somewhat older than the
“Lochs” themselves, she
could actually carry more
cars – eighteen compared
with twelve – but her
passenger accommodation
was more spartan; it
was decided that as
there were relatively few
passengers travelling on
the route without cars, this
disadvantage was minimal.
The ISLE OF CUMBRAE
remained the summer ferry
on the route right up until
2013. In winter, with the
Lochranza leg included, the
roster was entrusted to
one of the “Lochs”, usually
LOCH TARBERT, which was
the summer Lochranza to
Claonaig ferry, or LOCH
RIDDON, in summer the
back-up ferry for Cumbrae.
In the first decade of the
new century, a tendering
exercise was enforced
under EU ‘State Aids’
legislation. The eventual
outcome was that
Caledonian MacBrayne
Ltd, renamed Caledonian
Maritime Assets Ltd
(CMAL), would own the
vessels and ports in the
network while a new
company, CalMac Ferries
Ltd (CFL), would operate
them under tender. It was
therefore to CMAL that the
Scottish Transport Minister,
Keith Brown, confirmed
in February 2011 Scottish
Government funding for
the “Low Emission Hybrid
Sailing from Tarbert to Portavadie
Ferries Project”, which
would see the development
of the world’s first sea-going
roll-on roll-off diesel electric
hybrid ferries in Scotland.
The ferries, to be operated
by CFL, will use the
most innovative ‘green’
technology, including battery
banks supplying a minimum
of 20% of the energy
consumed on board. The
contract was awarded to
Fergusons Shipbuilders of
Port Glasgow and they
worked alongside Glasgowbased ship design specialists
Seatec and electrical
specialists Tec-Source. Each
ferry will accommodate
150 passengers and 23
cars (or two HGVs) and
will operate at a service
speed of 9 knots. They
will be powered by small
diesel generator sets
feeding power to a 400V
switchboard, which would
supply power to electric
motors that turned the
propulsion units. In addition,
two lithium ion battery
banks with a total of 700
kWh will also supply power
to the units, thus reducing
fuel consumption by at least
20%.
There will also be a
reduction in both carbon
dioxide emission and noise
reduction, as well lower
maintenance requirements.
The battery banks will be
charged overnight from
the mains. It was decided
that the new breed of ferry
required a new style of
nomenclature – Scottish
literary names were
chosen following a public
competition. The first, MV
HALLAIG, was launched
by Nicola Sturgeon, MSP,
on 17th December 2012
and is due to enter service
between Raasay and
Sconser in the summer of
2013.
The result of the
competition to name the
second hybrid ferry was
announced on 4th April
2013. Lochinvar, named
after the poem by Sir
Walter Scott, was chosen
by popular acclaim. At the
same time the date of the
launch was announced
as 23rd May 2013. She
will enter service later
in the year as the MV
LOCHINVAR on the
Tarbert to Portavadie route.
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The MV HALLAIG
sister ship of the MV
LOCHINVAR and first of
the Scottish Literary Class
Municipal Buildings
Fore Street
Port Glasgow
PA14 5EQ