GRIP FAST
Shipbuildervessel built by
Hall, Russell & Company, Limited
(Aberdeen, Scotland, 1864 - 1992)
DateOctober 1883
Object NameSCREW STEAMER
MediumIRON
ClassificationsShip
Dimensionslength 200' x breadth 28' 1" x depth 15'
Gross Tonnage: 860 ton
Gross Tonnage: 860 ton
Object numberABDSHIP001875
Keywords
Yard Number: 232
Fate: wrecked off Ventnor, Isle of Wight, 13 November 1892, on a voyage from Swansea to London with coal.
Propulsion: Steam
Description: One deck, two masts, schooner rigged, elliptic stern (round scored out and changed to elliptic), clench built, no gallery, no head and iron framework. Iron Screw Steamer
Owners:
16/11/1883: Registered at Aberdeen for subscribing owners;
William Leslie, shipowner, Aberdeen, 64 shares.
05/07/1884: William Leslie owns 45 shares; shares sold to ten others including John Crombie Jnr., of the Grandholm Woollen Mill family.
(Aberdeen Register of Shipping (Aberdeen City Archives))
Masters:
1884-85: Master J. Brown
1890-91: Master G. Stephen
General History:
23/12/1884:
Steamer GRIP FAST passed St. Catherine's Point, Isle of Wight, 21 December, Baltimore for Rotterdam.
(Glasgow Herald)
25/12/1884:
Dutch meadow hay to arrive per steamer GRIP FAST, due Aberdeen next week.
(Aberdeen Weekly Journal)
09/06/1885:
GRIP FAST, British steamer, Boston-Baracoa [Cuba] spoken 22 May 34N 72W [off Wilmington, North Carolina].
(Glasgow Herald)
20/05/1886:
W. Leslie to start regular goods service Aberdeen - London with S.S. GARAWATH. If sign of development, S.S. GRIP FAST will also be put on.
(Aberdeen Weekly Journal)
21/07/1887:
Steamer GRIP FAST arrived from Shetland carrying 2451 barrels herring, which found ready buyers.
(Aberdeen Weekly Journal)
05/08/1887:
To herring curers & merchants - splendid fast sailing screw steamer GRIP FAST (Capt. John Buyers) specially constructed for carrying herring and fitted with tween decks fore and aft, will go on berth Aberdeen 4 Aug. to load for Danzig and Libau; Accommodation for 10 passengers, 18-20 days to Libau and back to London £6 exclusive of provisions.
(Aberdeen Weekly Journal)
02/09/1889:
Close of herring season - several big consignments have been loaded at Aberdeen, largest perhaps being steamer GRIP FAST's 2 cargoes, amounting on both occasions to about 5000 barrels sent to Konigsberg and Stettin.
(Aberdeen Weekly Journal)
19/10/1889:
Steamer GRIP FAST, of Aberdeen, reported yesterday morning ashore on Trimingham Beach, floated without assistance.
(Aberdeen Weekly Journal)
29/06/1891:
About 7 a.m. Saturday, during a thick fog, steamer GRIP FAST, of Aberdeen (Capt. Stephen) ran ashore on Cairnsulg Point, near Fraserburgh, quite near the beacon. She was on passage Archangel-Aberdeen with cargo of timber batten and oats. Before striking, the steamer's whistle was heard off Kinnaird Head and when fog lifted the craft was discovered on the rocks. Vessel floated in course of afternoon and proceeded to Aberdeen assisted by tugboat.
(Aberdeen Weekly Journal)
13/11/1892:
Shipwrecked off Ventnor, Isle of Wight, on voyage from Swansea to London with coal. Captain G. Stephen. 'Intelligence received of a serious explosion on board the S.S. GRIPFAST off Ventnor...ship foundered 30 minutes after explosion. Mate killed and one seaman injured. Sank in deep water, bosun drowned, but rest safe and landed at Ventnor.'
(Richard and Bridget Larn (1997), “Shipwreck Index of the British Isles” (Lloyd’s Register, London), vol 2, Section 2)
Engines: 1 pair compound inverted direct acting, 95 horsepower
Engine description: Number 1 steel boiler, 12'10" diameter, 10' length, 3x39" furnaces with 1422.8 square feet heating area and 100 psi.
Propeller: 10'11" diameter, solid 4-bladed cast iron.
Cost: £15,751
Listed as "GRIP-FAST" in Lloyd's Register for 1884 but as "GRIP FAST" in the Lloyd's Register for 1889
