ST. CLEMENT
Shipbuildervessel built by
Hall, Russell & Company, Limited
(Aberdeen, Scotland, 1864 - 1992)
Date3 May 1928
Object NameCARGO VESSEL
MediumSTEEL
ClassificationsShip
Dimensionslength 156 5/12' x breadth 25 7/12' x depth 12'
Gross Tonnage: 450 ton
Gross Tonnage: 450 ton
Object numberABDSHIP002402
About MeYard: Hall, Russell & Co. Yard Number: 695.
Fate: sunk by air attack 20 miles south-east of Peterhead, 5 April 1941. The Chief Engineer was lost.
Propulsion: Steam
Description: Cargo vessel (coaster), quarterdeck 85’, bridge deck 14’, forecastle 25’, machinery aft.
Owners:
1928: North of Scotland, Orkney and Shetland Steam Navigation Co.
General History:
Regular routes: Winter 1939 Leith to Aberdeen, Wick and Thurso, Autumn; Lerwick, Shetland North Isles and at other times as required, including to Germany with herring from Lerwick.
ST. CLEMENT was launched on 3 May 1928. She was primarily a cargo ship with engine room aft. She also had accommodation for 12 passengers midships under the bridge. This was the maximum permissible without a passenger certificate, which made it possible for her to relieve on the Shetland North Isles service each Autumn and in Winter to perform the Leith to Aberdeen, Wick and Thurso route. On these the Company could rely on the passenger numbers being low. The Caithness service was on occasion extended to St. Margaret’s Hope (South Ronaldsay). She sometimes made special voyages to the Isles with bulk cagoes- e.g. in August 1930 to Stromness with a cargo of coal for the Pentland Firth mail ship ST. OLA and in January 1931 to Kirkwall with 400 tons of steam coal. Each September she was heavily involved in transporting livestock to mainland markets. E.g. in September 1928 she made special sailings three weeks in succession from Kirkwall to Aberdeen with a full cargo of cattle and sheep. She appears also to have had some timetabled services in Summer – e.g. In May 1933 she was advertised as sailing on three successive Wednesdays with cargo and a limited number of passengers from St. Margaret’s Hope to Thurso, Wick and Aberdeen. There were of course weather delays. In a prolonged period of stormy weather in early 1937 she left Leith on 18 January on the Caithness run and did not return until 3 February. In September 1929 due to high winds she had to spend the night anchored in Kirkwall Bay and did not get alongside the pier until 30 hours after leaving Leith. However the most serious incident was at the start of her career when on 18 October 1928 ST. CLEMENT ran ashore at Saltwick (east coast of Yell) in heavy rain and received considerable damage, but it was able to proceed to Aberdeen under own steam.
Sources:- Gordon Donaldson (1978), 'Northwards by Sea' (Paul Harris Publishing, Edinburgh), pp. 43-5, 125; Edinburgh Evening News, 4 May 1828; Orkney Herald, 19 September 1928, 4 September 1929, 6 August ,17 September and 3 December 1930, 7 January 1931, 17 May 1933, 11 September 1935. (All newspaper refs from BNA, downloaded 31 May 2022)
Notes:
This vessel made 10.5 knots on its trial trip.
There are no works to discover for this record.
