SS ''Clan Macneil'' was a UK

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cargo liner A cargo liner, also known as a passenger-cargo ship or passenger-cargoman, is a type of merchant ship which carries general cargo and often passengers. They became common just after the middle of the 19th century, and eventually gave way to conta ...

. She was launched in 1921, survived the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

and scrapped in 1952. She spent her entire career with

Clan Line The Clan Line was a passenger and cargo shipping company that operated in one incarnation or another from the late nineteenth century and into the twentieth century. History Foundation and early years The company that would become the Clan Lin ...

Details

The Ayrshire Dockyard Co Ltd of

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, Ayrshire, built a class of six

sister ship A sister ship is a ship of the same class or of virtually identical design to another ship. Such vessels share a nearly identical hull and superstructure layout, similar size, and roughly comparable features and equipment. They often share a ...

s for Clan Line. ''Clan Macnab'' was launched in 1921 and gave her name to the class. ''Clan Macnair'', ''Clan Macnaughton'' and ''Clan Macneil'' were launched in 1921, ''ClanMacfarlane'' was launched in 1922 and was launched in 1923. ''Clan Macneil'' was launched on 1 December 1921, completed in February 1922 and passed her

sea trial A sea trial is the testing phase of a watercraft (including boats, ships, and submarines). It is also referred to as a " shakedown cruise" by many naval personnel. It is usually the last phase of construction and takes place on open water, and ...

s on 14 February. Clan Line named its ships after

Scottish clan A Scottish clan (from Goidelic languages, Gaelic , literally 'children', more broadly 'kindred') is a kinship group among the Scottish people. Clans give a sense of shared identity and descent to members, and in modern times have an official ...

Clan MacNeil Clan MacNeil, also known in Scotland as Clan Niall, is a highland Scottish clan of Irish origin. According to their early genealogies and some sources they're descended from Eógan mac Néill and Niall of the Nine Hostages. The clan is particul ...

is a clan centred on the island of

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. ''Clan Macneil'' was long, had a beam of and draught of . Her

tonnage Tonnage is a measure of the cargo-carrying capacity of a ship, and is commonly used to assess fees on commercial shipping. The term derives from the taxation paid on ''tuns'' or casks of wine. In modern maritime usage, "tonnage" specifically ref ...

s were and . Dunsmuir and Jackson of Glasgow built ''Clan Macneil''s

triple-expansion steam engine A compound steam engine unit is a type of steam engine where steam is expanded in two or more stages. A typical arrangement for a compound engine is that the steam is first expanded in a high-pressure ''(HP)'' cylinder, then having given up he ...

, which developed 560

NHP Horsepower (hp) is a unit of measurement of power, or the rate at which work is done, usually in reference to the output of engines or motors. There are many different standards and types of horsepower. Two common definitions used today are the ...

. In October 1929

Deutsche Schiff- und Maschinenbau Deutsche Schiff- und Maschinenbau Aktiengesellschaft (abbreviated Deschimag) was a cooperation of eight German shipyards in the period 1926 to 1945. The leading company was the shipyard AG Weser Aktien-Gesellschaft „Weser" (abbreviated A.G. ...

added a Bauer-Wach exhaust

steam turbine A steam turbine is a machine that extracts thermal energy from pressurized steam and uses it to do mechanical work on a rotating output shaft. Its modern manifestation was invented by Charles Parsons in 1884. Fabrication of a modern steam turbin ...

, which increased her total power to 691 NHP and was designed to increase her fuel economy and speed. ''Clan Macneil''s UK

official number Official numbers are ship identifier numbers assigned to merchant ships by their flag state, country of registration. Each country developed its own official numbering system, some on a national and some on a port-by-port basis, and the formats hav ...

was 146281. Her

code letters Code letters or ship's call sign (or callsign) Mtide Taurus - IMO 7626853"> SHIPSPOTTING.COM >> Mtide Taurus - IMO 7626853/ref> were a method of identifying ships before the introduction of modern navigation aids and today also. Later, with the i ...

were KLRC until 1933–34, when they were superseded by the

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GFWP.

Career

Clan Line operated cargo liner services between Britain,

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and East Africa, and also Australia and the USA. On 8 August 1937 ''Clan Macneil'' collided with the

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cargo ship A cargo ship or freighter is a merchant ship that carries cargo, goods, and materials from one port to another. Thousands of cargo carriers ply the world's seas and oceans each year, handling the bulk of international trade. Cargo ships are usu ...

''Princess Marie Jose'' in the

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off

Dunkirk Dunkirk (french: Dunkerque ; vls, label=French Flemish, Duunkerke; nl, Duinkerke(n) ; , ;) is a commune in the department of Nord in northern France.France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

. Five of ''Princess Marie Jose''s passengers were seriously injured. ''Princess Marie Jose'' beached herself there to avoid sinking, and was refloated on 10 August. The UK Government requisitioned ''Clan Macneil'' on 23 March 1940. The

Ministry of War Transport The Ministry of War Transport (MoWT) was a department of the British Government formed early in the Second World War to control transportation policy and resources. It was formed by merging the Ministry of Shipping and the Ministry of Transport ...

returned her to her owners on 11 MArch 1946. Of the six ''Clan Macnab''-class ships, she was one of only two that survived the

. ''Clan Macneil'' arrived in

Port Glasgow Port Glasgow ( gd, Port Ghlaschu, ) is the second-largest town in the Inverclyde council area of Scotland. The population according to the 1991 census for Port Glasgow was 19,426 persons and in the 2001 census was 16,617 persons. The most recen ...

on 1 May 1952 to be scrapped by Smith and Houston. Demolition work started the next day.

References

Bibliography

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External links

* 1921 ships Maritime incidents in 1937 Ships built in Scotland Ships of the Clan Line Steamships of the United Kingdom World War II merchant ships of the United Kingdom {{Merchantship-stub