Steel steamship · lost 1924 · Dumfries and Galloway, United Kingdom
Claremorris
Ordered by John Kelly Limited of Belfast and launched by Scott & Sons of Bowling in 1917, the 632-ton Claremorris was taken straight into Royal Navy service and handed back to her owners at the end of 1918. In peacetime she traded regularly between Northern Ireland and the coasts of south-west Scotland and northern England.
Bound from Dundalk to Ardrossan in December 1924, she was driven ashore by heavy seas below Corsewall Point and wedged between rocks at March Point. Her lamp trimmer, James Thomson, climbed down to the rocks to fetch help and was swept away; his body came ashore days later and was taken home to Northern Ireland. Alerted by her horn, a farmer and his neighbours got a line aboard, and the ten other crew reached land.
Her remains in Redstone Cove are heavily broken and cemented into the rocky seabed, engine room seaward and bow in the shallows.
- Type
- Steel steamship
- Lost
- 1924
- Tonnage
- 632 GRTsteam
- Depth
- 8 m
- Location
- Dumfries and Galloway, United KingdomNorth Channel
Deeper than 11 of the 185 wrecks on the map with a recorded depth.
History and LossLost 1924 · Dumfries and Galloway, United Kingdom.
She went ashore on the morning of Tuesday 23 December 1924, a few miles south of Corsewall Point, and lodged fast between a pair of big rocks near the land. James Thomson went down a ladder onto the rocks before the waves carried him out to sea. The continuous sounding of her horn brought help from the land, and a rope got to the wreck let the rest of the crew struggle ashore.
Lost 1924.
Condition of the WreckBroken.
Intactness
She is heavily broken and concreted into a seabed of rock and boulders that thick kelp covers in summer. Her remains keep the layout of the ship afloat, the engine room to seaward and the bow further into the small bay.
Notable Features
- Propeller
- Triple expansion engine
Sea-Surface Temperature by Month
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Surface temp | 9° | 8° | 7.5° | 8.2° | 9.8° | 11.9° | 13.7° | 14.5° | 14.5° | 13.6° | 12.2° | 10.4° |
Additional Details10 further fields held for this wreck and not shown above.
- Builder
- Scott & Sons of Bowling
- Propulsion
- Steam
- Loss date
- 1924
- Latitude
- 54.9340° N
- Longitude
- 5.1869° W
- Water body
- North Channel
- War grave
- Not recorded
- Protected
- No
- Permit required
- No
- Condition
- Broken
Sources and VerificationEvery fact on this page traces to a published source.
- Historic Environment Scotland (Canmore, NRHE)inspire.hes.scot · Official record6 facts
- UK Hydrographic Officedatahub.admiralty.co.uk · Official record3 facts
- NOAA / NASA JPL MUR SST v4.1coastwatch.pfeg.noaa.gov · Institution or archive1 fact
- Scottish Shipwrecksscottishshipwrecks.com · Secondary source12 facts
- Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Historic Environment Scotland.
- Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. © Crown copyright and database right.
- JPL MUR MEaSUREs Project. GHRSST Level 4 MUR Global Foundation Sea Surface Temperature Analysis (v4.1). PO.DAAC. https://doi.org/10.5067/GHGMR-4FJ04
A further 5 fields were derived from the wreck’s recorded position rather than taken from a source.
Licences and credits for the open data used on this site are on the Attribution page.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the Claremorris?
Claremorris is the wreck of a steel steamship, off Dumfries and Galloway, United Kingdom, at 8 metres. Claremorris was lost in 1924.
How deep is the Claremorris?
Claremorris lies at approximately 8 metres, North Channel, Dumfries and Galloway.
How did the Claremorris sink?
The cause of the loss of Claremorris is not recorded in the sources held; the loss is dated 1924.