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Writer's pictureBart Forbes

SS Clan Forbes

Clan Forbes was the name of a series of four ships (three steam ships and one motorized vessel) that were built or purchased by Clan Line Steamers Ltd from 1882 to 1985.

The Clan Line was founded as C. W. Cayzer & Company in Liverpool in 1877 by Charles Cayzer to operate passenger routes between Britain and Bombay, India, Captain William Irvine joined the company in 1878 and it was renamed Cayzer, Irvine & Company. In 1881, the company further expanded and was renamed the Clan Line Association of Steamers, basedin Glasgow, Scotland. By the 1930s, the company became the largest cargo shipping operation in the world.

The British government used or requisitioned a large number of the ships during the first and second world wars and became known as the “Scots Navy.” The overwhelming majority of the ships used the prefix “Clan” and they all flew the company red flag, with a rampant lion in the middle of a white diamond.

SS Clan Forbes (1882)

The first “Clan Forbes” was an iron screw steamship (S.S.) built in 1882 by Alexander Stephen & Sons Ltd. The ship was 325 feet long and 38 feet wide with a total internal volume (measured by gross register tonnage or GRT) 2,441. In 1890, she put in for repairs in the Glasgow shipyard for an overhaul and the engineers determined that “the vessel’s machinery is in good and efficient working condition.” She was upgraded from a two-cylinder model to a 3-cylindar in 1892. In 1902, the ship was sold to Furness, Withy & Company Ltd. of London and reamed the S.S. London City. The ship was demolished in 1922.

SS Clan Forbes (1903)

The second was a steamship built in 1903 with a triple expansion engine single shaft screw with a speed of up to 11 knots and carried 3,946 GRT. While on hire from the British government to carry coal to Port Said, Egypt, the ship was sunk by a torpedo from the German submarine UB-105 (Wilhelm Marschall), 115 nautical miles from Alexandria, Egypt.

SS Clan Forbes (1938)

The third SS Clan Forbes was a British Cameron-class cargo steamship built in 1938 by the Greenock Dockyard Company on the River Clyde at Greenock in Renfrewshire for Clan Line Steamers Ltd. The SS Clan Forbes had 20 corrugated furnaces for heating five single-ended forced draught boilers that supplied superheated steam to a pair of three-cylinder triple-expansion steam engines. On August 16, 1940, SS Clan Forbes was damaged by bombs in a Luftwaffe air raid while berthed at Port of Tilbury.

In November 1940, she was one of the three merchant ships that took part in Operation Collar, a convoy to supply Malta and Alexandria. She was accompanied by SS New Zealand Star and SS Clan Fraser. The convoy escort was commanded by Vice Admiral Lancelot Holland included the destroyer HMS Hotspur and the corvettes HMS Peony, Salvia, Gloxinia and Hyacinth. Italian forces attempted to intercept the ships which resulted in the Battle of Cape Spartivento. The SS Clan Forbes and SS Clan Fraser were able to continue to Malta. After the war, the ship continued in Clan Line service until 1959 until sold for scrap in 1959. MS Clan Forbes (1961)

The fourth was a motor ship (MS) built in 1961 by Swan, Hunter & Wigham Richardson Ltd at the Wallsend West Yard near Newcastle on Tyne. She was powered by a Sulzer type 6-cyliandar oil engine capable of 16 knots and had a capacity of 9,292 GRT. She was sold first to the King Line Ltd (Cayzer, Irvine & Co Ltd) of London; then to the Arya National Shipping Lines SA of Tehran when she was renamed the Arya Man; and finally to the Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Lines of Tehran and renamed Iran Hemmat. She was dismantled in 1985.

 

Ships of the Clan Line

Ship – Year Built, Gross Register Tonnage (total internal volume)


SS Argyllshire - 1956, 9,299)

SS Ayrshire - 1956, 9,360

SS Clan Allen - 1942 - 7,043)

SS Clan Alpine - 1878, 2,112

SS Clan Alpine – 1899, 3,587

SS Clan Alpine – 1918, 5,485

SS Clan Alpine – 1942,

MV Clan Alpine – 1967, 8,713

SS Clan Angus – 1942, 7,030

SS Clan Brodie – 1940, 7,473

SS Clan Buchanan – 1882, 2,968

SS Clan Buchanan – 1907, 5,212

SS Clan Buchanan – 1937, 7,266

SS Clan Buchanan – 1941, 9,909

SS Clan Cameron – 1882, 2,448

SS Clan Cameron – 1900, 3,595

SS Clan Cameron – 1937, 7,243

SS Clan Campbell – 1882, 2,434

SS Clan Campbell – 1894, 2,615

SS Clan Campbell – 1914, 5,988

SS Clan Campbell – 1937, 7,255

SS Clan Campbell – 1943, 9,545

SS Clan Chattan – 1902, 3,938

SS Clan Chattan – 1937, 7,262

SS Clan Chattan - 1943, 9,585

SS Clan Chisholm – 1896, 2,647

SS Clan Chisholm – 1937, 7,256

SS Clan Chisholm – 1944, 9,581

SS Clan Colquhoun – 1899, 5,856

SS Clan Colquhoun – 1918, 7,912

SS Clan Cumming – 1899, 4,808

SS Clan Cumming – 1937, 7,264

SS Clan Cumming – 1946, 7,812

SS Clan Davidson – 1911, 5,058

SS Clan Davidson – 1943, 8,067

SS Clan Drummond – 1882, 2,922

SS Clan Farquhar – 1899, 5,858

SS Clan Farquhar – 1918, 8,006

MV Clan Farquharson – 1962, 9,292

SS Clan Ferguson – 1898, 4,808

SS Clan Ferguson – 1938, 7,347

MV Clan Fergusson – 1961, 9,242

MV Clan Finlay – 1962, 9,292

SS Clan Forbes – 1882, 2,461

SS Clan Forbes – 1903, 3,946

SS Clan Forbes – 1938, 7,529

MV Clan Forbes 1961 – 9,292

SS Clan Fraser – 1878, 2,092

SS Clan Fraser – 1900, 3,588

SS Clan Fraser – 1938, 7,529

MV Clan Fraser 1961 – 9,292, 1965

SS Clan Gordon – 1879, 2,091

SS Clan Gordon – 1900, 3,589

SS Clan Graham – 1882, 2,926

SS Clan Graham – 1907, 5,213

SS Clan Graham – 1912, 5,785

MV Clan Graham – 1962, 9,308

SS Clan Grant – 1883, 3,580

SS Clan Grant – 1902, 3,948

SS Clan Grant – 1912, 5,817

MV Clan Grant – 1962, 9,322

SS Clan Keith – 1914, 4,306

SS Clan Keith – 1942, 7,129

SS Clan Kennedy – 1907, 5,086

SS Clan Kennedy – 1942, 7,143

SS Clan Kenneth – 1909, 5,100

SS Clan Kenneth – 1942, 7,132

SS Clan Lamont – 1879, 2,091

SS Clan Lamont – 1900, 3,594

SS Clan Lamont – 1939, 7,673

SS Clan Leslie – 1902, 3,973

SS Clan Lindsay – 1896, 2,668

SS Clan Lindsay – 1902, 3,935

SS Clan Macalister – 1891, 2,265

SS Clan Macalister – 1903, 4,835

SS Clan Macalister – 1930, 6,787

SS Clan Macarthur – 1883, 3,984

SS Clan Macarthur – 1912, 7,382

SS Clan Macarthur – 1936, 10,528

SS Clan Macaulay – 1899, 2,834

SS Clan Macaulay – 1936, 10,492

SS Clan MacBean – 1917, 5,052

SS Clan MacBean – 1942, 7,129

SS Clan MacBeolan – 1912, 4,652

SS Clan Macbeth – 1913, 4,650

SS Clan Macbeth – 1942, 7,130

SS Clan Macbrayne – 1916, 4,818

SS Clan Macbrayne – 1942, 7,129

SS Clan Macbride – 1912, 4,886

SS Clan Macbride – 1942, 7,128

SS Clan Maccorquodale – 1913, 5,121

SS Clan Macdonald – 1882, 2,642

SS Clan Macdonald – 1897, 4,839

MV Clan Macdonald – 1928, 6,022

MV Clan Macdonald – 1939, 9,653

SS Clan MacDougall – 1904, 4,710

MV Clan MacDougall – 1929, 6,843

MV Clan MacDougall – 1943, 9,710

SS Clan Macduff – 1870, 2,319

SS Clan Macewen – 1912, 5,140

SS Clan Macfadyen – 1899, 2,816

SS Clan Macfadyen – 1923, 6,224

SS Clan Macfadyen – 1944

SS Clan Macfarlane – 1898, 4,823

SS Clan Macfarlane – 1922, 6,222

SS Clan Macfarlane – 1943, 7,176

SS Clan Macgillivray – 1911, 5,023

MV Clan Macgillivray – 1962, 9,039

MV Clan MacGowan – 1962, 9,039

SS Clan MacGregor – 1882, 3,003

SS Clan Macgregor – 1901, 4,511

MV Clan MacGregor – 1962, 9,039

SS Clan Macilwraith – 1924, 4,958

MV Clan Macilwraith – 1960, 7,419

SS Clan Macindoe – 1920, 4,635

MV Clan Macindoe – 1959, 7,395

SS Clan Macinnes – 1907, 3,755

SS Clan MacInnes – 1920, 4,672

MV Clan MacInnes – 1952, 6,559

SS Clan Macintosh – 1883, 4,053

SS Clan Macintosh – 1905, 4,774

MV Clan Macintosh – 1951, 6,556

SS Clan Macintyre – 1891, 2,515

SS Clan Macintyre – 1903, 4,807

MV Clan Macintyre – 1951, 6,556

SS Clan Maciver 1907 – 3,760

SS Clan Maciver 1921 – 4,606, 1951

MV Clan Maciver – 1958, 7,413

SS Clan Mackay – 1882, 2,171

SS Clan Mackay – 1894, 2,600

SS Clan Mackay – 1916, 5,040

SS Clan Mackay – 1913, 5,182

SS Clan Mackay – 1945, 7,389

SS Clan Mackellar – 1912, 6,382

SS Clan Mackellar – 1944, 7,051

SS Clan Mackendrick – 1943

SS Clan Mackenzie – 1882, 2,987

SS Clan Mackenzie – 1911, 5,018

SS Clan Mackenzie – 1917, 6,544

SS Clan Mackenzie – 1942, 7,025

SS Clan Mackinlay – 1918, 6,418

SS Clan Mackinlay – 1945, 7,392

SS Clan Mackinnon – 1891, 2,268

SS Clan Mackinnon – 1902, 4,788

SS Clan Mackinnon – 1945, 7,373

SS Clan Maclachlan – 1900, 4,729

SS Clan Maclachlan – 1946, 6,365

SS Clan Maclaren – 1899, 2,832

SS Clan Maclaren – 1946, 6,389

SS Clan Maclay – 1948, 6,389

SS Clan Maclean – 1870, 2,329

SS Clan Maclean – 1905, 4,676

MV Clan Maclean – 1947, 6,017

SS Clan Maclennan – 1947, 6,366

SS Clan Macleod – 1871, 2,290

SS Clan Macleod – 1891, 2,507

SS Clan Macleod – 1903, 4,796

MV Clan Macleod – 1948, 6,073

SS Clan Macmaster – 1917, 6,563

SS Clan Macmillan – 1901, 4,525

SS Clan Macmillan – 1918, 6,608

SS Clan Macnab – 1891, 2,266

SS Clan Macnab – 1904, 4,675

SS Clan Macnab – 1920, 6,114

MV Clan Macnab – 1961, 9,428

SS Clan Macnair – 1921, 6,094

MV Clan Macnair – 1962, 9,401

SS Clan Macnaughton – 1911, 4,985

SS Clan Macnaughton – 1921, 6,110

SS Clan Macneil – 1891, 2,421

SS Clan Macneil – 1903, 3,939

SS Clan Macneil – 1921, 6,111

SS Clan Macphee – 1911, 5,177

SS Clan Macpherson – 1883, 3,989

SS Clan Macpherson – 1905, 4,779

SS Clan Macpherson – 1929, 6,940

SS Clan Macquarrie – 1913, 5,060

SS Clan Macquarrie – 1942, 7,131

SS Clan Macqueen – 1942, 7,131

SS Clan Macrae – 1892, 2,510

SS Clan Macrae – 1911, 5,058

SS Clan Macrae – 1942, 9,209

SS Clan Mactaggart – 1920, 7,603

SS Clan Mactaggart – 1949, 8,035

SS Clan Mactavish – 1912, 5,816

SS Clan Mactavish – 1920, 7,619

SS Clan MacTavish – 1949, 8,035

SS Clan Macvey – 1918, 5,830

SS Clan MacVicar – 1918, 5,815

SS Clan Macwhirter – 1918, 7,062

SS Clan Macwilliam – 1918, 7,234

SS Clan Malcolm – 1916, 5,994

MV Clan Malcolm – 1957, 7,686

SS Clan Matheson – 1883, 3,917

SS Clan Matheson – 1905, 4,775

SS Clan Matheson – 1917, 5,960

SS Clan Matheson – 1919, 5,613

MV Clan Matheson – 1957, 7,585

SS Clan Menzies – 1896, 2,669

SS Clan Menzies – 1938, 7,556

MV Clan Menzies – 1958, 8,000

SS Clan Monroe – 1881, 2,197

SS Clan Monroe – 1897, 4,853

SS Clan Monroe – 1918, 5,919

SS Clan Morrison – 1918, 5,931

SS Clan Murdoch – 1919, 5,930

SS Clan Murdoch – 1946, 7,375

SS Clan Murray – 1881, 2,108

SS Clan Murray – 1897, 4,835

SS Clan Murray – 1918, 5,926

SS Clan Murray 1946 – 7,301

SS Clan Ogilvie – 1882, 2,425

SS Clan Ogilvy – 1896, 2,641

SS Clan Ogilvy – 1914, 5,802

MV Clan Ramsay – 1965, 10,542

SS Clan Ranald – 1878, 2,048

SS Clan Ranald – 1900, 3,596

SS Clan Ranald – 1917, 5,503

MV Clan Ranald – 1964, 10,541

SS Clan Robertson – 1897, 4,826

SS Clan Robertson – 1919, 7,976

SS Clan Robertson – 1954, 7,878

MV Clan Robertson – 1965, 10,541

SS Clan Ross – 1894, 2,604

SS Clan Ross – 1914, 5,897

SS Clan Ross – 1956, 7,698

MV Clan Ross – 1966, 10,542

SS Clan Shaw – 1896, 3,442

SS Clan Shaw – 1902, 3,943

SS Clan Shaw – 1950, 8,101

SS Clan Sinclair – 1882, 2,961

SS Clan Sinclair – 1907, 5,215

SS Clan Sinclair – 1950, 8,386

SS Clan Skene – 1918, 5,257

SS Clan Stewart – 1954, 8,163

SS Clan Stuart – 1879, 2,115

SS Clan Stuart – 1900, 3,594

SS Clan Stuart – 1916, 5,755

SS Clan Sutherland – 1896, 2,820

SS Clan Sutherland – 1950, 8,436

SS Clan Urquhart – 1899, 5,855

SS Clan Urquhart – 1911, 9,564

SS Clan Urquhart – 1943, 9,726

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