The Steamship Sir Walter Scott was commissioned by the owners of the Trossachs hotel and the Stronachlacher hotel to replace the ageing and smaller ‘Rob Roy’ and to cater for the tourists who flocked to the area . She was originally built in 1899 at Dumbarton on the Clyde, disassembled and carried on barges to Inversnaid on Loch Lomond. The parts were then dragged up the steep hill from Inversnaid on carts by teams of 12 Clydesdale horses to a specially built slip way at Stronachlacher; this slipway is still used for maintenance and repairs of the ship to this day. The ship was then reassembled to be launched onto Loch Katrine on the 31st October 1899, a mere 8 months after the order was placed. The total cost of the ship, including delivery, was £4269!

Unusually for a British ship she was given a ‘male’ name, being named after the writer, Sir Walter Scott, who visited the Trossachs many times and who wrote such stories as ‘Rob Roy’ and his poetic narrative, ‘The Lady of the Lake’. (Visit http://www.incallander.co.uk/ladyoflake.htm if you wish to read these.) His writing of the beauty of the area was the main reason the area was, and still is, so popular with tourists.

The Steamship has been in continuous service since starting her career in 1900.

If the Clydeside engineers, who originally built her engine, could visit the ship today they would recognise the engine as still being the one they had built. The ship herself would similarly be recognised by the builders who re – assembled her at the Stronachlacher slipway in 1899.

The ‘Sir Walter Scott’ has had a relatively un-dramatic history. Because she was loch bound, she was not requisitioned by the Navy during either war. She has performed faultlessly throughout her service, this only being interrupted by a fire in March 1954, which delayed her coming into service that year by only 2 months.

In the ‘good old days’ when there were very much fewer regulations, the ‘ Sir Walter Scott’ on occasions carried many more passengers than is now allowed. On one occasion, so the story goes, she was grossly overloaded with some 400 souls aboard and, when coming in to the pier started listing badly. The skipper decided it was unsafe to do the usual manoeuvre of turning the ship ‘port side to’ as, when she lost weigh, she might capsize. He therefore headed straight for the pier and got her securely tied up to ensure she didn’t show her underside to the world. Now that inclination tests are carried out to measure what list that will occur when all passengers go to the one side (perhaps to see a pretty steam launches that sail on the loch on occasions) this sets the maximum number of passenger the ship is licensed to carry – now in the region of 200.

Ownership of the Sir Walter Scott

Loch Katrine was dammed by the Victorians to raise its level and to provide clean water to the City of Glasgow – which it still does to this day. Glasgow Corporation and after them, Strathclyde Council, were very enthusiastic about encouraging their citizens to get out to the clean air of the country and when the steamship passed into their ownership she became their ‘jewel in the crown’. Glasgow also had provision on ships like the ‘Shieldhall’ and others, to take citizens on trips down the Clyde, ‘doon the watter’ as it was known, when these ships were going from the city to the open stretch of the Clyde off Bute to discharge their cargo (sewerage sludge!).

So, when owned by the city and council , the ‘Sir Walter Scott’ was well maintained and kept in good repair. She later passed into the Water Supply Company’s ownership whose priority was to supply water, not operating a steamships. Thus she was divested to a trust in 2006 that was given the task of maintaining this grand old lady’s presence on the loch and have her continue to attract tourists to the area to give them the experience of a sail on a steamship in some of the best scenery there is to be seen. One of the conditions of transferring the Sir Walter Scott to the Trust was that she was to ‘pay her way’, an onerous condition.

The Refits

In 2006 the Trust carried out a review of all that needed to be done to the ship to keep her operational, and changes that would be required to increase the revenue she could earn. The Marine and Coastguard Agency (MCA) have, of course, been involved to ensure the safe operation of the ship.

The ship had originally been designed and built with no longitudinal girders and, in consequence, she would flex. This flexing meant that the decks could never be truly permanently watertight. The rain waters leaking in caused considerable corrosion inside the hull necessitating the replacement of most of the frames as well as the skin plating.

When this was realised, the MCA required the ship to be treated as a ‘new build’.

Up till recently, the Sir Walter Scott was the only vessel on the loch; however when the Trust purchased a second trip boat, the bio-diesel powered ‘Lady of the Lake’, there became the possibility of a collision. This resulted in the additional MCA requirement of the ship being able to stay afloat after a collision as well as surviving grounding. To split the ship into suitably sized watertight compartments to achieve this, the aft cabin needed to be reduced in size, which has been done by inserting a bulkhead at the aft end to create an additional machinery space. This now accommodates the generator that is required to operate the new boilers and the remote life raft release mechanisms. The negative side of this change is that there is, of course, now less passenger space in the aft cabin.
Originally the frames were ‘L’ section with the plates riveted to one arm of the L; it is where the frames and the plates joined that corrosion took place between them with the aid of the rain water. Now the frames have the plates welded to the top edge of the L so there is no space behind for water to gather and cause corrosion.
The prime concern in the refit was to keep the beautiful shape of the original ship. It was found that most of the original stern frames and plating could be retained, so the counter stern you see is what was built 110 years ago. When taking out some old steelwork for replacement the original builders chalk marks could be clearly seen in many places and the Yard Number was also found.

Financing this has had its complications: The Heritage Lottery fund would have helped with a grant had the ship been returned to its original construction when built in 1900. At that time she was allowed to carry in excess of 400 passengers. However current safety regulations would have prevented this ship, when returned to original condition, from carrying any passengers at all!

Unfortunately, for the refit to be completed to current passenger ship safety regulations so that passenger carrying could be continued, the changes required meant she would no longer be eligible for Heritage Lottery funding. Thus the refit overt the last 3 winters costing some £4 million has to be funded by the Trust from ticket sales and the financial support of ‘The Friends of the Steam Ship Sir Walter Scott’.

She is scheduled to be back in service on the 4th of April 2009, licensed to carry 250 people, which is still a large number for a ship only 110 feet long and with a beam of 19 feet. She will then be ready to last another 100 years, with her continued seaworthiness ensured, so that our descendants in 2100 will still be able to enjoy the beautiful Loch Katrine under the peace and quiet of steam power.

Those who remember her up to 2007 will remember the smoke screen she laid down, which made the ship very difficult to keep clean, and required 2 crew in the engine room. Some of the public used to wax lyrical about the smell of the coal smoke that evoked childhood memories, other would complain about the soot smuts and there were many claims for laundry bills.

This is now a thing of the past as, with the increasing difficulty of being able to source suitable coal for the boilers the decision was made to change the firing of the boilers to bio fuel – fuel made from recycled cooking oil.
Unfortunately this lack of smoke often elicits the comment ‘It can’t be steam, there is no smoke!’
A further cost benefit of oil firing is that only 1 engineer is now needed to tend the boilers and the engine.

Finally, to provide for the 21st century client, a deck house has now been fitted, which has upset some purists. This has been done as she has to attract as many people as possible, regardless of the weather, to help pay her running and refurbishment costs. This deckhouse has the added benefit of allowing bath a kiosk for refreshments and a disabled toilet to be installed, giving wheelchair people access to all facilities on the main deck, again a requirement of current regulations.

Future Plans

In the summer of 2009, the ship will cruise further up the loch past Stronachlacher. Beyond then, it is hoped to reinstate the two piers on the North loch side to allow visitors to take the ship partway up the loch and walk or cycle back. Again, financial help from ‘The Friends’ will help to realise these plans and make for more interesting trips to be planned by walkers and cyclists.