The Cragsman was a small coastal steamship built by the Irvine Shipbuilding Company and launched on 28th May 1903. She measured 110.4′ x 20.3′ x 8.2′, and her tonnage was 181 gross tons, 68 net tons. She was powered by a compound steam engine by W White, Greenock delivering 41 nominal horse power
Cragsman underway
Lloyds register 1913
The Cragsman drifted ashore and stranded on a rock called Norway Craig 700 yards north of Crammag Head around 8pm on Saturday 15th November, 1913. At the time she was on a voyage from Glasgow to Liverpool with a cargo of granite sets for her owners J. Kennedy & Sons, when she sprang a leak off Portpatrick around 6pm. The pumps were unable to cope with the steady influx of water and her boiler fire was eventually extinguished. Out of control and drifting rapidly towards the coast in stormy conditions, the eight crew decided to abandon ship and rowed south for West Tarbet Bay where they landed around 11pm.
The Cragsman lay partially submerged with only her bows visible at the base of the cliffs for the remainder of that month and eventually became a constructive total loss after a series of westerly gales.
The wreck of the Cragsman lies in position 54°40.179’N, 004°57.964’W (GPS) to the west side of a small inlet which must be Norway Craig. The remains lie scattered down a shelving rock and boulder slope, inhabited by many colourful crustaceans and fish.
The wreckage extends from about 8 metres where the bow and winch can be found to around 15 metres where the remains of the boiler lie upright. A large pile of granite setts can be found in the 11 -13 metre mark, although smaller quantities are strewn across the site. This is a very scenic dive site and with the tide running south you can drift towards Crammag Head and across the remains of the barque Catalina and the steamship Mazzepa.
