This vessel was a wooden hulled steam drifter, launched in April 1913 from the yard of W & G Stephen of Banff. The first and only owner was George A. West & Company of Macduff although the drifter was requisitioned for war service between 1915-1919 as an anti-submarine net vessel and fitted with a 3 pdr deck gun. The vessel had dimensions of 87.0’ x 18.0’ x 9.3’ and tonnage of 86 gross. The 25 hp steam engine was provided by Elliott & Garrood of Beccles. The vessel was named George A. West after her owner and was registered in Banff in May 1913 as BF544, her official number was 127360.
Sister ship to the George A. West
The George A. West was en-route to Oban when she grounded on Laith Sgeir reef off the south west side of the Isle of Lismore, in the early hours of Saturday 10 September 1927.
Despite attempts to reverse off the reef, the skipper, George West and his crew eventually had to abandon the vessel when she started to heel over on the ebb tide. Fortunately they were taken aboard another drifter, the Pride of Buchan and safely landed at Oban.
The stranded drifter probably floated off the reef and sank in deep water on the next high tide. The registry for the George A. West was closed on 12 January 1928.
The Wreck Today
The wreck lies around 200 metres north of Laith Sgeir in position 56° 28.509’N 005° 36.178’W. Lying approximately east/west the stern points towards Lismore lighthouse in general seabed depths of 35 metres, rising 3-4 metres at most. The wreck is of a wooden hulled fishing vessel with large boiler and steam engine central to the wreckage and a 3 bladed propellor at the stern. The wreck is collapsing but there is still plenty to see and investigate. For a timber hulled vessel there is a lot of metalwork still remaining, we believe this is from all deck housings, main hatch combing, masts and rigging. It is also likely that there were some alterations and additions for her time as an anti-submarine net vessel which may have been retained when she reverted to fishing in 1920. The wreck is in a tidal area so a slack water dive.
