The steel steamship Haller was launched from the Selby yard of Cochrane and Sons Ltd (Yard No 450) on 12th March 1906. She measured 178.0′ x 30.0′ x 12.3′ and her tonnage was 689 gross tons, 285 net tons. She was powered by a triple expansion steam engine by C D Holmes Ltd., Hull delivering 93 registered horse power. Ordered by the George Haller Ltd, Hull she operated for this owner until she was purchased by the Dundee, Perth and London Shipping Co Ltd in 1919. Her new owners renamed her Gowrie. Based in Dundee she mainly operated on the North Sea coast routes in the years between the two world wars.
Steamship Gowrie (as Haller) underway
Lloyds register 1939
On 9th January 1940 Gowrie was en route from Hull to Aberdeen with 350 tons of general cargo when she was attacked by a German bomber. The explosion fatally damaged the ship but thankfully the crew managed to escape in the ship’s boat before she sank.
Lloyds voyage card
The wreck in position 56° 57.386′ N 002° 01.795′ W is identified in the Hydrographic Department records as Gowrie but in fact the wreck of the Gowrie lies in position 56°57.646′ N, 002° 04.073′ W in 53 metres with a least depth clearance of 49 metres. Recent reports from the site indicate that the wreck has been badly broken up in recent years, perhaps due to the activities of rogue salvors.
We’d like to thank Lloyds Register Foundation for their permission to use the voyage card from their collection in this article.
