The steel steamship Granero was launched from the yard of Stavanger Stoberi and Dok in 1923. She measured 242.9′ x 37.3′ x 16.0′ and weighed 1318 gross tons, 745 net tons. Her owners were H Klaer and Company of Drammen in Norway.
The steamship Granero, under the command of Captain Christian Brandt, was en route from Hango, Finland to Grangemouth with a cargo of round wood for pit props on 23rd October 1933 when she encountered a dense fog and heavy rain as she neared the Scottish coast. Without warning, around 7:30pm, the ship ran aground in Crawton Bay and stuck fast. The distress flares were spotted by a local farmer who raised the alarm and the lifeboats from Stonehaven, Aberdeen and Montrose were launched and sped towards the grounded ship. The local coastguard and the local police also quickly arrived on the scene and successfully established communication with the men aboard the ship using flash lamp signals.
The Granero was badly holed and filling with water but initially the crew hoped that they could be pulled off and a tug was requested to attempt this. The rocket brigade soon arrived on the shoreline and, with a huge searchlight from the Aberdeen lifeboat illuminating the scene, they succeeded in getting a line onto the ship. For some time the crew persisted in their demand for a rescue tug but, after a few hours buffeted by the swell that was sweeping ashore, the crew finally agreed to leave their ship and, just after midnight, eleven men were brought ashore by breeches buoy. Captain Brandt, the first officer and five of the crew remained aboard to man the pumps still hoping that their ship could be saved and pulled off on the rising tide. A powerful tug had been dispatched from Aberdeen to attempt to save her. The rescued crewmen reported that, by the time they left their ship, there was about four feet of water in the stokehold indicating that the ship was quite badly damaged. Around 1pm the following day, with the ship in danger of breaking itís back, five of the remaining men were taken off by the Aberdeen lifeboat. Captain Brandt and the first officer stayed aboard hoping that at least something could be done to save the cargo but at 4pm he was finally persuaded to leave his ship and was taken off by lifeboat with his ship buckling and sinking beneath him. The following day the ship broke it’s back and the stern section disappeared before the bow section floated off and sank leaving only the mast visible above the surface. Over the next few days a large part of the wood cargo was washed ashore along the Kincardine coastline.
In the 1970’s some salvage was carried out on the wreck site and the 1 ton manganese bronze spare propeller was raised and recovered by Messrs Entwistle and Sons of Dundee.
The remaining wreckage of the Granero lies half a mile off shore east of Crawton Ness in approximate position 56° 54.456’N, 002° 11.396’W (WGS84). The wreckage is well broken
and spread across the seabed in depths from 13 – 16 metres.
