The steel steam trawler Morvina was launched from the Beverley yard of Cook, Welton and Gemmell Ltd (Yard No 303) on 27th June 1914. She measured 117.0′ x 22.0′ x 12.7′ and her tonnage was 226 gross tons, 109 net tons. She was powered by a triple expansion steam engine by C D Holmes and Co Ltd., Hull delivering 75 registered horse power.
Extract Lloyd’s Register 1931
Built to the order of John Green of Grimsby she was registered there as GY300. After brief period under the ownership of Henry Croft Baker and Sons Ltd of Grimsby she was requisitioned for war service by the Admiralty in 1915. She survived the war and was sold to the Savoy Fishing Co Ltd, Grimsby at the cessation of hostilities. A number of ownership changes followed before she was acquired by her final owners, the Kottingham Trawling Co Ltd, in 1930 continuing to operate out of Grimsby.
Steam trawler Morvina under way
On 13th May 1936 she was homeward bound after a successful fishing trip under the command of her skipper P Coull with a crew of eight men aboard. As they approached Orkney they encountered a dense fog. Around 7am, as they slowly entered the Westray Firth, Morvina ran aground at Kili Holm, a small islet lying north of Egilsay. The weather was good and the sea fairly calm with a gentle swell so the skipper was confident his vessel, which was lying with a slight list to starboard, could be pulled off the rocks safely. He sent out radio messages requesting a tug. The message was picked up by the steamer Earl Sigurd on her regular trip out to North Ronaldsay. The steamer stood by Morvina and picked up most of the crew from the ship’s boat leaving the skipper, the mate on one other crewmen aboard. At high tide and with an increasing westerly swell, with the assistance of the Orkney Islands mail boat, a line was attached and the Earl Sigurd attempted to tow her off. However, almost immediately, the hawser snapped and, with the force of the swell, the trawler rolled back and over onto her port side. Luckily by this time the Stromness lifeboat under the command of coxswain Linklater had arrived at the scene and was skilfully steered alongside the Morvina allowing two of the men remaining aboard to jump across to safety. Last to leave the ship was the skipper who jumped into the sea and was quickly picked up by the lifeboat. As the lifeboat pulled away from the Morvina, she rolled over again and sank close to the rocks with only the starboard rail remaining visible above the surface.
The scattered wreckage of the Morvina lies in approximate position 59° 10.826’N, 002° 55.116’W off the north tip of Kili Holm, Egislay in 14 metres. The wreckage, which lies among rocks and gullies, was identified by the recovery of the ship’s bell by divers in 1986.
