The Saint Brandan, a steel cargo steamship, was built by Scott & Sons of Bowling (Yard No.268) and launched on 28th October 1924 ordered by J & A Gardner & Company of Glasgow. The ship measured 145.0‘ x 23.8‘ x 10.1‘ and her tonnage was 386 gross tons, 154 net tons. She was powered by a 2 cylinder compound steam engine developing 69 registered horse power supplied by Fisher‘s Ltd., Paisley. The vessel remained under the same ownership until her loss. Her official number was 147936.
The Saint Brandan ran aground on the Cairns of Coll on Friday 19th October 1928. She was on a voyage from Wisbech in Cambridgeshire to Glasgow with a cargo of barley and had stopped off at Carbost on Skye to deliver part of her cargo to the Talisker Distillery and also to pick up a valuable cargo of £8,000 of whisky in barrels for Glasgow.
They left Carbost late Friday afternoon and headed south but sea conditions were not favourable with an increasing wind and poor visibility. Her skipper, Dugald Macdonald a native of Mull, decided to head for the shelter of the Sound of Mull and, as they cleared the island of Canna and its treacherous offshore reefs, he altered course intending to pass to the west of Ardnamurchan Point.
Conditions continued to deteriorate throughout the late evening and, when the mate came off watch at 21.00 hrs, the Saint Brandan was pitching and rolling through mountainous and confused seas. Sometime later they ran aground on what they later identified as the Cairns of Coll, a reef off the Northern tip of the Isle of Coll. The vessel continued to pitch and roll although she was caught fast between two rocks under her hull. Her nine crew retreated to the bridge as breakers rolled across the foredeck. They quickly salvaged dry bedding and anything that they could burn and set about making flares they could light to attract attention. Around 04.00 hrs the following day Captain Macdonald, fearful that his ship was about to break up, decided to abandon ship. With great difficulty they managed to launch both lifeboats but remained close to the wreck, taking what shelter they could from the sea and the signalling light of the fires aboard.
Around daybreak they caught sight of a trawler. Attracted by the fires, George Wright, the skipper of the Fleetwood trawler City of York, had come to investigate and found the wreck of the Saint Brandan and the two lifeboats and crew. The crew were safely boarded and taken to Tobermory where they were handed over to the agent of the Shipwrecked Mariners Society. Their stay was short as they boarded the MacBrayne steamer Cygnet to Oban later that morning and were back in Glasgow late on Saturday 20th October.
The wreck continued to be battered by the swell causing the vessel to be ‘hammered’ on the reef and bursting holes in the hull. It was clear she would eventually break up. Around 11.00 hrs on Saturday morning the wreck was seen to turn over and slide beneath the waves disappearing from view. The wreck site was visited by the SS Bonawe, another Gardiner vessel on the Monday morning but, after cruising around ‘the Cairns’ for two hours, no trace of the Saint Brandan could be found. A representative of the Liverpool and Glasgow Salvage Association had gone to Coll soon after the stranding and remained there until late October. His last message before leaving the island read; ‘Steamer St. Brandan: Position hopeless: vessels appears to be in two halves. Returning next steamer’. The last report on the wreck also mentioned that it lay in 9-10 fathoms.
To the best of our knowledge the location of the wreck remains unknown. The best guess would be lying down the side of the top islet of the Cairns of Coll, in approximate position 56° 42.652’N 06° 25.801’W.
We would like to thank Lloyd’s Register Foundation – Heritage & Education Centre for allowing us to reproduce documents from their archive in this article.