The Saint Kearan, a steel cargo steamship was built by Scott & Sons of Bowling (Yard No.316) and launched on 6 June 1929 for her new owners J & A Gardner & Company of Glasgow. The ship measured 185.4’ x 28.6’ x 10.6’ and tonnage was 691 gross, 318 net. She was powered by a triple expansion steam engine developing 93 hp supplied by Aitchison, Blair Limited of Clydebank. The vessel remained under the same ownership until her loss, her official number was 160256.
SS Saint Kearan – 1929
The Saint Kearan sank following a collision with a large French troopship in the early hours of Friday 17 May 1940. The collision took place around 8 miles south east of Pladda lighthouse and resulted in the loss of the Saint Kearan along with her valuable cargo of 800 tons of coal.
Builders Drawings Yd 316 – part of Lloyd’s Survey data
The Saint Kearan had left Ayr harbour around 11 pm the previous evening bound for Londonderry, on one of her regular trips to ports of Northern Ireland and north west England. Around 2.00am on the 17 May the Saint Kearan strayed into the path of an outbound convoy namely FR.1 a convoy of four large French troop transports with supporting French and British naval escorts. To be specific, the Saint Kearan collided with the requisitioned French liner, the Explorateur Grandidier (10,268t). The collier must have been overshadowed by the liner, which in comparison was 15 times the gross tonnage of the small collier.
Explorateur Grandidier – 1940
The French vessels Koutobia, Chantilly, Compienge and Explorateur Grandidier were originally bound for Norway as part of convoy FP.5 and were loaded with French troops but were diverted to the Clyde where they arrived on 10 May. Due to the changing position in Norway, the convoy was recalled and sailed for Brest on the afternoon of 16 May. The Explorateur Grandidier may well have been damaged as a result of the collision, or as the liners were packed with French troops they may have maintained their speed and destination of Brest. What ever the reason, the Explorateur Grandidier was allocated a separate escort, the British destroyer HMS Vanquisher who safely escorted her back to Brest.
The eleven crew of the Saint Kearan and her master, Captain Hannah were all rescued following the collision. It is not clear where they landed but may have been onboard escort vessels Jason or Gleaner who were relieved off the Skerries and returned to patrol duties on the Clyde.
The Wreck Today
The wreck of the Saint Kearan lies approximately 5.5 WNW of Turnberry Point in position 55°21.167’N 04° 57.767’W. The wreck is substantially intact, lying over on its starboard side and is oriented approximately 130/310 degrees with bow point towards the Ayrshire coast. Seabed depths around the wreck are generally 54-55 metres with a least depth over the bridge section of 49 metres. There appears to be little or no tide on the wreck, even on spring tides, visibility is generally 4-5 metres.
The wreck appears to have fallen away towards the stern, parts maybe below seabed level, this may also suggest this area damaged as a result of the collision. Nets are also draped across the wreck around midships, there is also a smaller section towards the bow on the upper rail.
Lloyd’s Casualty Report – Saint Kearan
We would like to thank Lloyd’s Register Foundation – Heritage & Education Centre for allowing us to reproduce documents from their archive in this article.
