historic Scottish ship towed out of Hawaii and deliberately sunk

 

An historic Clyde-built sailing ship has been deliberately sunk off the coast of Hawaii, sparking outrage from maritime heritage groups.

The Falls of Clyde, built in 1878 in Port Glasgow, was towed out to sea and scuttled about 25 miles off Honolulu on Wednesday.

Once a proud museum ship, the vessel had fallen into severe disrepair after decades of neglect and storm damage.

According to BBC reports, the Honolulu Harbor Board confirmed it had authorised the sinking, describing it as the final stage of a removal operation overseen by the Hawaii Department of Transportation.

Officials said several artefacts, including the ship’s nameplate, wheel and bell, were preserved and would be displayed locally.

The decision has been met with anger, however, from campaigners who had fought for more than a decade to bring the ship back to Scotland for restoration.


Falls of Clyde was the first of eight iron-hulled sailing ships built by Russell & Co. in Port Glasgow and once carried cargo across the Far East and Australasia.

In the early 1900s, it was converted into a tanker to carry paraffin to the Hawaiian Islands before being used as a floating fuel depot and later a museum exhibit.

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