On the 27th of February 1935, the S.S. Blairgowrie, owned by the Clydeside Navigation Company, Glasgow, was lost at sea with all hands during a violent hurricane in the North Atlantic Ocean. Seven of her 26-man crew were from North Ayrshire.
The S.S. Blairgowrie departed from Swansea, South Wales, on 16th February 1935 bound for Boston, Massachusetts, carrying 4,750 tons of anthracite (a high-grade coal).
Ten days later, at 5.45pm on Tuesday 26th February 1935, the S.S. Blairgowrie sent out an urgent S.O.S. which was picked up by various wireless operators aboard ships in the North Atlantic. The Blairgowrie’s wireless operator reported that their co-ordinates were Latitude 48° 20’ N., Longitude 21° 7’ W., and that the ship’s steering gear was gone and her forward hatch had been stoved in by hurricane force winds.
The nearest ship, the S.S. ‘Beaverdale’ situated about 45 miles away, was prevented from rushing to her aid by the “mountainous head sea and terrific squalls.”
At 8.14pm the German liner S.S. ‘Europa,’ positioned roughly 60 miles away, received the following message from the Blairgowrie: “We are rolling in trough of sea: engine room makes water: engines not going: repairing No. 2 hatch and drifting: still require ships to stand by: nearest to come to the position given.”
As the S.S. Europa battled to make headway through the hurricane, she received several other messages from the S.S. ‘Blairgowrie. At 11.38pm they received news that the Blairgowrie was listing badly to port and didn’t expect to last until 2am. The last message received from the Blairgowrie came in at 12.08am on 27th February which read “Pretty hopeless O.M.; don’t think we can last another 15 minutes: lying right over on side: huge seas coming aboard every second.”
The S.S. Europa arrived at the Blairgowrie’s last known co-ordinates around 2.44am but could find no sign of her. She was joined by the S.S. ‘Blommersdijk’, the S.S. ‘American Banker,’ the S.S. ‘Beaverdale and the Cunard-White Star liner S.S. ‘Olympic.’ Together the five ships searched the area throughout the rest of the night, their vigil made more difficult by the hurricane force winds, mountainous waves and limited visibility. A few small pieces of wreckage were discovered but of the S.S. Blairgowrie there was no sign.
The S.S. Europa was the last to leave the search area at 11am.
A fleeting moment of hope came for the families of the crew, when a wireless message was received that a German trawler had picked up some of the Blairgowrie’s crew, but this report proved to be unfounded.
Two weeks later the relatives of the crew of the S.S. Blairgowrie received a statement from the owners of the ship confirming that the S.S. Blairgowrie had foundered at sea with the loss of all lives onboard.
A formal inquest into the sinking of the S.S. Blairgowrie was held between 18th June and 1st July 1935 at the Institution of Civil Engineers, Great George Street, Westminster, with the Rt. Hon. Henry Edward, Lord Merrivale sitting as Wreck Commissioner.
The seven North Ayrshire men onboard were:
1. Chief Engineer Alexander McMaster Fullarton, aged 54, of ‘Carbeth,’ Parkhouse Road, Ardrossan who was married to Jean McEwing and had one son. Alexander had worked on oil tankers for several years before securing work with the Clydeside Navigation Company, working first onboard the ‘Blairlogie’ before transferring to the Blairgowrie.
2. Boatswain William Dorian, aged 45, of 11 Hill Street, Ardrossan, who was married to Annie Mathieson and had four children. A naval reservist, he had served during World War One on a patrol ship. Just a few months previously, he had been shipwrecked off the south coast of Scotland.
3. John Bignell Stevenson, Able Seaman, 26 Barr Place, Ardrossan who was married to Margaret Gibson and had one child. John had been unemployed before finding work with the Clydeside Navigation Company.
4. Matthew Barr, aged 47, of 158 Glasgow Street, Ardrossan who was unmarried. Matthew had previously served on board the Baychimo, when she was trapped by a blizzard off of Alaska’s northern coastline, and the crew had to set up camp on the ice before being rescued.
5. Ship’s Carpenter, Charles McIntyre, aged 33, 2 Harbour Street, Saltcoats. He was married to Rachel Tyre G. Boyd and had one son. Charles had been employed at Ardrossan Dockyard before finding work on first the Blairlogie and then the Blairgowrie.
6. Second Mate Robert Fraser Bruce, aged 25, unmarried, of ‘Alexanderville,’ Scott Street, Largs.
7. Third mate T. Simpson, aged 26, of ‘Burnside,’ Corrie, Arran.
Tragically, Messrs Dorian, Stevenson, Barr, and McIntyre had only joined the S.S. Blairgowrie three weeks previously at Ardrossan Harbour, when she dropped off a cargo of scrap iron.