The Falls Line [1] was a Scottish shipping line in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The line operated ships of two companies; Wright, Breakenridge & Co. (from 1878 up to 1892) and Wright and Graham & Co. (from 1892). Both companies' ships used the same flag. [2] [3] The Falls Line does not appear to have operated ships after 1914, although some of the company's ships continued in operation for other owners.
The Falls Line's offices were at 111 Union Street, Glasgow, Scotland.
The Falls Line's ships were distinguished by all being named after Scottish river falls.
The Falls Line sailing vessels that were originally operated by Wright, Breakenridge & Co. were:
There was also another sailing vessel that was only ever operated by Wright, Graham & Co.
All were similar four-masted, iron-hulled, sailing vessels, and all were built by Russell & Co. Most were full-rigged ships, but three of the vessels were rigged as barques; Falls of Halladale , Falls of Garry, and Falls of Ettrick.
These steamships—also named for Scottish river falls—operated under the Falls Line flag managed by Wright, Graham & Co..
With only one exception, all the Falls Line ships—both sail and steam—were wrecked, lost without trace, or sank, either during or after the time that the ships were under the Falls Line's flag.
German or Austrian submarine attacks, during World War I, resulted in the sinking of five of the ships (three steamers and two sailing ships); UC-17 sank Falls of Afton; UB-57 sank Benito (ex-Falls of Nith); U-14 sank Teakwood (ex-Falls of Moness); [22] UB-47 sank Shinsan Maru (ex-Falls of Keltie); and UC-45 sank Teie (ex-Falls of Dee).
The Falls of Clyde, the oldest of the Falls Line ships, was and still is the sole survivor, although its future remained uncertain in 2023.
HMS Cheshire was a passenger ship that was built in Scotland in 1927 and scrapped in Wales in 1957. She belonged to Bibby Line, which ran passenger and cargo services between Rangoon in Burma and various ports in Great Britain, via the Suez Canal and Gibraltar. The Admiralty requisitioned her in 1939 and had her converted into an armed merchant cruiser (AMC). She was converted into a troopship in 1943, and returned to civilian service in 1948.
Falls of Clyde is the last surviving iron-hulled, four-masted full-rigged ship, and the only remaining sail-driven oil tanker. Designated a U.S. National Historic Landmark in 1989, she is now a museum ship in Honolulu, but her condition has deteriorated. She is currently not open to the public. In September 2008, ownership was transferred to a new nonprofit organization, the Friends of Falls of Clyde. Efforts to raise $1.5 million to get the ship into drydock did not succeed. In November 2021 HDOT accepted a bid from Save Falls of Clyde – International (FOCI) to transport the ship to Scotland for restoration.
SSNorge was a transatlantic ocean liner that was launched in 1881 in Scotland, and lost in 1904 off Rockall with great loss of life. Her final voyage was from Copenhagen, Kristiania and Kristiansand, bound for New York, carrying passengers many of whom were emigrants. It was the biggest civilian maritime disaster in the Atlantic Ocean until the sinking of Titanic eight years later, and is still the largest loss of life from a Danish merchant ship.
Falls of Halladale was a four-masted iron-hulled barque, built at Greenock in Scotland in 1886 for the Falls Line of Glasgow. She was operated in the long-distance trading of bulk cargos. On 14 November 1908, she was wrecked on the Australian coast near Peterborough, Victoria, due to the negligence of the captain.
William Denny and Brothers Limited, often referred to simply as Denny, was a Scottish shipbuilding company.
William Hamilton and Company was a British shipyard in Port Glasgow, Scotland. The company was bought by Lithgow Ltd., which later became Scott Lithgow and was nationalised as part of British Shipbuilders in 1977.
The Isthmian Steamship Company was a shipping company founded by US Steel in 1910.
SS Iron Knight was a bulk carrier that was built in Scotland in 1937 for the Australian Broken Hill Pty, Ltd (BHP) to carry iron ore. A Japanese submarine sank her by torpedo off the coast of New South Wales in 1943, killing 36 of her crew. A wreck that was identified as that of Iron Knight is protected by the Australian federal Underwater Cultural Heritage Act 2018.
HMS Hilary was a Booth Line passenger steamship that was built in Scotland in 1908 and operated scheduled services between Liverpool and Brazil until 1914. In the First World War she was an armed merchant cruiser (AMC) until a U-boat sank her in the Atlantic Ocean in 1917.
SS Clan Ranald is a steamship wreck off the coast of South Australia that is of unique historic importance. She is the only example in Australian waters of a turret deck ship: a type of steel-hulled cargo ship with an unusual hull shape that was built in the 1890s and 1900s.
SS Mantola was a British India Steam Navigation Company (BI) steamship that was built in 1916 and sunk by a German U-boat in 1917. She belonged to BI's "M" class of cargo liners. She was carrying an estimated 600,000 ounces of silver bullion when she was sunk. In 2017, 526 bars of silver were salvaged from the wreck and taken to the United Kingdom, in circumstances that remain undisclosed.
SS Iron Chieftain was a bulk carrier that was built in Scotland in 1937 for the Australian Broken Hill Pty, Ltd (BHP) to carry iron ore. A Japanese submarine sank her by torpedo off the coast of New South Wales in 1942, killing 12 of her crew. Her wreck is protected by the Australian federal Underwater Cultural Heritage Act 2018.
SS Copenhagen was a North Sea passenger ferry that was built in Scotland in 1907. She was the Great Eastern Railway (GER)'s first turbine steamship. In 1916 she was requisitioned as an ambulance ship. A U-boat sank her in 1917 with the loss of six lives.
SS Metagama was a transatlantic ocean liner That was launched in 1914 and scrapped in 1934. The Canadian Pacific Railway Co owned her and the Canadian Pacific Steamship Co operated her. She was a pioneering example of a "cabin class" passenger ship.
SS Jumna was a steam passenger liner that was built in Scotland in 1929 and sunk with all hands by a German cruiser on Christmas Day 1940. She was a ship in the fleet of James Nourse, Ltd, whose trade included taking indentured labourers from India to the British West Indies.
SS Tregarthen was a cargo steamship that was built in Scotland for the Hain Steam Ship Co in 1936. She was sunk with all hands by a U-boat in 1941 in the Battle of the Atlantic.
SS Hartlebury was a cargo steamship that was launched in Scotland in 1934 for J&C Harrison Ltd. A U-boat sank her in the Barents Sea in 1942 when Hartlebury was a member of the Arctic convoy Convoy PQ 17.
SS Verdala was a cargo and passenger steamship that was built in Scotland in 1913. Several times she changed owners and was renamed: as Mongolian Prince in 1917, Istok in 1928 and finally Maycrest in 1940.
HMS Salopian was a motor ship that was built in 1926 as the passenger ship Shropshire. She belonged to Bibby Line, which ran passenger and cargo services between Rangoon in Burma and various ports in Great Britain, via the Suez Canal and Gibraltar. The Admiralty requisitioned Shropshire in 1939, had her converted into an armed merchant cruiser (AMC), and renamed her Salopian. A German U-boat sank her in the Battle of the Atlantic in 1941.
