GLENEARN (2) was built in 1905 by Swan, Hunter & Wigham
Richardson at Newcastle with a tonnage of 4461grt, a length
of 381ft 6in a beam of 47ft 5in and a service speed of 10 knots.
She was laid down as the Netherby Hall but launched as Glenearn
as part of the four ships supplied by Ellerman Hall Line for
the Far East service. On 15 January 1906 she undertook the first
sailing under the scheme.. In 1910 she reverted back to Ellerman
Hall Lines and Netherby Hall. On 10th January 1917 she was captured
by the German Auxilliary cruiser Mowe (ex Pungo) 300 miles north
from Pernambuco. After some of the cargo had been removed the
ship was sunk with bombs. The 250 prisoners aboard the Mowe
were transferred to the Hudson Maru which had been captured
a week earlier and taken to Pernambuco.
GLENEARN (3) was built in 1914 by Bartram
& Sons at Sunderland with a tonnage of 4828grt, a length
of 390ft, a beam of 50ft 5in and a service speed of 10 knots.
She was illegally seized by the Germans in Hamburg at the outbreak
of the First World War. (The Hague Convention gave ships 24
hours to leave port on the declaration of war). The returned
to British ownership under the Shipping Controller in December
1918 and was put up for sale in March 1919. Acquired by William
Rhomas Shipping Co. of London in 1920 she was renamed Cambrian
Princess. She was sold on to 'Corrada' Soc. Anon.di Nav. of
Genoa and renamed Dante and she last appeared in Lloyds Register
in 1941 and was probably a war loss.
GLENGYLE (3) was built in 1914 by Hawthorn,
Leslie & Co. at Newcastle with a tonnage of 9395grt, a length
of 500ft 2in, a beam of 62ft 3in and a service speed of 12.4
knots. She was the company's largest ship at the time and their
first twin screwed vessel.. On 1st January 1916 she was torpedoed
by U-38 (Lt-Com Max Valentiner) 240 mile north-east of Malta
during a passage from Vladivostock to London via Singapore with
18 passengers and 102, Ten persons died. Two days earlier Valentiner
had sunk the P&O liner Persia with the loss of 335 lives,
an act which inflamed neutral opinion against Germany and branded
him a war criminal.
GLENIFFER (2) was built in 1915 by Hawthorn,
Leslie & Co. at Newcastle with a tonnage of 9429grt, a length
of 550ft 2in, a beam of 62ft.3in and a service speed of 12.4
knots. A sister of the Glengyle she immediately assumed war
time service and in April 1917 was taken over under the Liner
Requisition Scheme. She made her first sailing to the Far East
flying the Glen houseflag in February 1919.During the Second
World War she was used by the Shipping Controller on various
routes away from the Far East when Japan entered the war. Returning
to the Glen & Shire service in 1946 she was too slow alongside
the more modern ships and, as a result, was broken up at Barrow
in Furness by Thos. W Ward in 1947.
GLENOGLE (2) was built in 1916 by Hawthorne,
Leslie & Co at Newcastle with a tonnage of 7692grt, a length
of 469ft 8in, a beam of 58ft 2in and a service speed of 12knots.
On 27th March 1917 during a voyage from Yokohama to London and
Hull she was torpedoed by U-24 207 miles south west of the Fastnet
Rock in the Atlantic.
GLENARTNEY (3) was built in 1915 by
Harland & Wolff at Irvine, Glasgow with a tonnage of 7263grt,
a length of 245ft 8in, a beam of 35ft 2in and a service speed
of 12 knots. She was launched as the Montezuma (3) for Elder,
Dempster & Co but from the onset had engine problems. Transferred
to Glen Line in September 1915 she was the company's first motor
vessel. On 6th February 1918, during a passage from Singapore
to London, she was torpedoed by UC-54 30 miles north-east of
Cap Bon in the notorious narrows between Sicily and Tunisia
where many merchant ships were to meet their end during both
world wars.
GLENAMOY was built in 1916 by Harland
& Wolff at Irvine, Glasgow with a tonnage of 4656grt, a
length of 436ft, a beam of 35ft 2in and a service speed of 12
knots .On 1st February during a voyage from Shanghai to London
she was damaged by a torpedoed fired from U-33, 240 miles from
Alexandria, but managed to limp into port for repairs. By 1936
her engines were obsolete and replacement was discounted because
of the availability of ships as a result of the Great Depression.
The ship was sold under the 'Scrap & Build' scheme (British
Shipping [Assistance] Act 1935) to Springwell Shipping Co. of
London and used as part collateral against two loans of £75,700
to build their Springwave and White Shipping Co's Biddlestone.
Later in 1936 she was sold to Metal Industries for £11,500
to be broken up at Rosyth.
GLENGYLE (4) was built in 1915 by Harland
& Wolff at Glasgow with a tonage of 6420grt, a length of
399ft 1in, a beam of 52ft 2in and a service speed of 12 knots.
After her trials she was handed over to F Leyland & Co as
the Bostonian but after two contractual voyages from Liverpool
to USA was acquired by Glen Line and renamed Glengyle.On 10th
June 1917 she was chased by a submarine off Valencia in the
Mediterranean but escaped with only some shell splinter damage.
In 1923 she was sold to the Pacific Steam Navigation Co. and
renamed Lautaro as their first motorship on the Liverpool-Panama-South
America service. Put up for sale in December 1946 at the end
of a voyage from Antofagasta to Liverpool she was purchased
by Jenny S.S. Co. of London, renamed River Swift, and commenced
her first sailing from London to Cuba on 22nd July 1947. During
a voyage from Immingham to Buenos Aires in May 1948 she reported
a fire in her cargo of coal which was followed by a further
outbreak in Rio de Janeiro on 28th July. Written off as beyond
repair she was broken up locally in 1949.
GLENAVY was built in 1917 by Harland
& Wolff at Irvine, Glasgow with a tonnage of 5075grt, a
length of 385ft 1in, a beam of 52ft 2in and a service speed
of 10.5 knots. She was sold to the Pacific Steam Navigation
Co. in 1923, renamed Lagarto, and was fitted with the new airless
injection system which became standard on oil engined ships.
During the Second World War she serviced the South American
routes. In December 1947 she arrived back in Liverpool with
engine trouble, was laid up at Birkenhead and, subsequently,
broken up at Troon in 1948.
GLENAPP (1) was built in 1918 by Barclay,
Curle & Co. at Glasgow with a tonnage of 7374grt a length
of 450ft, a beam of 55ft 9in and a service speed of 14 knots.
She had been ordered by the Tzarist Government of Russia but
when work ceased following the Revolution she was purchased
by Glen Line. Sold on to Elder Dempster's British & South
African Steam Navigation Co in 1917 she was rebuilt with passenger
accommodation for 225 First, 140 Second and Third Class pasengers
and became the world's first major motor liner. Renamed Aba
with an increased tonnage of 7937grt she commenced her first
voyage from Liverpool to Lagos in November 1921. On 27th August
1922 she towed the Portuguses destroyer Guardiana into Las Palmas
and, 7 years later on 4th December 1929, was herself towed into
Queenstown by Smit's tug Zwarte Zee after severe weather disabled
her steering gear. By 1933 after a grounding in Lagos and a
lay-up at Dartmouth she was back in service with Elder Dempster
Lines Ltd. In September 1939 she was converted into a hospital
ship for 450 patients with 83 medical staff and a crew of 121.
She took part in the Norway campaign in April 1940, was damaged
by bombs during the battle for Crete on1 7th May 1941 and on
15th March 1944, in Hospital ship livery, was hit by bombs off
Naples. She returned to Elder Dempster's on 7th January 1947
and in the following April was sold to Bawtry S.S. Co for £55,000
and renamed Matrona. On 31st October 1947 as her pig iron ballast
was being removed at Bidston Dock, Birkenhead she capsized.
Salvaged in June 1948 she was sold and broken up at Barrow-in-Furness
later that year.
GLENADE was built in 1919 by Harland
& Wolff in Glasgow with a tonnage of 6682grt, a length of
406ft 2in, a beam of 52ft 2 in and a service speed of 11 knots.
One of class of four vessels she was sold to the Pacific Steam
Navigation Company in 1923 and renamed Loreto. When part of
a six ship convoy which was attacked by the German battlecruisers
Scharnhorst and Gneisenau on 22nd February, 194, 400 miles east
of Newfoundland, under the command of Captain Philip Hockey
she managed to escape into a fog bank and was the only survivor.
In 1942 she caught fire in Valparaiso and a fire bomb planted
by five men was thought to be the cause. Sold to Motor Lines
Ltd for £200,000 in 1952 and renamed Barbeta she was scrapped
in November 1952 at Briton Ferry by the British Iron & Steel
Co.
GLENARIFFE, the second sister, was built
in 1919 by Harland & Wolff in Glasgow with a tonnage of
6665grt, a length of 406ft 2 in, a beam of 52ft 2in and a service
speed of 11 knots. She was sold to the Pacific Steam Navigation
Company in 1924 and renamed Loriga. In 1951 she was sold to
the Audax S.S.Co. of Glasgow and renamed Ocean Venus and in
1952 ownership was with Ocean Transportation Co of Panama with
the same name and with whom she completed one voyage to Japan
where she was broken up in 1953.
GLENLUCE, the third sister, was built
in 1919 by Harland & Wolff in Glasgow with a tonnage of
6755grt, a length of 405ft 9in, a beam of 54ft 2in and a service
speed of 11 knots. In February 1936 she was sold to P.Wigham
Richardson of Newcastle and renamed Ionopolis. By 1937 she was
owned by Skibs A/s Vigrid with Brun & von der Lippe as managers
and named Vigo. She did one season in the Antarctic as a whaling
supply ship before being sold to Red A/B Jamaica & Stockholm,
with Sven Salen as manager, and renamed Korshamn (1) for their
Sweden - West Indies service. On 17th March 1941 she was torpedoed
by U-99 (Kretschmer) while forming part of convoy HX 112.
GLENTARA, the last sister, was built
in 1919 by Harland & Wolff in Glasgow with a tonnage of
6754grt, a length of 406ft 2in, a beam of 52ft 2in and a service
speed of 11 knots. In 1928 she was sold to British & African
S.N. Co. with Elder Dempster & Co. as managers and renamed
Milverton. She was sold again on 15th August 1932 to W.R. Carpenter
& Co of Suva and renamed Salamaua. In 1947 she was transferred
to Pacific Shipowners Ltd of Suva and, in 1948, renamed Lautoka
with whom she served until 1953 when she was broken up in Japan.
GLENSTRAE (2) was built in 1918 by Swan,
Hunter & Wigham Richardson at Newcastle with a tonnage of
6430grt, a length of 412ft 2in, and beam of 55ft 9in and a service
speed of 11 knots. She was launched as the War Climax and the
prototype of the 'N 1' standard type designed by Harland &
Wolff. Sixty three such vessels were planned, being prefabricated
inland by non marine engineers and assembled in six shipyards,
but only thirty four were completed. The Glenstrae was acquired
by the company in October 1919 but in August 1920 she was sold
to the Union-Castle Line and renamed Banbury Castle. In 1931
she was sold to G. Vergottis of Piraeus and renamed Rokos. On
23rd December 1941 she struck a mine off Harwich and was beached.
She was towed off but went aground again, broke her back, and
became a total loss.
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