The last available Clyde-built sailing ship in the world rescued by the Clyde Maritime Trust in the drama of a Spanish auction and brought back to the river of her creation for the purpose of permanent display.
The story had begun in 1896 at the Port Glasgow yard of Anderson Rodger and Company, where the Glenleewas built as a large steel barque for Sterling and Company of Glasgow. in all truth, she had arrived at the tail-end of' her era, when the world was already by-passing commercial sail and tile finelined clippers were giving way to large iron and steel carriers which would carry maximum cargo under the most economical rig.
In that uncertain climate the Glenleewas sold on to Ferguson's of Dundee within two years and, not far into the new century, she was sold again, to R Thomas and Co., managers of the Flint Castle Shipping Company of Liverpool. Already the name Glenleehad been replaced bythe -Islamount, which was to be found on trips to Rotterdam, sailing for Vancouver and down to Perti, Chile and back to Falmouth. Indeed she was all over the world as a bulk carrier.
The First World War offered sailing boats an extended life but the end of that conflict sent many a windjammer to the scrap-heap. The Islamount made her last voyage under the Red Ensign in November 1919, sailing from.Java to Cette in France with a cargo of sugar.

She was then sold to Italian owners in Genoa and given her third name, Clarastella, but that was short-lived. For she was on the move again, this time to Spain, whose government was looking for a naval training ship. She emerged from alterations with yet another name, the Galatea, now powered by twin Atlas diesels and at full strength carrying 17 officers, 30 petty officers and 260 ratings and boys. That was in contrast to her days under the Red Ensign when her crew didn't extend beyond 28.
Thus the Galatea settled to her training role with the Royal Spanish Navy, which lasted from 1922 till 1969, when she was laid up.
In 1990 she was located by the Clyde Maritime Trust in Seville Harbour and a survey indicated that she was still in a condition worthy of restoration. Mr Hamish Hardie of Glasgow, one of the Maritime trustees, set sail for the rigors of a Spanish auction, the currency problems of which brought some anxious moments of drama.
But he was victorious - and it took £60,000 to survey, buy and insure the old Clyde ship and secure it in Seville Harbour. Nearly 100 years after her birth, the 245 foot vessel was thus towed back to where she started. Her hull was painted at Greenock before she proceeded up to Yorkhill Quay in Glasgow.
The Trust launched a public appeal and embarked on the restoration. In 1993 Lord Provost Bob Innes of Glasgow gave her back the name with which she had started. The Glenlee was home for good.

The Glenlee

This page last modified on Friday, February 28, 2003

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