S Y Scotia - 1902-04 Antarctic Expedition

[Caledonia]

Inspired by the excellent BBC 4 documentary shown on Tuesday 21 August on Dr William S Bruce the Scottish Antarctic Explorer (still available on iPlayer), I was toying with the idea of scratch building a model of his Vessel the S Y Scotia refitted at the Ailsa Shipyard, Troon, Scotland.

Have Googled for drawings without success and wondered if any readers have any ideas where I could look for drawings, if indeed they exist.

Many thanks

Derek

 

[tecdes]

Had a little dig myself Derek sounds an interesting project.

Ship Design and Construction Drawings, 1862 - 1909

Buying a ship plan : Contact & enquiries : RMG

FreeShipPlans

Liverpool museums - Merseyside Maritime Museumarchive/pdf/Ship...

You may have already located these.

Wonder if there is a mueum on ship building in Scotland who may be able to help.

Laurie

 

[Caledonia]

Many thanks Laurie, You have given me some new leads which I wil follow up. Many thanks for your time and effort.

Cheers Derek

 

[Ian M]

You might find this interesting Derek

Scotia expedition

Ian M

 

[Caledonia]

Many thanks Ian, These photo's will be very useful for the finer detail. I am still looking for a source for the drawings especially the hull lines etc. Appreciate your time and effort. I think she would make for an attractive and interesting model. Cheers Derek

 

[Ian M]

I will ask some of my ship builder buddies if they know of anything-

Ian M

 

[Caledonia]

I will ask some of my ship builder buddies if they know of anything-Ian M

Thanks again Ian. Cheers Derek

 

[Caledonia]

I will ask some of my ship builder buddies if they know of anything-Ian M

Hi again Ian. There is a slight Danish connection. in 1891–92 the ship was used by the Danish naval officer, Lieutenant C. Ryder, to explore the inner recesses of Scoresby Sund, finally visiting Angmagssalik. In 1902.

 

[CDW]

Found this on the Glasgow digital library (you've probably already been here)

The Ship,

There's not really a lot on t'interweb about this ship, even in it's original "SS Hekla" fitting.

View attachment 52524

 

[Caledonia]

Found this on the Glasgow digital library (you've probably already been here)The Ship,

There's not really a lot on t'interweb about this ship, even in it's original "SS Hekla" fitting.

Thanks Colin, I found this excellent website, its very good. I very much appreciate your time and effort. I have contacted the National Maritime Museum at Greenwich and some of the Scottish Maritime Museums, so await replies. Thanks again, if I make any progress I will update this posting. Cheers Derek

 

[tecdes]

Thanks Colin, I found this excellent website, its very good. I very much appreciate your time and effort. I have contacted the National Maritime Museum at Greenwich and some of the Scottish Maritime Museums, so await replies. Thanks again, if I make any progress I will update this posting. Cheers Derek

Yes would be very interested to find how you get on Derek. Always amazes me how Britain seems to have been so organised & kept so many records of so many things.

Funniest is this looking for the King (cannot remember which one) in the Leicester Car Park. Came up on the news just like that & Pauline & I burst out laughing.

Laurie

 

[Caledonia]

Hi Laurie, Thought I would update you.

No luck so far: -

The Norwegian Maritime Museum, Oslo have no drawings of the Hekla.

Dundee Heritage who own the RRS Discovery, have no information on the SY Scotia.

Have had acknowledgements from Glasgow University and the National Maritime Museum,Greenwich who are both still searching their records.

There is supposed to be an excellent book, see below which is supposed to give a wealth of detail for the Marine Modeller, but at £65 for paperback and £230 for hardback, I am reluctant to commit sight unseen.

View attachment 50073

Finally there are plans available, see bottom of website page for 'Auxiliary Barque Rigged Whaler' (Auxiliary Barque Rigged Whaler - Elevation and Plans of Each Deck. | Brown, Son and Ferguson Ltd - Nautical Publishers, Printers and Ships Stationers) of a vessel similar to the RRS Discovery, but since the Discovery and Scott's other ship the SS Terra Nova were significantly longer than the SY Scotia I will see what if anything Glasgow and Greenwwich come up with first.

Will update you again. Cheers Derek

View attachment 52795

 

[Polux]

Hi Derek.

Here there are interesting models, Discovery and Terra Nova, but not Scotia (sorry). Probably you could obtain help or information to obtain the plans.

Good luck and all the best.

Model Ships | Replica Scale Ship Model Builders | Wooden Sailing Ship Models

 

[Caledonia]

Thanks Polux, I am aware of this website, but no luck. Cheers Derek

 

[Caledonia]

Another update. The National Maritime Museum, Greenwich have no Drawings, but they have referred me to this website. GL Watson | Archive This company unbelievably were the naval architects that worked on the SY Scotia conversion originally (for no fee), and are still in existance. As you can see they have a very extensive archive. Have contacted them to see what they have. Cheers Derek

 

[Caledonia]

Just another update, Glasgow University Archives have advised that they have no drawings.

Have contacted G L Watson again, I originally filled in one of their online forms which seems to have gone astray, followed it up with an email on Monday, and they replied and promised to search their archives. NMM Greenwich seemed pretty certain that they will have the refit drawings for purchase, only hope these include hull line drawings. Derek

 

[CDW]

seems like they're being as useful as they can be.

lets hope they come through for you Derek.

 

[Caledonia]

Hi Colin,

Just heard from G.L. Watson, disappointingly they do not hold any plans of the S.Y. Scotia. I have 4-Aircraft and 2-Helicopters in my stash to complete, so when finished I will look at this again, there are a few Auxiliary Steam Whalers built in Aberdeen in the late 19th century which look very similar to the Scotia, and have similar dimensions also, so all is not lost. Watch this space as they say. Derek

 

[tecdes]

Hi Laurie, Thought I would update you.There is supposed to be an excellent book, see below which is supposed to give a wealth of detail for the Marine Modeller, but at £65 for paperback and £230 for hardback, I am reluctant to commit sight unseen.

View attachment 50073

Finally there are plans available, see bottom of website page for 'Auxiliary Barque Rigged Whaler' (Auxiliary Barque Rigged Whaler - Elevation and Plans of Each Deck. | Brown, Son and Ferguson Ltd - Nautical Publishers, Printers and Ships Stationers) of a vessel similar to the RRS Discovery, but since the Discovery and Scott's other ship the SS Terra Nova were significantly longer than the SY Scotia I will see what if anything Glasgow and Greenwwich come up with first.

Will update you again. Cheers Derek

Derek it may be worth having a word with the Librarian at your Public Library. Ours will look up & try to find if they are available in the central library.

Laurie

 

[Caledonia]

Thanks Laurie,

I might invest in the paperback edition of this book later on, I have one or two contacts who may have this book; in the meantime I am contacting the Aberdeen City Archivist, I understand they have plans of some old ships, The Aberdeen Maritime Museum(AMM) do not go back as far as 1845. The Aberdeen built 'Eclipse' is very similar in size and configuration to the Scotia, see photo of a model below displayed in the AMM. The Scotia had additional Laboratories housed on deck, and of course kennels for the dogs. Derek

View attachment 51130

p.s. Looks as if they found your King.

View attachment 53738