MV Plassy
 Plassy aground, photographed in 1962
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| History | |
|---|---|
| Name | Plassy (or Plassey) |
| Owner | Limerick Steamship Company |
| Operator | Roycroft Ltd |
| Builder | Cook, Welton & Gemmill, Beverley: Holmes |
| Yard number | 669 |
| Laid down | 23 May 1940 |
| Launched | 2 October 1940 |
| Commissioned | 20 Mar 1941 |
| Renamed |
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| Fate |
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| General characteristics | |
| Displacement | 585 tons |
| Length | 173.8 ft (53.0 m) |
| Beam | 27.6 ft (8.4 m) |
| Draught | 13.5 ft (4.1 m) |
| Propulsion | 8-cylinder 2S.C.SA Diesel |
| Speed | 12 knots (22 km/h) |
MV Plassy, or Plassey, was a steam trawler launched in late 1940 and named HMT Juliet in 1941. She was renamed Peterjon and converted to a cargo vessel in 1947. She was acquired by the Limerick Steamship Company in 1951 and renamed Plassy.
On 8 March 1960, while sailing through Galway Bay carrying a cargo of whiskey, stained glass and yarn, she was caught in a severe storm and ran onto Finnis Rock, Inisheer, Aran Islands.
A group of local Islanders, the Inisheer Rocket Crew,[1] rescued the entire crew from the stricken vessel using a breeches buoy — an event captured in a pictorial display at the National Maritime Museum in Dún Laoghaire.
Several weeks later, a second storm washed the ship off the rock and drove her ashore on the island.
The wreck still lies on the shoreline and is a tourist attraction. She is visible in the opening credits of the television series Father Ted. In early January 2014, Storm Christine shifted the wreck's position on the coast for the first time since 1991.[2]
References
- ^ http://www.independent.ie/lifestyle/scotch-on-the-rocks-30087314.html
- ^ Baker, Noel (13 January 2014). "Islands hit hard by storms now waiting for help". Irish Examiner. Retrieved 17 January 2014.
- "Old friends recall how they saved 11 lives from the deep". Irish Independent. 8 March 2010. Retrieved 22 March 2010.
- Harold Strong. "Plassey On The Rocks, Inisheer, Aran Islands". geograph.ie. Retrieved 22 March 2010.
External links
Shipwrecks and maritime incidents in 1960 | |
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| Shipwrecks |
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| Other incidents |
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