AYRSHIRE

Scottish

A steel steamer, 9188 tons.

Built 1903.

Lbd 460 x 58.8 x 31.89 ft.

Owned by the Scottish Shire Line which had vessels trading between England, Australia and New Zealand from the early days of steamships.

Left Australia for England in November 1926 with a cargo of wheat, wool, and meat; on 26 November, when about five hundred kilometres from Colombo, a fire broke out in her bunkers.

As the flames shot up more than fifty metres, the crew were rescued by the City of Nagpur and Aeneas, while the naval sloop Lupin took her in tow.

However the rudder on the Ayrshire jammed and the tow was abandoned, leaving her to be scuttled on 2 December 1926.

Information supplied by Shiplist

Photo Credits: The Alexander Turnbull Library New Zealand