River Clyde Photography: Flying Phantom

Thursday 28 August 2008

Flying Phantom

The Flying Phantom was built by Ferguson Shipbuilders Port Glasgow 1981.
She is seen here returning to James Watt Dock.

The Flying Phantom sank on the evening of 19 December 2007 with the loss of three lives.

The tug was escorting the 39738 grt bulk carrier RED JASMINE to Shieldhall with a cargo of animal feed and got into difficulty near Rothesay Dock Clydebank as the vessels made their way up river to Shieldhall.

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River Clyde Photography

Over half of Scotland’s population lives within a short distance of the River Clyde, from its humble beginnings in South Lanarkshire where it is created by two streams the Patrail Water and the Daer Water, the two streams meet at Watermeetings where the River Clyde starts.

It’s not long before it reaches picturesque Lanark and its famous waterfalls. It eventually finds its way to Glasgow who’s citizens in the 18^th century narrowed and deepened and ultimately industrialised the river making it one of the most famous shipbuilding rivers in the world, Glasgow did indeed make the Clyde and of course the Clyde made Glasgow, at its peak the Clyde shipyards built a fifth of the worlds ships.

During the 2^nd world war Winston Churchill said that “Liverpool and Glasgow were the lungs in which the country breathed through”. Ship building along with heavy industry is all but dead on the Clyde, the majority of our industrial heritage was swept away in the 70s and 80s leaving few traces of the rivers famous past.

Leaving Glasgow, the Clyde broadens as you pass the towns of Dumbarton, Port Glasgow and Greenock, who all played a part in making the Clyde famous through shipbuilding.

At the Tail of the Bank the river broadens once more and becomes the firth with its many sea lochs coastal towns and villages.

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