The "Industry" at Greenock in October 1873

"INDUSTRY" Built 1814

Oldest Original Clyde Paddle Steamer
Andrew McQueen, author of 'Clyde River Steamers Over The Last Fifty Yearts' (1923) and
'Echoes of Old Paddle Wheels' (1924) notes that improvements in steamboat construction
came so rapidly that vessels soon became antiquated, few remained in service more than a
dozen, or fifteen years at most and their frequent changes of name, of which no record was
kept, render the tracing of their history a matter of great difficulty.

The oldest steamer that I can recollect having seen is the "Industry", which was launched from
Fife's yard at Fairlie in 1814, just two years after the epoch-making "Comet", she must have
been one of the first half-dozen or so of the steamers on this side of the Atlantic and, like all
her contemporaries, was of course built of wood.

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She is said to have been in service up till 1873, but I only knew her as a hulk, lying on the mud
in Bowling dock in the 1880's.
She remained there for a number years, getting gradually more and more dilapidated, until
eventually, when a belated project was put forward for preserving the old relic, the hull was
found to be in such a state of decay that nothing could be done.

The machinery, however, was preserved and is now in Kelvingrove's museum.

1814 brought the "Morning Star", the "Princess Charlotte", the "Duke of Argyll", the "Marjory",
she afterwards sent to The Thames to inaugurate steam navigation on that river, the "Trusty"
and the "Industry", the two last-named were cargo-boats, although the "Industry" is said to
have been originally intended for a passenger boat but only to have made a couple of trips as
such.

Most of the boats of that time were short-lived, for improvements in steamboat construction
came so rapidly that vessels soon became antiquated, few remained in service more than a
dozen, or fifteen years at most and their frequent changes of name, of which no record was
kept, render the tracing of their history a matter of great difficulty.

In both respects the "Industry" was an exception to the rule, for she remained under her name
in the Glasgow and Greenock trade for nearly sixty years.

She was built of oak, at Fairlie, by William Fyfe, for a Mr. Cochrane, tanner in Glasgow, her
dimensions being 66.9 feet long by 14.7 feet beam by 8.1 feet depth.

The original side-lever by George Dobbie, of Tradeston, was removed in 1828 and replaced by
a new one, constructed by Caird & Co.

Along with the "Trusty" she went into the service of The Clyde Shipping Company, who
employed her partly as a lighter and partly as a tug, the steamer proving herself well adapted
for either purpose.

A newspaper article, giving an account of her history, appeared in April, 1857. It is headed
"The Oldest Steamer in The World" and mentions that the "Industry" had just reappeared after
an extensive overhaul of hull and machinery, in the course of which she had been equipped
with a folding funnel to enable her to berth above Glasgow Bridge.

The article also mentions that her 'sister ship', the "Trusty" was by that time out of existence,
but the belief is expressed that the "Industry" was still good for the work of a number of years.

Not long after this the old steamer was sunk through striking a submerged rock near Renfrew,
but was salved and survived to carry on her service for sixteen years longer.

Then she was withdrawn from the station and moored in Bowling dock, never, as it proved, to
resume sailing, for she lay there till her timbers rotted.

The engine, although in very bad condition from long exposure to the weather, was removed
and measures taken for its preservation as a relic of early marine engineering.