 Plassy aground, photographed in 1962 | |
| History | |
|---|---|
 United Kingdom | |
| Name | Juliet |
| Namesake | Juliet |
| Builder | Cook, Welton & Gemmell,Beverley |
| Yard number | 669 |
| Laid down | 23 May 1940 |
| Launched | 2 October 1940 |
| Commissioned | 20 Mar 1941 |
| Renamed |
|
| Fate | converted to cargo vessel, sold 1947 |
| History | |
 United Kingdom | |
| Name | Plassy (orPlassey) |
| Namesake | Plassey, County Limerick |
| Owner | Limerick Steamship Company |
| Operator | Roycroft Ltd |
| Port of registry | London |
| Acquired | 1951 |
| Fate |
|
| General characteristics[1] | |
| Displacement | 545 tons |
| Length | 164.0 ft (50.0 m) |
| Beam | 27.8 ft (8.5 m) |
| Draught | 11.0 ft (3.4 m) |
| Propulsion |
|
| Speed | 12.25 knots (22.69 km/h) |
| Armament |
|
MVPlassy, orPlassey, was a cargo ship in the Irish Merchant Service, operating during the 1950s. It was built as HMSJuliet, aShakespearian-classnaval trawler of theRoyal Navy at the start of theSecond World War, and sold into merchant service at the end of the conflict. AsPlassy it was wrecked in a storm offInisheer, and is best known as the wreck seen on the foreshore of 'Craggy Island' in the TV comedy,Father Ted.
Juliet was built byCook, Welton & Gemmell atBeverley,Yorkshire, at the beginning of World War II. It was ordered on 12 December 1939 and laid down the following May. It was launched on 2 October 1940 and entered service with the Royal Navy on 20 March 1941 as a minesweeper.[2]Juliet served in home waters until November 1942 when it took part inOperation Torch, the Allied landings in French North Africa.[3] Thereafter it worked in the Mediterranean. At the end of the conflictJuliet was no longer required by the Royal Navy and in 1947 it was converted into a cargo vessel and sold into the British Merchant service asPeterjon.
In 1951 it was acquired by theLimerick Steamship Company and renamedPlassy after thePlassey area near Limerick, which was in turn named afterRobert Clive (Baron Plassey), who took his title from the 1757Battle of Plassey, in India.[4] AsPlassy (sometimes spelledPlassey)[5][6] it operated around the coast of Ireland carrying general cargo until her loss in 1960.
On 8 March 1960, while sailing throughGalway Bay carrying a cargo ofwhiskey,stained glass andyarn, it was caught in a severe storm and ran onto Finnis Rock,Inisheer,Aran Islands.
A group of local Islanders, theInisheer Rocket Crew,[7] rescued the entire crew from the stricken vessel using abreeches buoy; an event captured in a pictorial display at theNational Maritime Museum inDún Laoghaire.[8]
Several weeks later, a second storm washed the ship off the rock and drove it ashore on the island.
The wreck still lies on the shoreline and is a tourist attraction. It is visible in the opening credits of the television seriesFather Ted. In early January 2014,Storm Christine shifted the wreck's position on the coast for the first time since 1991.[9][10]
Shipwrecks and maritime incidents in 1960 | |
|---|---|
| Shipwrecks |
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| Other incidents |
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