Caledonian MacBrayne is the major operator of passenger and vehicle ferries, and ferry services, between the mainland of Scotland and 22 of the major islands on Scotland’s west coast, and January 2023 marks half a century since the Caledonian Steam Packet Co acquired most of the ships and routes of MacBrayne’s and commenced joint Clyde and West Highland operations under the Caledonian MacBrayne name, with a headquarters at Gourock.
Founded in 1889, the Caledonian Steam Packet Co (CSP) was a railway-owned subsidiary operating steamer, ferry and excursion sailings on the Firth of Clyde, with its main terminals at Gourock, Wemyss Bay and Ardrossan. By 1969 the CSP had become a somewhat neglected subsidiary of British Rail, operating a mixed bag of elderly passenger-carrying steamships, such as the turbine steamers Duchess of Hamilton (1932) and Queen Mary II (1933) and the paddle steamers Caledonia (1934) and Waverley (1947).
There were four diesel-powered motor vessels, the ‘Maids’, and three car ferries. A fourth, larger car ferry, , was built in 1957 to serve Arran but, although the youngest vessel in the fleet, she was already 11 years old. Despite the growth
