Bronze Age Gold from Wales

¾ Port bow view of S.S. IRON DUKE, towing a Severn trow, c.1936.

Probably the oldest vessel photographed by Hansen was this venerable 146 gross ton coaster, Iron Duke. Built at Glasgow in 1857, she started life as a paddletug in the fleet of the Cardiff Towing Company; she was later bought by J. B. Brain of Bristol who had her converted into a cargo vessel with screw propulsion. At the time this view was taken, c. 1936, she was owned by A. J. Smith & Co., Bristol who owned a number of small coasters engaged in the coal trade in the Bristol Channel. She is towing a Severn trow, the traditional sailing barge of the Severn Estuary. She was lost when she struck a mine near the Breaksea light vessel in May 1941.

Source: Shipping at Cardiff: Photographs from the Hansen Collection 1920-1975 by David Jenkins, 1993.

built at Glasgow in 1857