Although exact identification of one of the two mystery vessels in the January issue has not been received, the steam dredger was identified as St Giles by Derek Grater of Inverkeithing, who wrote: ‘It is not a mystery ship to me, as I was chief engineer aboard her for ten years, so you could say I know all her wrinkles. I am sorry now about the lack of smoke, which shows how well my stokers were trained. The aft accommodation block was added before my time and consisted of two cabins for deck officers and two cabins for engineer officers, with a coal fire to greet us in the morning, and a total of 14 crew.
‘St Giles was built by Fleming & Ferguson of Paisley in 1951, yard no. 754. I believe she was launched in 1949 as an Army order for India, then finished as a steam dredger for the MPBW, which explains the ‘W’ on the funnel. She was broken up at Inverkeithing in August 1989, and I have no idea what happened to the main engine or the unique Sissons DC generator, although quite rightly there was a possibility that it might go into a museum, but I do not know whether anything came of this.’
