Registration number 993
Status Registered
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Previous names

  • 1944 - 1968 VIC 72
  • 1968 - 1984 Eldesa
  • 1984 - 2006 Eilean Eisdeal

Details

Function Service Vessel
Subfunction Victualling
Location Inveraray
Vessel type Victualling Inshore Craft
Current use None
Available to hire No
Available for excursions No

Construction

Builder Browns's Shipyard, Hull
Built in 1944
Hull material Steel
Rig None
Number of decks 1
Propulsion Motor
Number of engines 1
Primary engine type Diesel
Boiler type None
Boilermaker None

Dimensions

Breadth: Beam
18.46 feet (5.63m)
Depth
8.79 feet (2.68m)
Length: Overall
66.72 feet (20.35m)
Tonnage: Gross
96.00

History

VITAL SPARK, (ex-EILEAN EISDEAL, ex-ELSEDA, ex-VIC 72), was built by Brown's Shipyard, Hull, in 1944, and was sold out of naval service at Devonport Dockyard (where she had been a stores carrier) in 1968, and was then motorised and renamed ELSEDA, based at Troon as a cargo vessel. In 1972, she was bought by an owner based on the Isle of Mull, and worked around the islands dredging coal from sunken vessels. In 1984, she was sold to an owner of Easdale Island, near Oban, and was renamed EILEAN EASDEAL to run a inter-island cargo service around the Western Isles until 1994 (when the Scottish Office withdrew its subsidy for Scottish Shipping). In 2001, she was brought to the Inveraray Maritime Museum, where she still is, and in 2006, she was re-registered as VITAL SPARK, the name of the ficitional puffer that appeared in the Para Handy books by Neil Munro.

Key dates

  • 1944

    Built as VIC 72 by Brown's Shipyard, Hull

  • 1968

    Sold out of naval service at Devonport Dockyard where she had been a stores carrier

  • 1969

    Motorised and renamed ELSEDA, based at Troon as cargo vessel

  • 1972

    Bought by owner based on Isle of Mull. Worked around islands dredging coal from sunken vessels

  • 1984

    Sold to new owner and renamed EILEAN EASDEAL to run inter-island cargo service around Western Isles

  • 1994

    Service withdrawn when Scottish Office withdrew subsidy for Scottish Shipping

  • 2001

    Bought to Inveraray Maritime Museum for public display

  • 2006

    Re-registered as VITAL SPARK, name of ficitional puffer in Para Handy books by Neil Munro

Sources

Classic Boat (February, 2000, pp93) Sales ad for Ancasta International Boat Sales, Scotland

Own this vessel?

If you are the owner of this vessel and would like to provide more details or updated information, please contact info@nationalhistoricships.org.uk

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