Small illustrated card from a packet of Park Drive cigarettes (Gallaher Ltd) showing the WWII destroyer ‘HMS Sturdy’ at sea. HMS Sturdy was wrecked on the rocks at Sandaig during a storm in 1940.
2022.6.2
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Tag Archives: hms sturdy
2021.32.1
Short, tubular, brass spacer found on the shore at Sandaig in 2021, and presumed to be from the destroyer HMS Sturdy which was wrecked there in 1940.
2020.4.1
Porthole from the WWII warship, HMS Sturdy, which was wrecked on rocks off Sandaig during a storm in 1940. The porthole has been re-painted by Donald Brown, Vaul, and decorated with a sketch of the ship. The stainless steel bolts and backing (made from an old fish box) were added by Donald.
2019.71.1
1930s binoculars given to Archie MacLeod, Carrachan, Kilmoluaig, by one of the officers of the destroyer HMS Sturdy, which was wrecked on rocks at Sandaig in 1940. Archie (Erchie Charrachain) was home on leave from Gourock where he was skipper on one of the troop tenders based there during WWII. He was present at Sandaig during the rescue and carried ashore on his shoulders one of the Sturdy’s navigating officers who, in a show of gratitude, placed the binoculars around Archie’s neck. Archie’s son, also Archie (Gilleasbuig Carrachan), played with the binoculars as a boy. The binoculars remained in Carrachan until they were passed on to An Iodhlann in 2019.
Includes handwritten history of the binoculars by Gilleasbuig MacLeod.
2019.60.1
Black & white photograph of HMS Sturdy broken in two on rocks at Sandaig during WW2.
2014.115.18
Newsletter `An Tirisdeach`, No. 450, 11/09/2009
Local news: advert for a community Youth Worker; Gaelic poem ‘Tir Lurach‘ by Alec MacLean; An Iodhlann’s 1950 newspaper articles from the archive – no films for Tiree, distress flares off Hynish, youth let off distress flares, problems over electricity supply; TEAR home-composting event; RSPB news; dead leatherback turtle at W Hynish; community windturbine update; article by Matt Boyd about running the New York marathon; letter to the editor about HMS Sturdy; election of community councillors; High School mountain challenge; High School gala day schedule; search for Gaelic-speaking child to star in Hollywood film.
2018.33.1
Framed memorial poster commemorating Captain Donald Sinclair, Sandaig, who was instrumental in saving the crew of the destroyer HMS Sturdy, which ran aground at Sandaig in 1940. He died during a U-boat attack on his merchant ship SS Empire Eland a year later.
Click here to view 2018.33.1
2017.68.1
Hardback book ‘Sailors on the Rocks’ about famous Royal Navy shipwrecks, by Peter C Smith, 2015. Chapter 14 (pg 217) is about HMS Sturdy, which was wrecked on rocks off Sandaig in 1940.
2017.44.3
Colour photograph of the captain of the Queen Mary cruise ship preparing to drop a wreath commemorating the wrecking of the destroyer HMS Sturdy at Sandaig during WWII.
Organised by Commander Michael Gibson of Plymouth, the wreath was thrown overboard in the summer of 2015 as the Queen Mary cruised past the Hebrides. HMS Sturdy foundered during a storm in October 1940. Five lives were lost, but were it not for the actions of Tiree folk, in particular Captain Donald Sinclair, the toll would have been much higher. The dedication on the wreath reads: “Dedicated to the bravery of Captain Donald Sinclair and those who helped in the rescue effort of HMS Sturdy and in remembrance of all those lost on Empire Eland in 1941”. Captain Sinclair was on the Empire Eland when it was torpedoed by a U-boat in the Atlantic.
2017.44.2
Colour photograph of a wreath commemorating the wrecking of the destroyer HMS Sturdy during WWII. It is being held by the captain of the Queen Mary cruise ship.
Organised by Commander Michael Gibson of Plymouth, the wreath was thrown overboard in the summer of 2015 as the Queen Mary cruised past the Hebrides. HMS Sturdy foundered on rocks at Sandaig during a storm in October 1940. Five lives were lost, but were it not for the actions of Tiree folk, in particular Captain Donald Sinclair, the toll would have been much higher. The dedication on the wreath reads: “Dedicated to the bravery of Captain Donald Sinclair and those who helped in the rescue effort of HMS Sturdy and in remembrance of all those lost on Empire Eland in 1941”. Captain Sinclair was on the Empire Eland when it was torpedoed by a U-boat in the Atlantic.