The Falls of Clyde is gone
I don't know if any of y'all care about maritime history, but I do so I'm going to share it anyway. It shook me on Friday when I learned that the Hawaii DOT had finished preparations for sinking the Falls of Clyde and she had been scuttled.
The 146-year-old Falls of Clyde was built in 1878 and was built on the river Clyde. It was originally used to transport goods between Europe and western ports, but was quickly sold to the us. She was then put on the California to Hawaii run, bringing sugar and other goods back and forth. In the early 1900s she was converted to a tanker, bringing kerosene to Hawaii and molasses back to California to use as cattle feed. In 1927 she was moved to Alaska to be used as a floating fuel depot. In 1968, the Hawaiian people urged to have the FOC moved and restored in the bishop museum, which would ultimately end her life 60 years later, as the bishop museum did not take good care of her, and by 2008 she was rotting away and in terrible disrepair. In 2008 The friends of the Falls of Clyde organization bought the ship from the bishop museum for just $1, and attempted to restore her by fundraising, with an initial goal of $3 mil, and $1.5 mil for dry docking, but the funds never came, and in 2016, the DOT seized the ship, citing her a navigational hazard. They then left her to rot for 9 more long years, refusing many groups attempting to buy her, and with absolutely no maintenance, by the end of her life she needed pumps constantly running to stop her from sinking. It was then in 2025 when the Hawaiian DOT paid $5 mil to have her stripped for scuttling. And on October 15, 2025, approximately 1 month ahead of schedule, she was towed out by tugs in the early morning around 25 miles south of Oahu and sunk.
She was the last 4 masted fully rigged ship left in the world, and the last sail tanker as well. What really upsets me about this though is that her death was almost entirely in vain as she was sunk in 12,000ft of water, making her not accessible as a dive site, and she will never be seen again.
Falls of Clyde sinking
https://redd.it/1oaui0o
@SailingX
I don't know if any of y'all care about maritime history, but I do so I'm going to share it anyway. It shook me on Friday when I learned that the Hawaii DOT had finished preparations for sinking the Falls of Clyde and she had been scuttled.
The 146-year-old Falls of Clyde was built in 1878 and was built on the river Clyde. It was originally used to transport goods between Europe and western ports, but was quickly sold to the us. She was then put on the California to Hawaii run, bringing sugar and other goods back and forth. In the early 1900s she was converted to a tanker, bringing kerosene to Hawaii and molasses back to California to use as cattle feed. In 1927 she was moved to Alaska to be used as a floating fuel depot. In 1968, the Hawaiian people urged to have the FOC moved and restored in the bishop museum, which would ultimately end her life 60 years later, as the bishop museum did not take good care of her, and by 2008 she was rotting away and in terrible disrepair. In 2008 The friends of the Falls of Clyde organization bought the ship from the bishop museum for just $1, and attempted to restore her by fundraising, with an initial goal of $3 mil, and $1.5 mil for dry docking, but the funds never came, and in 2016, the DOT seized the ship, citing her a navigational hazard. They then left her to rot for 9 more long years, refusing many groups attempting to buy her, and with absolutely no maintenance, by the end of her life she needed pumps constantly running to stop her from sinking. It was then in 2025 when the Hawaiian DOT paid $5 mil to have her stripped for scuttling. And on October 15, 2025, approximately 1 month ahead of schedule, she was towed out by tugs in the early morning around 25 miles south of Oahu and sunk.
She was the last 4 masted fully rigged ship left in the world, and the last sail tanker as well. What really upsets me about this though is that her death was almost entirely in vain as she was sunk in 12,000ft of water, making her not accessible as a dive site, and she will never be seen again.
Falls of Clyde sinking
https://redd.it/1oaui0o
@SailingX
YouTube
“FALLS OF CLYDE” laid to rest #hawaiinewsnow
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