A flare gun lost after it alerted rescuers to the Iolaire disaster has been discovered on the seabed.
Some 205 men died when Admiralty yacht HMY Iolaire crashed on rocks in a gale at the approaches to Stornoway harbour in the early hours of New Year’s Day 1919. Only 79 made it ashore alive in the horrific accident which occurred immediately after the First World War.
Brightly coloured distress flares fired high into the night sky from the newly-
The rescue was delayed and servicemen who survived the bloody battlefields and torpedoed ships of World War 1 perished on the Beasts of Holm, just yards from safety.
The sinking was Britain's worst peacetime maritime disaster. The wreck of the Iolaire was removed many decades ago but the maritime area by Holm which contains other sunken vessels is a popular diving spot.
Finder Chris Murray is donating the gun to the Stornoway museum so future generations can learn about the most seminal local event in modern history to affect Lewis.
The offshore rigger and former coastguard helicopter rescuer was diving and exploring the site recently when he spotted the gun lying on the sea bottom.
Chris said: "The conditions under the water were very clear but something like this blends into the seabed like camouflage.
"The odd shape of the handle struck me for start and I really had to look at it for a few seconds before I realised what it was.
"It’s a very important artefact because it was used on the night the Iolaire went down and I thought the best place for this is in the Stornoway museum. There’s not many artefacts from the Iolaire but each has its own story to tell and this one certainly has. I am glad it will be preserved for future generations."
Mark Elliot conservation officer for Western Isles Council said: "This artefact relates directly to the events which happened that evening. The pistol was fired on the bridge to alert people that the ship was on the rocks."
He said the pistol will be clean up and treated at Museum nan Eilean’s labratory to preserve it before later going on public display with the other Iolaire artefacts like a lifejacket and the ship’s bell.
Malcolm Macdonald of Stornoway Historical Society said that survivors gave evidence to the official inquiry that about 15 rockets were fired.
Mr Macdonald said: "Unfortunately the first two flares were blue. It was spotted by a signaller at the Royal Naval Reserve battery who said it was unfortunately it was only a signal to attract a pilot.
"The third one which went up was red and got the emergency services into action and vessels went out and found the Iolaire was indeed on the rocks."
Mr Macdonald revealed he had always assumed the distress signals were fired by a ship’s bigger rocket device.
Mr Macdonald explained: "But when I looked back at the naval inquiry and the public
inquiry (records), it states, quite specifically, by all the witnesses, that they
were silent rockets -
"Also, the ship’s telegraphist Leonard Welsh said that he was on the bridge to report the radio was out that it was a Very pistol with Very flares.
"And a local witness, John Macinnes from 2 School Road, North Tolsta, specified he
went on the bridge, and it was he who blew the steam whistle, and he said that Lieutenant
Cotter, had in his hand a Very pistol -
Because of the enormity of the disaster many war memorials on Lewis mark the end of the war as 1919 and not the official date of November 1918. Virtually every village on Lewis lost men in the tragedy. The vast majority of the dead came from Lewis. Seven belonged to Harris while 31 were crew members from different parts of the UK.
Because of the enormity of the disaster many war memorials on Lewis mark the end of the war as 1919 and not the official date of November 1918.
Iolaire’s lost flare gun is recovered from seabed 30/4/12