Telesilla: Macintosh Rock, Firth Of Forth

NT18SW 8004 1255 8024

N56 .4333 W3 24.15

NLO: Beamer Rock [name: NT 119 800].

Formerly entered as Site no. 8149.

14 September 1896 TELESILLA, 19 years, of London. Lloyds +90 A1. Survey 12/95, iron steamship, 725 ton, 16 men. Master A. Harvey. Owner F. Gordon, Newcastle. Grangemouth to Hamburg. Coal. Wind WSW6. Beamer Rock, Firth of Forth.

Source: PP Abstracts of Shipping Casualties on Coasts, or in Rivers and Harbours of the UK July 1896-97 (1898 [C.8917] LXXXVIII.401).

NMRS, MS/829/67 (no. 889).

Operations are at present being prosecuted in connection with the removal of the wrecks of the SS Ruby [NT08SE 8001] and another vessel which was beached about nine years ago in the Forth near Queensferry, and also the masts and funnel of the SS Skulda [NT08SE 8014] which was recently sunk in a collision. As may be supposed, the wrecks are a danger to shipping.

(The other vessel noted is probably the Telesilla [NT18SW 8004], sunk near North Queensferry on 14 Sepember 1896).

Source: Fifeshire Advertiser, 8 November 1906.

Quality of fix = PA

Horizontal Datum = OGB

Circumstances of Loss Details

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The vessel struck Beamer Rock, and afterwards grounded close to Mackintosh Rock, en route from Grangemouth to Hamburg.

Source: Lloyds List 14 September 1896.

Surveying Details

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2 December 1981. Mackintosh Rock now supports the north pier of the Forth Road Bridge and it is suspected that the wreck has been removed.

Report by I G Whittaker, 18 November 1981.

Hydrographic Office 1995.

Rediscovered and part removed during construction operations around N pier of Forth Road Bridge.

Source: [Edinburgh] Evening News, 27 May 1997.

CENTURY OLD WRECK ROCKS BRIDGE WORK

Work on strengthening the massive supports of Forth Road Bridge is being hampered by the wreck of 100 year of steamship. The TELESILLA hit Macintosh Rock and sank along with its cargo of coal. The rock now forms the base for the north support of the bridge and a ?7 million project to build protective cladding has been delayed because the wreck is proving difficult to shift. Now the contractors are bringing in a Dutch crushing rig with powerful grabs to literally tear the TELESILLA away from the bridge. Books and charts alerted the company, Balfour Beatty, to the presence of the wreck. Although records show that the superstructure was removed in 1906, its hull remains in place.

"It's too close to the bridge to allow us to use dynamite" said a spokesman from the Forth Bridge Joint Board. "We always knew it was there but have to admit it is proving more difficult to shift than we anticipated." Earlier plans included using divers to cut away a section of the 230ft ship and attach airbags to make it easier to move it out of the way. However, the sheer bulk and thickness of the hull thwarted that idea.

The TELESILLA sailed from Grangemouth on 14 September 1896 loaded with coal but hit Beamer Rock and eventually sank at the foot of Macintosh Rock. There are no reports of loss of life. It is to guard against the 1 in 435 risk of a ship hitting the Forth Road Bridge that a series of 14m diameter cofferdams are being built on the inside of each support. The work is scheduled to be completed by November.

Source: Scotsman 31 July 1997

Note: This wreck was demolished between 31 July and 11 August [1997].

Information from Peter Yeoman (Fife Regional Archaeologist) in conversation with contractors [1997].

(Classified as iron steamship, with cargo of coal: date of loss cited as 14 September 1896). Telesilla: this vessel was stranded on Beamer Rock, then Macintosh Road [Macintosh Rock]. Capt. Harvey.

Registration: London. 1174 grt. Length: 70m. Beam: 10m.

(Location of loss cited as N56 0.4 W3 24.08).

I G Whittaker 1998.