Anger as historic Clyde ship towed out to sea and sunk in Hawaii

BBC Oct 17 2025

… The news has been met with anger and dismay by campaigners who have spent more than a decade trying to bring the ship back to its birthplace to rebuild it….

Enthusiasts in Scotland have spent a decade trying to bring the ship home for restoration, but were unable to reach an agreement with the …(Hawaii Dept of Transport Harbors Division)… which wants to redevelop the quay where it was moored….

The destruction of the historic ship has been widely criticised by maritime conservation groups both in the UK and the USA.

Friends of Falls of Clyde, a group of supporters in Hawaii, described it as "a day that will go down in infamy".

"It is almost inconceivable that this situation has been allowed to happen," the group posted on social media.

The group organised a farewell ceremony with bagpipers on Tuesday after learning that the ship was to be sunk the following morning.

The Tall Ship Glenlee, the charity that looks after another Clydebuilt sailing vessel moored beside Glasgow's Riverside Museum, said it was "deeply saddened".

David O'Neill, from the Scotland based Save Falls of Clyde campaign, said he was "horrified" at the behaviour of the authorities in Hawaii but had become resigned to the ship meeting such a fate after years of fruitless negotiation ….

A Norwegian firm which operates heavy lift ships offered to transport Falls of Clyde back to Scotland for free, but the campaign was soon embroiled in a wrangle with the …(Hawaii Dept of Transport Harbors Division)… over insurance costs and other conditions.

Earlier this year Mr O'Neill said an American firm won a contract to remove the ship from the harbour and it also offered to transport it to Scotland for free.

"They didn't want to sink the ship - they had a conscience and a respect for maritime heritage," he said.

But the deal between the firm and the …(Hawaii Dept of Transport Harbors Division)…fell through, and the contract went instead to another company which then carried out the scuttling….

YN: Port Glasgow-built ship scuttled off coast of Hawaii despite campaign efforts

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