Editing Clyde puffer

{{Short description|Type of cargo ship}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2018}}
{{Use Scottish English|date=January 2018}}
[[File:J M Briscoe - Clyde puffer VIC32 moored at Corpach.jpg|thumb|right|300px|Steam Lighter VIC32, one of the last two seagoing [[coal fired|coal-fired]] steam Clyde puffers]]
The '''Clyde puffer''' is a type of small coal-fired and single-masted cargo ship, built mainly on the [[Forth and Clyde Canal]], which provided a vital supply link around the west coast and [[Hebrides]] of Scotland.

Built between 1856 and 1939, these stumpy little [[steamboat]]s achieved an almost mythical status thanks largely to the short stories [[Neil Munro (writer)|Neil Munro]] wrote about the ''[[Vital Spark]]'' and her captain [[Para Handy]], which produced three television series.

==Characteristics==
[[File:MV Eilean Eisdeal deck 2005.jpg|thumb|''Eilean Eisdeal'' visiting [[Glasgow]]]]
Clyde puffers characteristically had bluff bows, crew's quarters with table and cooking stove in the [[focsle]], and a single mast with derrick in front of the large hold. The funnel and ship's wheel stood aft above the engine room, followed by a small captain's cabin in the stern. When publication of the ''Vital Spark'' stories began in 1905 the ship's wheel was still in the open, but later a wheelhouse was added aft of the funnel giving the puffers their distinctive image. Their flat bottom allowed them to beach and unload at low tide, essential to supply remote settlements without suitable piers. Typical cargoes could include coal and furniture, with farm produce and gravel sometimes being brought back.

==History==
The puffers developed from the [[gabbart]], small single masted sailing barges, which took most of the coasting trade. The original puffer was the ''Thomas'', an iron canal boat of 1856, less than 66&nbsp;ft (20 m) long to fit in the [[Forth and Clyde Canal]] locks, powered by a simple steam engine without a condenser, since as it drew fresh water from the canal there was no need to economise on water use. Once steam had been used by the engine, it was simply exhausted up the [[funnel]] in a series of puffs as the piston stroked. As well as the visual sight of a series of steam puffs following the boat, the simple engines made a characteristic puffing sound. By the 1870s similar boats were being adapted for use beyond the canal and fitted with condensers so that they no longer puffed, but the name stuck. Some non-condensing puffers (included those with [[compound steam engine|compound engine]]s) were built until the 1920s when purely canal traffic decreased and the vast majority of coasters had to operate in [[sea water]]. A [[derrick (lifting device)|derrick]] was added to the single mast to lift cargo.

From this basic type of puffer three varieties developed: ''inside'' boats continued in use on the Forth and Clyde canal, while ''shorehead'' boats extended their range eastwards into the [[Firth of Forth]] and westwards as far as the [[Isle of Bute]] and from there up the length of [[Loch Fyne]], their length kept at 66&nbsp;ft (20 m) to use the canal locks. Both these types had a crew of three. Puffers of a third type, the ''outside'' boats, were built for the rougher sea routes to the Hebrides islands with a crew of four and the length increased to 88&nbsp;ft (27 m) still allowing use of the larger locks on the [[Crinan Canal]], which cuts across the [[Kintyre]] peninsula. There were more than 20 builders in Scotland, mainly on the Forth and Clyde canal at [[Kirkintilloch]] and [[Maryhill]], [[Glasgow]].

During [[World War I]] these handy little ships showed their worth in servicing warships, and were used at [[Scapa Flow]], and for [[World War II]] the Admiralty placed an order in 1939 for steamships on the same design, mostly built in [[England]], with the class name of VIC, standing for "[[Victualling Inshore Craft]]". After the war a number of VICs came into the coasting trade.

The ''Innisgara'' was fitted with an internal combustion engine in 1912, and while puffers generally were steam-powered, after World War II new ships began to be [[diesel engine]]d, and a number of VICs were converted to diesel. The coasting trade serving the islands was kept up by the Glenlight Shipping Company of [[Greenock]] until in 1993 the government withdrew subsidies and, unable to compete with road transport using subsidised ferries, the service ended.

==In fiction==
[[File:J M Briscoe13 07 200708 57 3401195 1 VITAL SPARK.jpg|thumb|left|''Eilean Eisdeal'' named as the fictional ''[[Vital Spark]]'']]

The short stories that [[Neil Munro (Hugh Foulis)|Neil Munro]] first published in the  [[Glasgow]] ''Evening News'' in 1905 appeared in the newspaper for over twenty years and achieved widespread fame, with collections issued in book form since 1931 still in print today. With the continuing popularity of these tales, the puffers became film stars in ''[[The Maggie]]'', and [[Para Handy]] with his ''[[Vital Spark]]'' was the subject of three popular [[BBC]] television series dating from 1959 to 1995.{{-}}

==Surviving craft==
[[File:Vital Spark December 2006 at Crinan.jpg|thumb|right|''Auld Reekie'' at [[Crinan (village)|Crinan]]]]
A small number of puffers survive as conservation projects, though most have diesel engines.

''VIC 32'' <ref>{{cite web|url=http://savethepuffer.co.uk/|title=Save The Puffer!|accessdate=27 January 2016}}</ref>
is one of the last few surviving coal-fired steam-powered puffers and is based at The Change House, [[Crinan (village)|Crinan]]. She was built by Dunston's of Thorne, Yorkshire in November 1943 – a busy time for the Clyde Ship building yards. As the wartime Admiralty needed 50, (later 100) victualling boats in a hurry, they were built in groups of three by various yards in England. No new designs were needed as the perfect boat existed in a Clyde Puffer.

Steam sailings on ''VIC 32'' have been available to the public from 1979, latterly as cruises on the Clyde, West Coast and [[Caledonian Canal]]. From 2004 she underwent extensive refitting at [[Corpach]] Boatyard at the west end of the canal near [[Fort William, Highland|Fort William]], funded by donations and lottery funds. After fitting of a new [[vertical cross-tube boiler|boiler]] by Pridham's Engineering and Corpach Boatbuilders,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://savethepuffer.co.uk/history-of-vic-32/|title=History of VIC 32|date=22 July 2013 |accessdate=27 January 2016}}</ref> she steamed down from Fort William to Crinan, from where cruises have now re-commenced.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.savethepuffer.co.uk/ |title=Save the Puffer |publisher=Save the Puffer |date= |accessdate=2012-05-19}}</ref>

''VIC 56'' was built by Pollock, of [[Faversham]] in 1945. She is preserved in working order at [[Chatham Historic Dockyard]], regularly steaming in the Thames and Medway estuaries.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.vic56.co.uk/|title=VIC 56|accessdate=27 January 2016}}</ref>

[[File:Clydepufferspartan.JPG|thumb|left|MV ''Spartan'' at [[Irvine, Ayrshire|Irvine]]]]
''VIC 96'' was built by Dunstons of [[Thorne, South Yorkshire]] in 1945, and after disposal, was restored at [[Maryport]]. The restoration was completed in 2009, retaining its steam engine, boiler and winch.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.vic96.co.uk/|title=The VIC 96 Trust |accessdate=27 January 2016}}</ref> On 8 August 2009, ''VIC 96'' arrived at her new home, Chatham No. 1 Basin, after an epic 1,000 miles voyage from Elizabeth Dock, Maryport, which took five weeks.

''VIC 27'' was built at [[Rowhedge Ironworks]]. She was renamed ''Auld Reekie'', and starred as the ''Vital Spark'' in the third BBC TV [[Para Handy]] series where she was berthed at Crinan Basin for 14 years, deteriorating. She was purchased (Oct 2006) by the owner of the Inveraray Maritime Museum who carried out some work on her. She has since been resold to a new owner who has already started on her major restoration work. As she is the oldest surviving steam-powered puffer in existence she must be restored and preserved as part of Scotland's heritage afloat.

''VIC 72'', renamed ''Eilean Eisdeal'', continued in operation as the last of the true working "puffers" into the mid 1990s. In 2006 she was again renamed as ''Vital Spark of Glasgow'' after the Inveraray writer Neil Munro's ''Para Handy'' stories. She is now accessible to the public, alongside the ''[[Arctic Penguin]]'' at the [[Inveraray]] Maritime Museum, and continues to make sailings.

The ''Spartan'', another diesel-engined "puffer", is on display at the [[Scottish Maritime Museum]] at [[Irvine, Ayrshire|Irvine]]. ''Spartan'' has recently undergone restoration work on her hull, and is still being refitted. The museum also features the diesel-powered motor coaster MV ''Kyles'' at [[Irvine, Ayrshire|Irvine]] (an early Clyde built coaster, not a puffer).

The ''[[Basuto (1902 ship)|Basuto]]'' is the oldest remaining Clyde puffer. Built at Port Dundas by William Jacks & Co in 1902, she is currently (2025) awaiting restoration following awarding of a £234k grant from the National Heritage Memorial Fund.<ref>{{Cite web |title=National Heritage Memorial Fund grant to save Waterways Museum's rare steamboat |url=https://canalrivertrust.org.uk/news-and-views/news/national-heritage-memorial-fund-grant-to-save-waterways-museums-rare-steamboat |access-date=2025-04-07 |website=canalrivertrust.org.uk |language=en}}</ref> She was built for William Jacks' own use on the Forth & Clyde Canal. Sold in 1919 to a Belfast coal-merchant, J. Kelly & Co, then in the 1920s sold again to Cooper & Sons of Widnes and converted to a dumb barge to carry gravel and sand. Later returned to steam with a new engine by Manchester Dry Docks Ltd, in 1981 she was acquired by the National Waterways Museum at Ellesmere Port.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Basuto {{!}} National Historic Ships |url=https://www.nationalhistoricships.org.uk/register/11/basuto |access-date=2025-04-07 |website=www.nationalhistoricships.org.uk}}</ref>  

There have also been reproduction puffers built to a smaller size, most recently the ''MV Mary Hill''  for tourist traffic on the Forth and Clyde canal.

==Scrapped craft==
[[File:Pibroch at Letterfrack Sept09.jpg|thumb|right|"Pibroch" at [[Letterfrack]], now scrapped]]
The [[Pibroch (vessel)|''Pibroch'']], built at [[Bowling, West Dunbartonshire]] in 1957 as a diesel-engined boat for the Scottish Malt Distillers Ltd, had been lying at [[Letterfrack]], [[County Galway]], [[Ireland]], in desperate need of restoration, since 2002. The ''Pibroch'' deteriorated further as time passed, and her bulkheads began to give way. In 2010 she was sold and was subsequently scrapped. A sister-ship, the ''Julia T.'', lies in 30m of water in Killary Bay some 300 yards off Lettergesh.

==References==
{{Reflist}}

== Further reading ==
*Burrows, George W. (1981). ''Puffer Ahoy!''. Glasgow: Brown, Son & Ferguson, {{ISBN|0-85174-419-2}}
*Donald, Stuart (1994). ''In the Wake of the Vital Spark''. Stirling: Johnston & Bacon, {{ISBN|0-7179-4604-5}} (hdbk); {{ISBN|0-7179-4605-3}} (pbk)
*Lavery, Brian (2001). ''Maritime Scotland''. London: Batsford, {{ISBN|0-7134-8520-5}}
*McDonald, Dan (1977). ''The Clyde Puffer''. Newton Abbot: David & Charles, {{ISBN|0-7153-7443-5}}
*{{cite book|last1=McGinn|first1=Keith|title=Last of the Puffermen: The Real World of Para Handy|date=2007|publisher=Neil Wilson Publishing|location=Glasgow|isbn=978-1-897784-99-0}}
*Paterson, Len (1996). ''The Light in the Glens: The Rise and Fall of the Puffer Trade''. Colonsay: House of Lochar, {{ISBN|0-948905-78-6}}

==External links==
*[https://clydemaritime.co.uk/puffersandvics/ Puffers and Vics]
*[http://www.savethepuffer.co.uk/ Save the Puffer] ''VIC 32'' Puffer Preservation Trust
*[http://www.thepibroch.com/body_index.html ''Pibroch'': picture]
*[http://www.thepibroch.com/facts/facts.html ''Pibroch'': facts]
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20041010170614/http://www.ardmaleishboatbuilding.co.uk/puffer.htm Ardmaleish (''MV Mary Hill'')]
*{{usurped|1=[https://archive.today/20130419215641/http://www.clydepuffers.co.uk/ Clyde Puffers – ''Hand Carved Wooden Models'']}}
*[http://www.pagenumberone.co.uk/layouts/dock/puffers.htm Melbridge Dock – Clyde Puffers]
*[http://vic96.co.uk/ The Restoration of ''VIC 96'']

[[Category:Cargo ships of the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:Ships of Scotland|Clyde puffers]]
[[Category:Tourist attractions in Scotland]]
[[Category:Trade in Scotland]]
[[Category:1856 establishments in Scotland]]
[[Category:1939 disestablishments in Scotland]]
[[Category:19th century in Scotland]]
[[Category:20th century in Schleswig-Holstein]]
[[Category:Steamships]]