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The Lady Alexandra or rather Lady Alex as she was familiarly known to many residents of British Columbia, was completed by the Coaster Construction Company on Rossie Island, Montrose in the early 1920s to the order of the Union Steamship Company of Vancouver, Canada. She was launched on February, 1924 with her construction having commenced the previous October. She was designed Read more...
December 19, 2022

Remembering the “Lady Alex”

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In 1922 the Brisbane Tug and Steamship Co. felt the demand for additional excursions merited the acquisition of a second vessel to supplement their existing single passenger ship. The result being that the company began negotiations for the purchase of HMS Wexford which had been built in 1919 under the Emergency Naval Programme by Wm. Simons & Co. of Renfrew Read more...
September 26, 2022

The Doomba: She Swept The Sea Lanes For The Queen Mary

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By John Aitken 1922, the reputation of the Coaster Construction Company shipyard on Rossie Island, Montrose for high class workmanship was obviously travelling far and wide as they received an order for a twin-screw ferry for Eastbourne Council in North Island, New Zealand. Their successful tender was one of several which had been vetted by a prominent naval architect of Read more...
July 18, 2022

Muritai – A New Zealand Veteran

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By John Aitken In the edition of April 6th, 1923 the “Montrose Review” reported on the launch of the TST Alsatia from the Rossie Island shipyard of the Coaster Construction Co. Ltd, an event which was witnessed by a large company of spectators.  She had  been named by Mrs Lyon, wife of the marine superintendent of the new ship’s owners the Read more...
May 2, 2022

A tender built for Cunard

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By John Aitken The Coaster Construction Company Limited started off in a rather modest way on Rossie Island, Montrose in 1920. Their first commercial vessel was the small coaster appropriately named Rossie, constructed on spec to give the new workforce experience in costing, estimating, design and construction including riveting and the finishing trades. On completion, she was used to fit Read more...
February 1, 2022

From modest beginnings…

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