Evening Telegraph (First Edition)
The last Tay ferry went on to become a Hollywood star
SHE made history as the last ferry to cross the Tay in 1966.
The MV Scotscraig then went on to become a Hollywood movie star 40 years ago.
The ferry, which was built in Dundee in 1951, featured as the Popeye Barge in the live action version of the cartoon starring the late, great, Robin Williams.
She was the 14th ship to operate the service since sail and oar gave way to steam in 1821 which only stopped with the opening of the Tay Road Bridge in 1966.
Dundonians used the Fifies as a way to escape the smoke of the city and take a trip to the countryside in Fife.
The Scotscraig was built for the Dundee Harbour Trust for the Dundee to Newport ferry crossing.
It was the fourth Caledon-built ferry for the trip and was launched in May 1951 by Mrs F J D Buist who was the wife of the convener of the Tay Ferries Committee of the Harbour Trust.
Diesel-engined and VoithSchneider propelled, the Scotscraig was built on the same general lines as the Abercraig with large vehicular capacity and room for 800 passengers.
The Scotscraig and Abercraig, at £171,000, cost more than the total of the previous 12 ferries.
But in 1966 Dundee was about to enter a new era with the opening of one of the longest road bridges in Europe.
At that point there were just three boats left crossing the Tay – the B L Nairn, the Abercraig and the Scotscraig.
The Fifies were still in daily use, leaving Dundee and Newport on the hour and half past the hour.
The last ferry from Dundee was 10pm whilst the last ferry from Newport was 10.30pm.
The crossing itself took approximately 20 minutes.
The last ever Tay ferry crossings took place in the shadow of the new road bridge.
On August 8 in 1966 the flagdecorated Scotscraig, escorted by the lifeboat Robert, picked up a Newport party of 200.
Back at Craig Pier another 500 boarded, and at 6.30pm, the ferry pulled out into the river with the RNVR Band aboard playing “Bonnie Dundee”.
Passengers sang “The Old Hundredth” and the Rev Dr H M Bartlett read the lesson.
Rev Robert A Howieson paid tribute to the ferries and crews.
Jets and a helicopter from Leuchars flew overhead.
The passengers sung “Auld Lang Syne” and on the final return to Dundee there was dancing on deck.
The ferry boats then returned to Victoria Dock shortly after the bridge opened to await their fate.
Abercraig and Scotscraig were towed to Portsmouth by a German tug in 1968 before being moved to Malta where side-loaders were more suitable for some of the island-to-island routes.