Bank Line Sailing Ship Thistlebank On The Pacific Grain Route
Built by Russell & Co of Greenock, Scotland, the four-masted ship Thistlebank sailed with the Bank Line, owned by Andrew Weir. Of 2400 ton displacement she is typical of the last sailing ships to be produced in the late-19th and early 20th century. Her main trade was on the Pacific Grain route and she joined two other ships, the Gowanbank and Ashbank. Having proven her worth she was purchased by a Norwegian shipping company and served through the opening months of WWI. She was sunk in 1915 by the German U-Boat U-24 off the coast of Ireland.
John Stewart’s marine painting shows her in the early days of her career with the crew trying to barter a tow from the crew of the steam paddle tug in the foreground
