Company History

Caledonian MacBrayne started life on the 10 February 1851 as a steamer company. The company at this time was called David Hutcheson & Co and had three partners – David Hutcheson, Alexander Hutcheson and David MacBrayne.

The fleet, which David Hutcheson & Co inherited, comprised eight paddle steamers and two track boats on the Crinan Canal Ardrishaig on the Clyde and the West Coast.

The main sphere of operation, called the Royal Route because Queen Victoria had traversed part of it only four years earlier, was from Glasgow through the Crinan Canal to Oban and Fort William and then on through the Caledonian Canal to Inverness.

An excursion steamer was based at Oban for Mull, Staffa and Iona and a further vessel sailed all the way round the Mull of Kintyre to Skye.

The company, however, extended it's operation in 1855 by building new tonnage for the demanding all year round service to Mull, Skye and Lewis and so by extending sailings to Stornoway inaugurated it's first service to the Outer Isles.

In the late seventies the Hutcheson brothers retired leaving the firm in the hands of David MacBrayne who was by this time 65 years old. It was from this point the firm was renamed David MacBrayne.

Throughout the late 1870's and 80’s the MacBrayne empire continued to expand with a mail to Islay, Harris and North Uist from Skye. In the final months of the decade MacBrayne took over the Outer Isles run from Oban to Barra and South Uist.

In fairly quick succession new railways began to reach the West Coast – at Fort William, Kyle of Lochalsh and Mallaig and the fleet rosters were altered to meet the new situation. The new century, however, brought further changes, not least the coming of the fast, smooth and economical turbine steamer.

David MacBrayne retired in 1905 leaving his two sons who were partners by this time to run the company.

There followed a period of new building, largely utilitarian ships for the mail routes to the islands and remote mainland communities. Although hardly noticed at the time three of these craft were motor vessels which would eventually take over from steamers.

Following the Great War of 1914 – 1918 David MacBrayne was operating a much-reduced fleet and this eventually resulted in the company's withdrawal from the tender for the mail contract.

 

Thanks to a rescue operation jointly with LMS Railway and Coast Lines Ltd a new company was formed – David MacBrayne (1928). To keep the mail contract the new company had to commission four new vessels one of which was the M.V Lochfyne – Britains first “diesel electric” ship.

The six dark years of the Second World War saw the temporary abandonment of excursion sailings but an increase in other traffic thanks to military movements. The company in 1943 lost its last paddle steamer, the Pioneer, when she was requisitioned.

1948 saw the nationalisation of the LMS shares in the company and he acquisition of the ships and goodwill of McCallum, Orme & Co which for many years had worked cargo sailing’s to the Isles from Glasgow. The sailings of the two companies gradually integrated and the services were pruned, partly by the increased use of improved roads by lorries and causeways.

The main revolution, however, came in 1964 when the Government provided finance to commission three car ferries to link Skye to the Outer Isles, Skye with the Mallaig and Mull with Oban and Morvern.

Five years later the state-owned Scottish Transport Group was formed to operate not only MacBrayne’s but also the Caledonian Steam Packet Company on the Clyde together with the dominant Scottish Bus Company.

Soon after the shipping companies were amalgamated and renamed Caledonian MacBrayne Ltd, Lorry services were operated by MacBrayne Haulage while David MacBrayne was retained for certain minor services.

The CalMac vessels soon sported the red CSP lion in the yellow disc in the centre of the red funnel.The Head Office was established in Gourock.

The pressing need for the new management was for the provision of modern roll-on roll-off facilities to cater for the increasing need for fast turnarounds and the transport of heavy vehicles.

From the sixties to the mid-eighties many improvements and refinements tool place in order to complete the ro-ro revolution and ensure that all vessels were operated to the maximum levels of safety.

Finally in 1990 Caledonian MacBrayne threw off the umbrella of STG and became wholly owned by the Secretary of State for Scotland (now the Scottish Executive).

On the 10 February 2001 Caledonian MacBrayne celebrated their 150th Anniversary and are very much looking forward to continuing to serve island communities for the next 150 years.

Information above has been  taken from Ian McCrorie's recently published book 'The Royal Road to the Isles' which details 150 years of service to the Scottish Islands by MacBrayne.

A copy of this book can be purchased at our port offices or by sending a cheque for £7.00 payable to:

Marketing Dept
Caledonian MacBrayne
The Ferry Terminal
Gourock
PA19 1QP