Lucy Ashton as test bed

The steamer Lucy Ashton operated the Craigendoran - Gareloch - Greenock service from the early 1900s until she was withdrawn during the Second World War. In 1949 she was sold for scrap, but received a last minute reprieve when the British Shipbuilding Research Association converted her to a jet-powered hull to conduct resistance experiments to analyse the impact of drag and friction on a full-scale ship hull. She was fitted with four Rolls-Royce Derwent V engines, which would not disturb the water in the same way as a propeller and shaft, then was scrapped in 1951. Photo by courtesy of Helensburgh Memories on Facebook.