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What is recorded here

Cramond Island was a 1910 Leith steam trawler used by the Admiralty in both world wars. A German Ju 88 bombed her five miles off St Abb's Head on 2 April 1941. Five crew died, including two who later died from burns, and thirteen were rescued. An upright 31-metre wreck at the saved point matches her size and loss position almost exactly, though no named fitting has made the identification absolute.

The vessel and voyage

Cramond Island was launched at Govan in January 1910 for the Leith Steam Fishing Company. The steel trawler measured about 112 feet by 22 feet and 180 gross tons. The Admiralty used her as a minesweeper in the First World War and returned her to fishing in 1919. Requisitioned again in the Second World War, she became a boom-defence vessel. On 2 April 1941 she was working about five miles off St Abb's Head.

How it was lost

A German Ju 88 aircraft scored a direct bomb hit at about 1.59 in the afternoon. Early reports mistakenly thought a British aircraft had attacked, but Fighter Command records and observer plotting later confirmed the German bomber. The explosion devastated the small vessel and she sank during the evacuation. The corrected attacker is important: eyewitness impressions made during a sudden air strike were understandable but could be tested later against operational records.

Deaths and survival

Two crew were killed by the explosion, a third drowned during evacuation and two badly burned survivors later died, making five deaths. Eleven people escaped in the ship's boat and two on a raft. St Abb's lifeboat rescued the boat party but then had to be towed after its propeller fouled; fishing vessel Milky Way picked up the raft, and Spes Bona helped the disabled lifeboat. The thirteen survivors were saved through a chain of local action.

What remains

A wreck at the saved position measures roughly 31 by six by seven metres, lies on a north-east to south-west line and sits upright with its deck sloping towards the stern. Its dimensions and location match Cramond Island so closely that the identification is almost certain. No recovered bell or other named object is known, which preserves a small formal doubt. The hull's fairly complete shape makes it valuable evidence of a working trawler adapted for naval use.

Why it mattered

Cramond Island ties Leith fishing and two periods of naval service to the wartime air attack on the Berwickshire coast. The survival story also gives local lifeboat and fishing crews an important role beside the naval crew. Correcting the attacker's nationality shows how records improve after the shock of an event. The strong wreck match means the page can connect vessel design, bomb damage, evacuation and rescue to one physical place without claiming the last small uncertainty has vanished.