Iona Ii

James and George Thomson built Iona II at Govan in 1863 for the Glasgow to Ardrishaig passenger route. Her narrow iron hull, feathering paddle wheels and specially designed two-cylinder engine reportedly gave exceptional speed, while long saloons made her a fine ferry. She was soon sold, reportedly through Charles Hopkins Boster of Richmond, Virginia, and altered for ocean travel. Contemporary newspapers clearly understood that she was meant to become a fast Confederate blockade runner between Nassau and Charleston, but the supposed buyer's identity has not been firmly traced and he may have used a false name. Reports differ between Kingston, Jamaica, and Nassau as the outward destination. She left the Clyde in January 1864, called at Queenstown, now Cobh, and sailed heavily laden with coal and general cargo.

Thirteen firemen refused to continue from Queenstown, reportedly because they believed the ship unsafe, and replacements were found. Soon after sailing, Iona II met rough, thick weather, lost her position and developed a leak. Her heavy load made the long hull strain; water reached about six feet in the hold, clogged the pumps and flooded the forward boilers. With the engines becoming unusable, Captain Chapman abandoned the Atlantic course, first heading towards Milford Haven and then seeking the calmer east side of Lundy. The crew anchored and fired distress signals. Boats removed them around midnight, and Iona II sank about a mile east of the island early on 2 February 1864. Historic England's old list text also gives 2 January, but Lloyd's loss record dated 3 February and contemporary reports establish February.

All 39 people aboard survived. Captain Chapman kept the failing steamer working long enough to reach Lundy's shelter, anchors held while help arrived, and pilot boats carried the crew to Ilfracombe. Their rescue is central to the story: this was a complete ship loss without a death. The earlier refusal by 13 firemen also matters because it shows that concerns about seaworthiness existed before the final leg. Some crew tried to move cargo while the vessel was sinking; one overloaded boat sank and another broke free and later came ashore near Mortehoe, but the people were safe. No evidence supports attaching a casualty total from another Lundy wreck to Iona II. The named master and the recorded rescue give this site a much fuller human account than many protected wrecks.

Iona II lies upright in roughly 22 to 28 metres of water south-east of Tibbett's Point. Sand hides much of the lower hull, but its sharp bow and stern outline, frames, forward and after boilers, engine parts, crankshafts, paddle-wheel remains, funnel bases and sternpost can still be seen. Deckhouses, masts, most funnels and wooden paddle parts have gone. Salvagers used a diving bell within months of the sinking, and later reports mention a funnel and chain recovered. A diving company rediscovered the wreck by chance in 1976 while looking for the nearby MV Robert and excavated part of the stern before protection. Later surveys found damage from anchors, fishing gear, unauthorised visits and gradual collapse. Protected since 1990, it now has a guided dive trail that lets licensed visitors help watch its condition.

The wreck joins three important stories. It preserves advanced Clyde shipbuilding: a fast passenger steamer with an iron hull, four boilers, paddle machinery and a fine engine. It shows the worldwide reach of the American Civil War, when Confederate agents sought fast British-built vessels to carry supplies through the Union blockade and both governments watched such sales. Finally, its leak and rescue show what an ocean conversion demanded of a light river ferry. The exact cargo remains disputed. Newspapers called it valuable and one said gunpowder formed a large part, but the later archaeological study did not find proof strong enough to state that as fact. That uncertainty makes the wreck more useful, not less: its structure may reveal what changes were made for the attempted Atlantic crossing and whether those changes helped cause the failure.