Argyll and Bute Council is to transfer an 118-year-old model of the Hesperus steel twin-screw steamer to Oban War and Peace Museum. The model was donated by the Commissioners of the Northern Lighthouse to Argyll and Bute Council in 1995 and was originally stored in the Corran Halls, Oban.

The model in a Perspex case has been on loan to the Oban War and Peace Museum since 2011, and now, given the steamer’s connection to Oban and the town’s maritime history, the model is to be formally transferred into the ownership of the museum.

The model was displayed at the Easdale Island Folk Museum from 1998 until 2011.

The council’s Policy Lead for Community and Culture, Councillor Robin Currie, said, “The steamer Hesperus has strong Oban connections – she was often seen in Oban Bay and many of her crew were from Oban. It is fitting that she should be on permanent display in Oban and I am please the War and Peace Museum have asked formally to give her a home and that this has been endorsed by councillors. It emphasises, too, the close working relationship between the council and privately run museums.”

Hesperus was built by Gourlay Bros and Co., Dundee, and based at Oban. She was broken up in Dunston-on-Tyne in 1940

Commissioners of Northern Lighthouses have been consulted and have agreed the transfer and are ‘delighted to support the Oban War and Peace Museum in this way’.