A steel-screw cargo steamer which served nearly 40 years, GLENMAY holds an international history. Built by Ropner & Sons of Stockton-on-Tees in 1905, she was registered in West Hartlepool for her first 11 years, and sold in 1916. In 1919 she sold again to Hogarth & Sons, who renamed the ship BARON DOUGLAS and promptly sold her to new owners the next year. She changed hands again in 1930, sold to the Greek Kirtatas Brothers of Andros who renamed her AFROESSA. Captured in 1940 during World War II, briefly named SAHARA, the British retook her at Dakar on March 16, 1943 and re-flew the red ensign.
GLENMAY was built to carry a variety of cargoes, as her model's expansive main deck shows two large holds and a smaller one immediately behind the pilot house and captain's accommodations. Two large holds are fore and aft on exposed lower decks, crossed by gangways and with ladder access. Both the navigation station and stern wheel station have binnacles, while the telegraph is a flight down near the main mast in addition to her steam funnel. She has no fewer than 22 silver-plated ventilator cowls. Her lifeboats hang inward from davits which would swing outward once untied.
The model's precise scaled hull shows a 21' drop from the waterline, separated the inky black upper hull from the traditional British modelers reddish-pink coloration. GLENMAY measured 310 feet in length, with a 44 foot beam and grossed 2,485 tons. Her ivorine builders' plate is practically the only item the triple-mirrored original mahogany case doesn't replicate. In all, this is a fine model of a universally capable ship.
