HMS Conway (school ship)

HMS Conway was a naval training school or "school ship", founded in 1859 and housed for most of its life aboard a 19th-century wooden battleship. The ship was originally stationed on the Mersey near Liverpool, then moved to the Menai Strait during World War II. While being towed back to Birkenhead for a refit in 1953, she ran aground and was wrecked, and later burned down. The school moved to purpose-built premises on Anglesey where it continued for another twenty years.

Reasons for the loss

There was great controversy over the loss of the ship. Some claimed that the advice of local pilots had been ignored, or that a ship the size of Conway should never have been taken through such a narrow and dangerous passage in the first place. It certainly seems true that two tugs were not enough to keep control of such a large unpowered vessel in the grip of such powerful and unpredictable tidal currents.

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