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It was great to get hold of my own copy of Duckworth and Langmuir's book 'West Highland Steamers'. First printed in 1935, my copy is a third edition, from 1967. Listed in it is the S.S Dirk, the ship my great-uncle was serving on after it was requisitioned by the RNR(T) in 1917, and it has a rare photo of the vessel.
The book describes how the Dirk had 'a very tall funnel which kept her going pendulum fashion when she rolled' so the owners tried to counteract this by fitting an experimental gyroscope, which was later transferred to another vessel.
The authors also find it 'rather remarkable' that such a small vessel could fit sleeping quarters inside it, albeit 'on a diminutive scale'. The last sentence on the entry for the Dirk baldly states: 'Dirk was blown up, while on war service, about 1918'.