They provided a vital service for more than a century.
The Glasgow Salvage Corps was organized Nov. 22, 1873 by the Glasgow Rate and Salvage Association and disbanded April 1, 1984 along with salvage corps in London and Liverpool, all of which were funded by insurance companies.
The transition of ocean shipping to container vessels from bulk carriers played a role in the decision to disband the salvage corps in the three port cities, as did construction of industrial estates away from the docklands.
The original Glasgow Salvage Corps station was on Nicholas Street. It relocated to 203-213 Albion
Street in the late 19th Century and moved to 90 Maitland Street on June 22, 1972.
On
March 28, 1960, a blaze on Glasgow's Cheapside Street killed 19 firemen - including five members of the salvage corps - in the
greatest loss of life in the U.K. fire service since World War II.
The photo of the Cheapside Street memorial is from Graeme Kirkwood's history of the Scottish fire service.
