SS River Clyde SS " River Clyde " was a British collier built by Russell & Co of Port Glasgow on the Firth of Clyde and completed in March 1905 . In the First World War the Admiralty requisitioned her for the Royal Navy and in 1915 she took part in the Gallipoli landings . After the war she was repaired and sold to Spanish owners , with whom she spent a long civilian career trading in the Mediterranean before being scrapped in 1966 . Propulsion . " River Clyde " had nine corrugated furnaces with a combined grate area of that heated three 180 lb / in single - ended boilers with a combined heating surface of to raise steam for her three - cylinder triple expansion engine . The engine was built by J . G . Kincaid & Co of Greenock and was rated at 374 NHP . Gallipoli . Early in 1915 " River Clyde " was adapted to be a landing ship for the joint French and British invasion of the Gallipoli Peninsula . Openings were cut in her steel hull as sally ports from which troops would emerge onto gangways and then to a bridge of smaller boats from the ship to the beach . Boiler plate and sandbags were mounted on her bow , and behind them a battery of 11 machine guns was installed . The machine gun battery was manned by Royal Naval Air Service men commanded by Josiah Wedgwood . Work began on painting " River Clyde " s hull sandy yellow as camouflage , but this was incomplete by the time of the landing . By 11 April 1915 " River Clyde " was in the natural harbour of Moudros on the Aegean island of Lemnos , where French and British ships were assembling in final preparation for the landings . The troop ship reached Moudros from the Port of Alexandria in Egypt and transferred the 4th Battalion , the Worcestershire Regiment and the 2nd Battalion , the Royal Hampshire Regiment to " River Clyde " . Both Battalions were units of the 88th Brigade , which was part of the 29th Division . On 25 April 1915 " River Clyde " sailed to take part in the landing at Cape Helles . She was commanded by Commander Edward Unwin , formerly of the . She was carrying 2 , 000 soldiers ; mostly from 86th Brigade units of the 29th Division : the 1st Battalion of the Royal Munster Fusiliers and men from the 1st Battalion , the Royal Dublin Fusiliers . Unwin beached " River Clyde " at V Beach beneath the Sedd el Bahr castle , on the tip of the Gallipoli peninsula . The plan failed and the " River Clyde " , beached under the guns of the Turkish defenders , became a death trap . Three attempts to land made by companies of Munsters , Royal Dublins and Hampshires all ended in costly failure . Further landing attempts were abandoned and the surviving soldiers waited until nightfall before trying again . Members of " River Clyde " s crew maintained the bridge from the ship to the beach and recovered the wounded . For their bravery six of them were decorated with Victoria Cross es : Commander Unwin ( aged 51 ) , Midshipmen George Drewry ( 20 ) and Wilfred Malleson ( 18 ) , Able Seaman William Williams ( 34 ) and Seaman George Samson ( 26 ) , plus Sub - Lieutenant Arthur Tisdall ( 24 ) of the Royal Naval Division ( RND ) . Williams was killed in the landing and was decorated posthumously . Samson was severely wounded the next day but survived . On his return to Scotland he was handed a white feather while wearing civilian clothes . Tisdall was killed on 6 May when the 6th ( Hood ) Battalion RND advanced along Kanlı Dere in the Second Battle of Krithia . Drewry , Samson and Williams had come with Unwin from HMS " Hussar " . Malleson , who died in 1975 , served on the . After the Helles beach - head was established , V Beach became the base for the French contingent and the " River Clyde " remained beached as a quay and breakwater . Her condensers provided fresh water and her holds became a field dressing station . She remained a constant target for Turkish gunners ashore . Return to civilian service . In 1919 , " River Clyde " was refloated , repaired at Malta and sold to civilian Spanish owners . They operated her as a tramp steamer in the Mediterranean , renaming her first " Angela " and then " Maruja y Aurora " . In 1965 there was an attempt to buy and preserve " River Clyde " but in 1966 her owners sold her for scrap and she was broken up at Avilés , Spain .