Mars Training Ship, Dundee - Ref: WC1101
The Mars Training Ship was a familiar sight on the River Tay from 1869 to 1929. She was built as a 2570 ton, 81 gun, four deck man-of-war at Chatham in the 1840s. She served as a supplies carrier in the Crimean War in the 1850s.
She was converted into a screw steamer in 1859 and saw service in the Mediterranean for a while, but (like a great many ships built in the mid-19th century) she rapidly became obsolete.
Alexander Wilson who took this photograph, was a supervisor in a Dundee jute mill for over 20 years. He bequeathed much of his collection and £50, to cover the costs involved, to the Free Library Committee of Dundee in 1923.