lochs to Largs, Rothesay, Campbeltown and Inveraray within four years, and the Comet was outclassed by newer steamers. Bell briefly tried a service on the Firth of Forth. Famous passengers Sir Walter Scott James Watt (in 1816, visiting his home town of Greenock in old age) – by this date Bell offered a return trip from Glasgow to Rothesay on the same day which Watt undertook. Wreck Bell had the Comet lengthened and re-engined, and from September 1819 ran a service to Oban and Fort William (via the Crinan Canal), a trip which took four days. On 15 December 1820 the Comet was wrecked in strong currents at Craignish Point near Oban, with Bell on board. There were no deaths. One of the engines ended its working days in a Greenock brewery, and is now in The Science Museum in London. Fate In 1875, the schooner Ann was driven against a steamship at Greenock, Renfrewshire and sank. The Glasgow Herald reported a piece from the Greenock Telegraph which stated "part of the hull of the Ann was all that was left of Henry Bell's old Comet, the first steam-vessel ever to sail in European waters. Some years ago she was bought up by Smillie, of Glasgow, and Bell's old engine taken out. She was lengthened, made a schooner, and was run on the Larne trade, where she was at great favourite, and was familiarly called the 'Long Ann'. Some time since she was burnt down to the waters edge, but her hull was so good, and she was such a favourite with her owners, that they hauled her into dock and fitted her. The curious thing is, that having been built at Port-Glasgow 63 years ago, and undergoing many vicissitudes, she should, like an old weather-beaten sailor, end her days almost at the threshold of her own home." Comet II Bell built another vessel, Comet II, but on 21 October 1825 she collided with the steamer Ayr off Kempock Point, Gourock, Scotland. Comet II sank very quickly, killing 62 of the estimated 80 passengers on board, including the son-in-law of John Anderson, a friend of Robert Burns. Also drowned were recently married Captain Wemyss Erskine Sutherland of the 33rd Regiment and Sarah née Duff of Muirtown. After the loss of his second ship, Bell abandoned his work on steam navigation. Replica A replica of the Comet, currently situated in Port