Ramage & Ferguson of Leith on the Firth of Forth built the yacht as yard number 28, and launched her on 30 April 1881.

She had a single screw, driven by a two-cylinder compound engine that was made by Matthew Paul & Co of Dumbarton and rated at 110 NHP.

[4] By 1890 Sir Donald Currie, founder of the Castle Mail Packet Company, had acquired her, and reverted her registration to London.

[6] By 1898 Douglas Graham, 5th Duke of Montrose had acquired her and renamed her Mione, and her code letters had been changed to PVWQ.

[7][8] "Mione" is an abbreviation of Hermione, the middle name of the Duke's wife, Violet Graham, Duchess of Montrose.

In November 1918 she was transferred to Stornoway to replace an armed yacht called Iolaire (Scottish Gaelic for 'Eagle'),[b] which was the flagship of the anti-submarine patrol based there.

The yacht overtook a fishing vessel, Spider, off the mouth of Loch Grimshader, south of Stornoway.

Spider's skipper, James MacDonald, testified that Iolaire's course was too far to starboard, bringing her too close to land on the east side of the harbour mouth.

In his statement, MacDonald declared "I noticed that the vessel did not alter her course… but kept straight on in the direction of the Beasts of Holm.

[16] The yacht was equipped with wireless telegraphy, but its operator "found it impossible to get it to work on the night of the accident".

At 01:50 hrs he saw a vessel off Holm Head display blue light, which is a signal that means "I require a pilot".

At about 03:15 hrs a wave toppled the yacht over to port, pulling the hawser back into the sea, and leaving Iolaire submerged apart from her two masts.

Instead, Boyle summoned His Majesty's Coastguard and ordered that "life-saving apparatus" (presumably a Breeches buoy) be taken to Holm Head.

Rear Admiral Boyle told the Admiralty that islanders "resent the wreck being sold while the bodies remain still unrecovered".

Survivors testified that between five and ten minutes before Iolaire ran aground, they felt a change in motion of the ship.

The Court interpreted this as being the result of her turning half a point to port to line up to enter the harbour.

[17] Captain Cameron, Master of the ferry Sheila, told the Court that Iolaire seemed to take a correct course up the Minch, and to have made the correct turn to port to approach Stornoway, but may have made that turn a few minutes too late, which put her on course for the Beasts of Holm instead of the harbour mouth.

The jury reached a unanimous verdict:[18] That the officer in charge did not exercise sufficient prudence in approaching the harbour;That the boat did not slow down, and that a look-out was not on duty at the time of the accident;That the number of lifebelts, boats, and rafts was insufficient for the number of people carried;And that no orders were given by the officers with a view to saving life; and, further,That there was a loss of valuable time between the signals of distress and the arrival of the life-saving apparatus in the vicinity of the wreck.

That drastic improvements should be made immediately for the conveying of life-saving apparatus in the case of ships in distress;2.

That the Government will in future provide adequate and safe travelling facilities for naval ratings and soldiers.

They added a rider to their verdict, recommending that the Carnegie Trust and the Royal Humane Society consider awarding Seaman John Macleod "some token of appreciation of his conduct".

[18] An Iolaire Disaster Fund Committee was formed almost immediately, and on 7 January 1919 it was registered under the War Charities Act 1916.

[28] A smaller granite monument, specific to the victims of Iolaire, was erected at Holm in either 1958 or 1960 (sources differ as to which year it was).

In some cases the men killed in the Iolaire disaster are named in a separate list on their parish monument, as at Carloway, Crossbost, and Garrabost.

[31][32][33] In March 2018 a cairn and a pictorial plaque were unveiled in Carn Gardens beside Stornoway Town Hall.

The cairn consists of 201 stones, each collected from the home parish of the man it represents by school pupils of the Nicolson Institute.

The Woodland Trust supplied saplings of hardy native species: downy birch, wych elm, bird cherry, rowan, and hazel.

On 31 December 2018 a plaque was unevieled on Kyle of Lochalsh railway station, commemorating Iolaire's final sailing from the pier, and the disaster that followed.

[42] For the centenary, musicians Julie Fowlis and Duncan Chisholm performed a newly composed piece of music,[21] and artist Margaret Ferguson painted portraits of 100 of the men who were killed.

[44][45] The disaster is also remembered in 'Lament for the Iolaire', a piobaireachd composed by Stornoway-born Pipe Major Donald MacLeod and published in 1978 which is regularly performed by solo pipers in competitions and recitals.