French destroyer lifted in Clyde 's biggest salvage job . An intricate salvage operation on a french destroyer , the Maille Breze , which sank off Greenock in 1940 , was carried out despite a strong gale which threatened to hold up work . The destroyer was dragged on to a sandbank and the work of making the wreck ready for towing to the scrapper's yard was begun . 19 August 1954