Trawlers of the Royal Navy
Encyclopedia
This is an accounting of the naval trawler
s, purpose built or requisitioned, operated by the Royal Navy
mainly during World War I
and World War II
. They were typically given the prefix HMT which stood for "His Majesty's Trawler".
s.
Naval trawler
A naval trawler is a vessel built along the lines of a fishing trawler but fitted out for naval purposes. Naval trawlers were widely used during the First and Second world wars. Fishing trawlers were particularly suited for many naval requirements because they were robust boats designed to work...
s, purpose built or requisitioned, operated by the Royal Navy
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...
mainly during World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
and World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. They were typically given the prefix HMT which stood for "His Majesty's Trawler".
Summary
| Class | Builder | Dates | Built | Lost | Dspl (tons) |
Length (feet) |
Power (ihp) |
Speed (kts) |
Crew | Armament |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mersey | Cochrane | 11 | 2 | 438 | 148 | 600 | 11 | 20 | 2x3in guns | |
| Castle Castle class naval trawler The Castle class minesweeper was a highly sea worthy naval trawler adapted for minesweeping and built to Admiralty specifications. Altogether about 200 were built between 1916 and 1919.... |
Smith's Dock | 145 | 360 | 18 | ||||||
| Strath | Hall Russell | 311 | 18 | |||||||
| *Basset | 18 | - | 460 | 12 | 33 | 3in gun | ||||
| Tree | 20 | 6 | 530 | 164 | 850 | 11.5 | 35 | 12pdr gun, 2x.5in, 2xtwin MG | ||
| Dance | 20 | 1 | 530 | 161 | 850 | 11.5 | 35 | 4in gun, 3x20mm | ||
| Shakespearian Shakespearian class trawlers The Shakespearian class were anti-submarine naval trawlers which served in Royal Navy. Ships in this class had a displacement of 545 tons, a top speed of 12 knots, a crew of 40 men, and armament of one 12-pounder AA gun, three 20 mm Oerlikon AA guns and 30 depth charges... |
12 | 3 | 545 | 164 | 950 | 12 | 35 | 12pdr gun, 3x20mm | ||
| Isles Isles class trawler The Isles class trawlers were a class of naval trawler used by the Royal Navy, Royal Canadian Navy and Royal New Zealand Navy during World War II.... |
112 | 12 | 545 | 164 | 850 | 12 | 40 | 12pdr gun, 3x20mm | ||
| Admiralty | 600 | 14 | 35 | |||||||
| Portuguese Portuguese class naval trawler The Portuguese class vessels of World War II were naval trawlers, built in Portugal for the Royal Navy.The vessels were built in several Portuguese yards and offered, by Portugal, to the Royal Navy... |
CUF (Lisbon) Arsenal do Alfeite (Lisbon) Mónica (Aveiro) |
12 | 550 | 11 | 30 | 12pdr gun | ||||
| Brazilian | 680 | 12.5 | 40 | |||||||
| Castle | 625 | 10 | 32 | |||||||
| Hills | 8 | 2 | 750 | 181 | 970 | 11 | 35 (40?) | 12pdr gun, 3x20mm | ||
| Fish | 8 | 1 | 670 | 167 | 700 | 11 | 35 | 4in gun, 3x20mm | ||
| Round | 8 | - | 440 | 137 | 600 | 12 | 35 | 12pdr gun, 1x20mm, 2xMG | ||
| Military | 9 | - | 750 | 193 | 1000 | 11 | 40 | 4in gun, 4x20mm | ||
| Requisitioned | 215 | 72 | These were ships taken over by the Admiralty |
Basset class trawlers
The trawler Basset, built in 1935, became the prototype for nearly 250 military trawlers built in the following ten years. The Basset class trawlers were minesweeping trawlers built to a British design in India. A modified version of the Basset class was built in Canada with extra ice strengthening and known as the Fundy class minesweeperFundy class minesweeper
The Fundy-class minesweepers were a class of four minesweepers operated by the Royal Canadian Navy during World War II.The class derives its name from the lead ship and are all named after bays in Canada. The Fundy Mineseepers were modified versions of the British "Basset" class trawler...
s.
Requisitioned trawlers
There were also 215 trawlers of specific class These were commercial trawlers taken over by the Admiralty. The Royal Navy classified requisitioned trawlers by manufacturer, although such classes were more diverse than traditional naval classifications. 72 ships of this class were lost.List of requisitioned trawlers
| Ship Designation | Requitioned | Fate | Photograph |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aberdour | Apr 1940 | 1946 (Returned) | |
| Abiding Star | May 1940 | 1946 (Returned) | |
| Abronia | Nov 1939 | 1947 (Scrapped) | |
| Accord | Aug 1939 | 1946 (Sold) | |
| Accumulator | 1940 | Oct 1940 (Returned) | |
| Achievable | Nov 1939 | Jan 1946 (Returned) | |
| Achroite | Aug 1939 | 1945 (Returned) | |
| Acorn | Nov 1939 | 1946 (Returned) | |
| Acquire | 1940 | 1945 (Returned) | |
| Acquisition | Mar 1940 | 1944 (Returned) | |
| Acrasia | 1940 | 1946 (Returned) | |
| Adam | Feb 1940 | 1944 (Sold) | |
| Adele | Nov 1939 | 1946 (Returned) | |
| Admiral Sir John Lawford | Aug 1939 | Jan 1946 (Returned) | |
| Admire | Mar 1940 | Jan 1946 (Returned) | |
| Adoration | 1940 | 1945 (Returned) | |
| Adriatic | Oct 1940 | Jun 1945 (Returned) | |
| Advisable | Nov 1939 | 1945 (Returned) | |
| Africana | Sep 1939 | Apr 1947 (Returned) | |
| Afterglow | Nov 1939 | Aug 1944 (Returned) | |
| Agate HM Trawler Agate (1935) HM Trawler Agate was purchased by the Royal Navy in 1935. She was modified from a trawler to be used to carry out anti-submarine work. In 1941 she was with the maintenance reserve at Rosyth, but in August was part of the Royal Navy’s escort flotilla with convoy FS559 when she ran aground, becoming... |
Nov 1935 | August 6 1941 (Wrecked) | |
| Agnes Bunyan | Jun 1940 | Dec 1940 (Returned) | |
| Agnes Gardner | 1941 | 1945 (Returned) | |
| Agnes Nutten | Jun 1940 | Jan 1946 (Returned) | |
| Agnes Wetherly | Jun 1940 | Dec 1945 (Returned) | |
| Agnes Wickfield | Nov 1939 | Dec 1945 (Returned) | |
| Aiglon | Jul 1940 | Jul 1946 (Returned) | |
| Akita | Aug 1939 | Oct 1945 (Returned) | |
| Akranes | Aug 1939 | Jul 1941 (Bombed) | |
| Alafoss | Aug 1939 | 1946 (Sold) | |
| Alberic | 1940 | May 1941 (Sunk in collision) | |
| Albert Hulett | Feb 1941 | Apr 1946 (Returned) | |
| Alcmaria | Dec 1939 | 1940 (To Royal Norwegian Navy) | |
| Alcor | Dec 1939 | 1945 (Returned) | |
| Alex Hastie | Oct 1939 | Feb 1940 (Returned) | |
| Alex Watts | 1940 | 1945 (Returned) | |
| Alexandre Gabrielle | Jul 1940 | Jul 1944 (Returned) | |
| Alexander Scott | 1939 | 1945 (Returned) | |
| Alexandrite | 1939 | Dec 1945 (Returned) | |
| Alfie Cam | Jun 1940 | 1944 (Sold) | |
| Alfredian | Dec 1939 | 1946 (Returned) | |
| Algoa Bay | Oct 1939 | Dec 1940 (Returned) | |
| Alida | 1940 | 1945 (Returned) | |
| All Hallows | 1944 | 1945 (Returned) | |
| Allersie | 1940 | 1944 (Returned) | |
| Allochy | 1941 | 1945 (Returned) | |
| Alma | 1943 | 1945 (Returned) | |
| Almandine | Aug 1939 | Dec 1945 (Sold) | |
| Alouette | 1939 | Sep 1942 (Sunk by U-552 Unterseeboot 552 German submarine U-552 was a Type VIIC U-Boat built for the German Kriegsmarine for service during World War II. She was laid down on 1 December 1939 at Blohm & Voss in Hamburg and went into service on 4 December 1940. U-552 was nicknamed the Roter Teufel after its mascot of a grinning devil which... ) |
|
| Alsey | 1940 | 1945 (Returned) | |
| Altruist | Jan 1941 | 1944 (Returned) | |
| Alvis | May 1940 | Mar 1945 (Returned) | |
| Amalia | Dec 1939 | Mar 1945 (Returned) | |
| Amaranthe | 1942 | 1945 (Returned) | |
| Amethyst HMT Amethyst HMT Amethyst was a naval trawler requisitioned by the Admiralty prior to the Second World War. She was sunk in the second year of the war.... |
1935 | 24 November 1940 (Sunk by Mine) | |
| Ambition | 1944 | 1945 (Returned) | |
| Ambrose | Jul 1940 | Mar 1946 (Returned) | |
| Amiable | 1940 | 1945 (Returned) | |
| Ampulla | 1940 | 1046 (Sold) | |
| Amroath Castle | 1940 | 1945 (Returned) | |
| A.N. 2 | Oct 1940 | Nov 1940 (Mined) | |
| Ancre Esperance | 1940 | Aug 1946 (Returned) | |
| Andanes | Oct 1940 | 1946 (Returned) | |
| Andradite | Aug 1939 | Jan 1946 (Returned) | |
| Andre Et Louise | Jul 1940 | Apr 1945 (Returned) | |
| Andre-Marcel | Aug 1940 | 1945 (Returned) | |
| Andre Monique | Jul 1940 | 1945 (Returned) | |
| Andronie-Camiel | Jul 1940 | 1945 (Returned) | |
| Andyk | 1941 | Jan 1946 (Returned) | |
| Angele Marie | Jul 1940 | Jan 1946 (Returned) | |
| Angle | 1939 | Oct 1945 (Returned) | |
| Animate | 1941 | 1946 (Returned) | |
| Animation | 1940 | 1945 (Returned) | |
| Ann Melville | Feb 1940 | Oct 1944 (Returned) | |
| Annabelle | Dec 1939 | Dec 1944 (Returned) | |
| Anne-Gaston | Jul 1940 | Jun 1945 (Returned) | |
| Anne Marie | 1940 | Jan 1942 (Sunk) | |
| Annie | Jul 1940 | Feb 1946 (Returned) | |
| Anson | Oct 1939 | unknown | |
| Anticyclone | Mar 1941 | Jul 1945 (Returned) | |
| Antioche II | Jul 1940 | 1945 (Returned) | |
| Appletree | 1940 | Oct 1940 (Sunk in collision) | |
| Aquamarine | Aug 1939 | 1944 (Returned) | |
| Arab HMT Arab HM Trawler Arab was a trawler launched in 1936. At the outbreak of World War II, she became a naval trawler serving in the Royal Naval Patrol Service during World War II. Lieutenant Richard Been Stannard won the Victoria Cross while serving as her commander during the Namsos campaign in 1940... |
1939 | 1945 (Returned) | |
| Arabesque | Dec 1939 | Sep 1944 (Returned) | |
| Aracari | Jan 1943 | Oct 1943 (Wrecked) | |
| Aragonite | Aug 1939 | Nov 1939 (Mined) | |
| Arcady | Dec 1939 | Jun 1945 (Returned) | |
| Arcanes | Sep 1939 | unknown | |
| Archimedes | Apr 1940 | Dec 1944 (Returned) | |
| Arctic Explorer | Aug 1939 | 1945 (Sold) | |
| Arctic Hunter | Aug 1939 | May 1945 (Returned) | |
| Arctic Pioneer | Sep 1939 | May 1942 (unknown sinking) | |
| Arctic Ranger | Aug 1939 | 1946 (Sold) | |
| Arctic Trapper | Jun 1940 | Feb 1941 (Bombed) | |
| Argo | Jul 1940 | Feb 1946 (Returned) | |
| Argyllshire | Sep 1939 | Jun 1940 (Torpedoed) | |
| Aristea | Dec 1939 | Dec 1944 (Returned) | |
| Arkwright | Aug 1939 | Dec 1945 (Sold) | |
| Arlette | Aug 1939 | Sep 1946 (Returned) | |
| Arley | Aug 1939 | Feb 1945 (Mined) | |
| Arleux | 1939 | 1946 (Returned) | |
| Armana | Jun 1940 | Nov 1945 (Returned) | |
| Arnold Bennett | Jun 1940 | Jul 1945 (Returned) | |
| Arora | Jun 1940 | Aug 1940 (Returned) | |
| Arras | 1939 | Aug 1946 (Returned) | |
| Arrest | Jun 1940 | Jul 1945 (Returned) | |
| Arsenal | Aug 1939 | Nov 1940 (Collision) | |
| Artegal | Nov 1939 | Mar 1945 (Returned) | |
| Arthur Cavanagh | Aug 1939 | Jan 1946 (Sold) | |
| Arum | Jan 1940 | Oct 1944 (Returned) | |
| Asama | Aug 1939 | Mar 1941 (Bombed) | |
| Ascona | Nov 1939 | Nov 1945 (Returned) | |
| Asie | Sep 1940 | Apr 1946 (Returned) | |
| Aston Villa | Sep 1939 | May 1940 (Bombed) | |
| Astros | Dec 1939 | 1946 (Returned) | |
| Athelston | Nov 1939 | Jan 1940 (Returned) | |
| Athenian | Nov 1939 | Sep 1946 (Returned) | |
| Atlantic | Jun 1940 | Oct 1940 (Returned) | |
| Atmosphere | Dec 1940 | Dec 1945 (Returned) | |
| Aurora II | Jun 1940 | May 1941 (Bombed) | |
| Aurilia | Nov 1939 | Aug 1946 (Returned) | |
| Available | Nov 1939 | Jan 1946 (Returned) | |
| Avalanche | Nov 1939 | 1945 (Returned) | |
| Avalon | 1940 | Apr 1943 (Sunk) | |
| Avanturine | Oct 1939 | Dec 1943 (Torpedoed) | |
| Avola | Aug 1939 | Apr 1946 (Returned) | |
| Avon | May 1940 | Dec 1941 (Returned) | |
| Avona | Aug 1939 | unknown | |
| Avondee | Mar 1944 | Oct 1944 (Returned) | |
| Avonglen | Aug 1939 | Aug 1946 (Returned) | |
| Avonstream | Sep 1939 | Jul 1945 (Returned) | |
| Avonwater | Sep 1939 | May 1946 (Returned) | |
| Ayrshire | Sep 1939 | Oct 1945 (Returned) | |
| Istria | Sep 1939 | 1946 (Returned and re-sold) |
See also
- HM Trawler ForceHM Trawler ForceHM Trawler Force was a British trawler built for the Royal Navy in the First World War and subsequently requisitioned for service in the Second World War. She was sunk by air attack in June 1941.-Career:...
- HMS Cambridgeshire (FY142)
- HMS Lord Middleton (FY219)
- Auxiliary PatrolAuxiliary PatrolThe Auxiliary Patrol was an antisubmarine initiative by the British to help combat German submarine operations in the early stages of World War I...
- Royal Naval Patrol Service
- Anti-submarine warfareAnti-submarine warfareAnti-submarine warfare is a branch of naval warfare that uses surface warships, aircraft, or other submarines to find, track and deter, damage or destroy enemy submarines....
- List of mine countermeasure vessels of the Royal Navy
- Minesweepers of the Royal New Zealand NavyMinesweepers of the Royal New Zealand NavyCommissioned minesweepers and danlayers of the Royal New Zealand Navy from its formation on 1 October 1941 to the present. The RNZN was created two years into World War II...
- VorpostenbootVorpostenbootVorpostenboots were German patrol boats which served during both World Wars...
External links
- A/S Trawlers (uboat.net)>
- The Trawlers go to War
- The Battle of Mesco Point
- The Dover Convoys
- The 'Art' of Minesweeping
- Naval Trawlers
- Trawlers lost in the Namsen Fjord
- The Loss of HMT Cap d'Antifer
- The Loss of the Rutlandshire
- HM Trawler Orfasy
- List of all trawlers lost during WW2
- Memorial site to a trawler skipper
- HMS Almond Memorial Site