Naval trawler
Encyclopedia
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 Second
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...
world wars. Fishing trawlers were particularly suited for many naval requirements because they were robust boats designed to work heavy trawls
Trawling
Trawling is a method of fishing that involves pulling a fishing net through the water behind one or more boats. The net that is used for trawling is called a trawl....
in all types of weather and had large clear working decks. One could create a mine sweeper
Minesweeper (ship)
A minesweeper is a small naval warship designed to counter the threat posed by naval mines. Minesweepers generally detect then neutralize mines in advance of other naval operations.-History:...
simply by replacing the trawl with a mine sweep. Adding depth charge
Depth charge
A depth charge is an anti-submarine warfare weapon intended to destroy or cripple a target submarine by the shock of exploding near it. Most use explosives and a fuze set to go off at a preselected depth in the ocean. Depth charges can be dropped by either surface ships, patrol aircraft, or from...
racks on the deck, ASDIC
Sonar
Sonar is a technique that uses sound propagation to navigate, communicate with or detect other vessels...
below, and a 3-inch (76-mm) or 4-inch (102-mm) gun in the bows equipped the trawler for anti-submarine duties.
History
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...
ordered many naval trawlers to Admiralty
Admiralty
The Admiralty was formerly the authority in the Kingdom of England, and later in the United Kingdom, responsible for the command of the Royal Navy...
specifications. Shipyards such as Smiths Dock Company
Smiths Dock Company
Smiths Dock Company, Limited, often referred to simply as Smiths Dock, was a British shipbuilding company.-History:The company was originally established by Thomas Smith who bought William Rowe's shipyard at St. Peter's in Newcastle upon Tyne in 1810 and traded as William Smith & Co. The company...
that were used to building fishing trawlers could easily switch to constructing naval versions. As a bonus, the Admiralty
Admiralty
The Admiralty was formerly the authority in the Kingdom of England, and later in the United Kingdom, responsible for the command of the Royal Navy...
could sell these trawlers to commercial fishing interests when the wars ended. Still, many were sunk during the war, such as HMT 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....
and HMT Force
HM Trawler Force
HM 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:...
.
In 1940, Lieutenant Richard Stannard
Richard Been Stannard
Captain Richard Been Stannard VC DSO RD was an English recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest and most prestigious award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth forces....
was in command of the naval trawler HMT 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...
when he won the Victoria Cross
Victoria Cross
The Victoria Cross is the highest military decoration awarded for valour "in the face of the enemy" to members of the armed forces of various Commonwealth countries, and previous British Empire territories....
for his actions from 28 April to 2 May 1940 at Namsos
Namsos
is a town and municipality in Nord-Trøndelag county, Norway. It is part of the Namdalen region. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Namsos. Other villages in the municipality include Bangsund, Klinga, Ramsvika, Skomsvoll, and Spillum....
, Norway
Norway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
. HMT Arab survived 31 bombing attacks in five days.
The German Navy operated trawlers as Weather ship
Weather ship
A weather ship was a ship stationed in the ocean as a platform for surface and upper air meteorological observations for use in weather forecasting. They were primarily located in the north Atlantic and north Pacific oceans, reporting via radio...
s. The Lauenburg
German weather ship Lauenburg
The Lauenburg was a German weather ship used in the early years of the Second World War to provide weather reports for German shipping, particularly German U-boats...
was an example.
Modern day
Spy ship
A spy ship or reconnaissance vessel is a dedicated ship intended to gather intelligence, usually by means of sophisticated electronic eavesdropping. In a wider sense, any ship intended to gather information could be considered a spy ship....
s. The Battle of Amami-Ōshima was an incident in which the Japanese
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
sank a North Korean naval trawler after a six hour battle. Somali pirates have also commandeered trawlers and armed them for attacking freighters off of the Horn of Africa
Horn of Africa
The Horn of Africa is a peninsula in East Africa that juts hundreds of kilometers into the Arabian Sea and lies along the southern side of the Gulf of Aden. It is the easternmost projection of the African continent...
. The Action of 18 March 2006
Action of 18 March 2006
The Action of 18 March 2006 occurred when two United States naval vessels were attacked by pirates. The U.S. ships were part of Combined Task Force 150.-Background:...
is one example of pirate use of a naval trawler. The pirates used naval trawlers again at the Action of 30 March 2010
Action of 30 March 2010
The Action of 30 March 2010 was a naval battle involving a Seychelles Coast Guard patrol boat and two groups of Somali pirate vessels. The encounter resulted in the freeing of twenty-seven hostages held by the pirates.-Background:...
and the Action of 1 April 2010
Action of 1 April 2010
The Action of 1 April 2010 refers to a pair of naval engagements fought between United States Navy warships, a Sierra Leone merchant ship, and Somali pirate vessels operating off the Seychelles in the Indian Ocean.-Action:...
. One naval trawler was sunk and another was captured by the Seychelles Coast Guard
Seychelles Coast Guard
The Seychelles Coast Guard is a branch of the Military of Seychelles created in 1992. It is a maritime, military, multi-mission service. They recently acquired responsibility for search and rescue for vessel incidents as well as environmental protection from the Port and Marine Services...
and a U.S. Navy frigate
Frigate
A frigate is any of several types of warship, the term having been used for ships of various sizes and roles over the last few centuries.In the 17th century, the term was used for any warship built for speed and maneuverability, the description often used being "frigate-built"...
.
Trawler classes
- Battle class trawler
- Castle class trawler
- Dance class armed trawlerDance class armed trawlerThe Dance class vessels of World War II were armed trawlers of the Royal Navy. They were used for anti-submarine and minesweeping work and were nearly identical to the Isles class trawlers, of which they are usually considered a subclass....
- Isles class trawlerIsles class trawlerThe 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....
- Portuguese class naval trawlerPortuguese class naval trawlerThe 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...
- Shakespearian class trawler
- Tree class trawlerTree class trawlerThe Tree class trawlers were a type of anti-submarine vessel which served in the Royal Navy during the Second World War. They were nearly identical to the Isles class trawlers, of which they are usually considered a subclass....
- Type 139 patrol trawlerType 139 patrol trawlerThe Type 139 patrol trawler was a class of vessel used as a training ship by the Federal German Navy. Both vessels in the class were originally built for the Royal Navy in 1942 as Isles class naval trawlers.-History:...
See also
- Action of 18 March 2006Action of 18 March 2006The Action of 18 March 2006 occurred when two United States naval vessels were attacked by pirates. The U.S. ships were part of Combined Task Force 150.-Background:...
- 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:...
- an armed trawler - HM Trawler AgateHM 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...
- an armed trawler - 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...
- Naval drifterNaval drifterA naval drifter is a boat built along the lines of a commercial fishing drifter but fitted out for naval purposes. The use of naval drifters is paralleled by the use of naval trawlers....
- Royal Naval Patrol ServiceRoyal Naval Patrol ServiceThe Royal Naval Patrol Service was a branch of the Royal Navy active during the Second World War. The RNPS operated many small auxiliary vessels such as naval trawlers for anti-submarine and minesweeping operations to protect coastal Britain and convoys during WWII.-History:The Royal Naval Patrol...
- Trawlers of the Royal NavyTrawlers of the Royal NavyThis is an accounting of the naval trawlers, 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".-Summary:...
- VorpostenbootVorpostenbootVorpostenboots were German patrol boats which served during both World Wars...
- German Armed trawlers of both World Wars
Reading
- Lund, Paul and Ludlam, Harry (1971) The Trawlers go to War ISBN 978-0572007683
- Lund, Paul and Ludlam, Harry (1978) Out Sweeps! - The Story of the Minesweepers in World War II. New English Library Ltd ISBN 9780450044687
- McKee, Alexander (1973) The Coal-Scuttle Brigade : The splendid, dramatic story of the Channel convoys. New English Library ASIN B000RTAX2Y