Painting by Chris Mayger (1919-1994)
On this page I've included extracts culled from various websites which give an insight into what life was like on board the trawlers.
Thanks to the RNPSA, Uboat .net, Wikipedia, Trawlerphotos.co.uk, The Bosun's Watch (Fleetwood-trawlers.info), Hitler's U-boat War, the Imperial War Museum, Harry Tate's Navy, the BBC and any others I've missed out.
A brief history of the Royal Naval Patrol Service, taken from a RNPS Association
newsletter:
"The Royal Naval Patrol Service (RNPS) was a ‘navy within a navy’ during WW2. In 1939 much of Britain’s domestic freight distribution still relied on coastal shipping. The experience of WW1 had taught the Royal Navy that mines in our coastal waters could bring this distribution to a standstill and they recruited to the Reserve many civilian fishermen from the home fishing fleets to act, with their vessels, in a minesweeping role.
At the outbreak of WW2 this reserve was mobilised and became the Royal Naval Patrol Service with a shore base at Lowestoft in Suffolk. Originally HMS Pembroke X (as a subsidiary of Chatham which was HMS Pembroke) it soon became a base in its own right called HMS Europa.
These reservists were similar in many ways to the ‘pals’ battalions of WW1 in that they had known and worked with each other in peacetime and now found themselves facing a new enemy together. Despite some postings in the interests of Naval efficiency, many men swapped their draft chits so that they could remain together – resulting in chaos in pay records and even in some cases, false ‘missing’ notifications sent to next of kin when ships were lost at sea.
Purpose of the RNPS
A major role of the RNPS was to keep “the war channel” clear in home waters, a channel which was kept swept through enemy minefields laid off the East and South coasts of the British Isles. In the daytime attacks by fighter-bomber aircraft were frequent and most nights visits by E-boats and aircraft would re-block the war channel with mines. It was the job of RNPS to clear them again – especially hazardous as new types of mines were developed from the traditional contact mine, including magnetic, acoustic and pressure as well as combinations of these types. It could often take the loss of several vessels before it was realised that a new type of mine had been encountered.
The vessels employed in the early days were mainly civilian craft requisitioned for Naval service – trawlers, drifters, paddle steamers, etc. A list can be found here. It was not until later in the war that specialist small minesweeping craft such as the Motor Minesweeper were built.Some of the larger trawlers of RNPS were also used in an anti-submarine role. Many of the Atlantic and later the Arctic convoys would have a trawler as one of the escort vessels, acting both as a rescue ship and as a listening post for submarine activity.Whatever their role these vessels were officially only lightly armed, with usually only a 12 pounder on the fo’c’sle and a couple of half inch machine guns on the bridge but many were also veterans of Dunkirk and unofficially sported a miscellany of weapons liberated from that operation."
From UBoat.net
"The naval trawler is a concept for expeditiously converting a nation's fishing boats and fishermen to military assets. England used trawlers to maintain control of seaward approaches to major harbors. No one knew these waters as well as local fishermen, and the trawler was the ship type these fishermen understood and could operate effectively without further instruction. The Royal Navy maintained a small inventory of trawlers in peacetime, but requisitioned much larger numbers of civilian trawlers in wartime. The larger and newer trawlers and whalers were converted for antisubmarine use and the older and smaller trawlers were converted to minesweepers.
In September 1939, while 140 newly requisitioned trawlers were fitting out for antisubmarine service, the Royal Navy established the 1st A/S group of 5 trawlers at Portsmouth, the 2nd A/S group of 3 trawlers in the Western Approaches, the 3rd A/S group of 3 trawlers at Rosyth, and the 4th A/S group of 5 trawlers in the Mediterranean.
Armament
A single deck gun was mounted on each trawler. Antisubmarine trawlers were usually given a 4" gun approximately equal to the deck guns of the submarines they might encounter. Minesweeping trawlers usually received a 12 pounder, although vintage 3 pounders or 6 pounders were sometimes fitted temporarily until more suitable weapons became available. Trawlers were also given between two and four .303 calibre Lewis guns which were later augmented with a similar number of 20mm machineguns. In a surface battle with a U-boat, the trawler attempted to dissuade the U-boat deck gun crew with machineguns, while the U-boat might similarly aim its 20mm at the trawler's unshielded deck gun.
Antisubmarine trawlers were fitted with ASDIC and a few depth charge racks. Antisubmarine trawlers were typically assigned to five-ship groups. Small trawlers were difficult torpedo targets; and, while a U-boat might best a single trawler in a gunnery contest, it would be unable to withstand the combined attention of several trawlers. Antisubmarine trawlers could establish and maintain defensive perimeters around convoy assembly areas within which individual cargo ships could gain their formation stations for ocean steaming.
By May 1940 antisubmarine trawler strength had increased to 9 at Portsmouth, 23 in the Western Approaches, 65 at Rosyth, 19 at The Nore, 12 at Dover, and 25 in the Orkney & Shetlands. The Mediterranean force had increased to 12 and new groups of five were stationed at Gibraltar and in the South Atlantic. Another 20 trawlers were fitting out for antisubmarine service.
Trawlers are eminently seaworthy; so, when convoy escorts were needed after the fall of France, antisubmarine trawlers were pressed into escort service for which they were poorly suited. With maximum speeds of 10 to 12 knots, trawlers were able to maintain screening stations, but unable to maneuver effectively. If a trawler left station to investigate a contact or rescue the crew of a torpedoed ship, hours might pass before the trawler could regain station on the moving convoy. Escorting trawlers might discourage a timid U-boat acting independently, but an aggressive U-boat captain could use the superior surface speed of the U-boat to outmaneuver trawlers.
Successful wolf pack attacks of 1940 -- like the battle of HX-79 -- occured because slow escorts could be distracted to one side of the convoy giving time for a U-boat to approach and attack from another direction."
The Royal Navy classified requisitioned trawlers in WW1 by manufacturer, although such classes were more diverse than traditional naval classifications. These were the WW1 trawlers:
MERSEY class built by Cochrane
438 tons, 11 knots, 20 men
CASTLE class built by Smith's Dock
360 tons, 10.5 knots, 18 men
STRATH class built by Hall Russell
311 tons, 10.5 knots, 18 men
The trawlers built for the Admiralty in WW2 were based on the trawler BASSET, built in 1935, which became the prototype for nearly 250 military trawlers built in the following ten years. As the years progressed the trawlers were re-designed and improved, gradually getting bigger with heavier armament as the years progressed.
BASSET class - 460 tons, 12 knots, 33 men
TREE class - 530 tons, 11.5 knots, 35 men
DANCE class - 530 tons, 11.5 knots, 35 men
SHAKESPEARIAN class - 545 tons, 12 knots, 35 men
ISLES class - 545 tons, 12 knots, 40 men
ADMIRALTY type - 600 tons, 14 knots, 35 men
PORTUGUESE type - 550 tons, 11 knots, 30 men
BRAZILIAN type - 680 tons, 12.5 knots, 40 men
CASTLE class - 625 tons, 10 knots, 32 men
HILLS class - 750 tons, 11 knots, 35 men
FISH class - 670 tons, 11 knots, 35 men
ROUND TABLE class - 440 tons, 12 knots, 35 men
MILITARY class - 750 tons, 11 knots, 40 men
Many of the above listed trawlers were employed for minesweeping rather than antisubmarine work. Anti-submarine trawler distribution in May 1944 included 28 at Portsmouth, 33 in the Western Approaches, 10 at Rosyth, 7 at The Nore, 28 at Plymouth, and 36 in the Orkney & Shetlands. There were 10 trawlers at Gibraltar, 17 in the central Mediterranean, and 13 in the eastern Mediterranean. The South Atlantic force had increased to 22; and there were 12 in Iceland, 8 in the Azores, 13 in West Africa, 19 in South Africa, and 15 in the Indian Ocean.
The requisitioned trawlers had varying specifications depending on what their original owners wanted. Some were perhaps slightly longer or with more draught, or had variations in superstructure design.
There were more trawlers sunk by U-boats than vice versa. Sixteen A/S Trawlers were sunk by German U-boats. These were Alouette, Barbara Robertson, Bedfordshire (USN loan), Birdlip, Bredon, Ellesmere, Eoor Wyke, Ganilly, Hatburn Wyke, Kingston Sapphire, Laertes, Lady Shirley, Notts County, Orfasy, Rosemonde and Tervani.
Whereas the U-boats sunk by trawlers (at least partial credit) included U-111, U-343, U-452, U-551, U-731, and U-732.
Anatomy of an ASDIC Trawler
This is from an account by Jack Yeatman, a wireless operator on the HMS Pearl. The layout of many trawlers would have been similar to his description, as told to the BBC, which follows:
She literally bristled with armament, hence the 40-strong crew. An old
4" gun up on the whaleback (most trawlers only had 12-pounders), an Oerlikon on either wing of the bridge (increased to twins later), twin Vickers .5" machine- guns down aft above the wardroom, (later, twin Browning machine-guns on either side of the well-deck forward). Lewis guns on the top bridge, plus PAC rockets. These were small rockets sent up trailing a length of piano-wire to deter low-flying aircraft, and were fired by pulling lanyards along the deck-head of the top bridge ( Lanyards removed after the Officer of the Watch accidentally fired one at exactly the wrong moment. We'd been warned of E-Boats ahead, and he was going to signal a change of course by siren - that was the other lanyard !) There was also an incredible weapon called a Holman Projector, supposed to hurl hand-grenades and flares, which operated off steam from the boiler !
As befitted an anti-submarine trawler, she carried Asdic and depth-charges, these on rollers right aft, or thrown from projectors on either side of the Galley. Even more exotic, she boasted a radar set (then known by its proper name of RDF). This was of the earliest, most primitive kind, but required three more ratings to man it. It often scared us by picking up "contacts" which were in fact wave-tops. With all this additional top-hamper, "Pearl" pitched and rolled in away that had to be seen - and felt ! - to be believed.
There were three of us Wireless Operators, and the Wireless Room -
12' x 3' just behind the steam steering-engine - contained a very good Marconi TW12 transmitter/receiver, and a "B" set in reserve. This one operated on plug-in coils, almost identical to the ones I had wound on slitted cardboard discs for my father's home-made wireless sets when I was 4 !
There were two Mess-Decks, stokers and some seamen in the Forward one, 22 more of us in the Main, which had been the fish-hold, and aft of this the cupboard which was the PO's Mess - Coxswain and Engineer. The Wardroom, with a Lieutenant and Sub-Lieutenant, was right aft, while the Skipper - a Lieut-Commander RNR - had his own cabin under the bridge.
In the Main Mess-Deck there were two tiers of bunks around the sides, held up by chains at each end. They could be lifted up out of the way, and also hitched up at an angle so that the occupant wouldn't be thrown out in rough weather, and below them were wooden lockers for personal kit.
In the middle were two more bunks in a steel frame, and several hammocks slung. Once again I was lucky, inheriting a top bunk right aft on the starboard side. There were two long tables, a cupboard and an anthracite stove, while the steep companion ladder had heavy canvas curtains, sandbag-weighted, at top and bottom. There were no portholes, only artificial light. The Forward Mess, being triangular, was even more cramped, and also far more lively in rough weather.
The Galley, which consisted of a coal range and oven, was right aft on deck. There was no below-deck communication, so all meals had to be collected from the galley porthole - a large one - and carried along the open decks and down the steep ladders into the mess-decks. A hazardous performance in heavy weather, particularly for the food, and always a wet one, since a trawler had very low freeboard amidships and there was usually some water swirling over the side- decks. In really rough weather, seas swept aboard and put out the galley fire - just when hot food and drink were most needed.
On the whole we did feed quite well though, in spite of the conditions.
Our Liverpool-Irish cook, Fred Monaghan, did absolute marvels with his primitive and erratic equipment (for which we forgave him many of his distinctive personal characteristics). He could provide fried eggs on toast, or poached eggs on fried bread, but not the conventional pairings, and baked beans and tinned tomatoes ("cowboys and red lead") figured prominently on the menu, as did excellent soup. The problem was that, frequently, by the time you got back to the mess-deck, soaked through, the fried bread had blown off the plate and the soup contained salt water. We also had - unlike civilians - large quantities of excellent cheese in the mess-deck. This was, for some reason, spurned by some of the crew - I ate quantities of it !
Up under the whaleback, right forward, were two toilets - one for POs - and three metal wash-basins. These last were used only in harbour. With her very large crew, a trawler was always short of fresh water, so washing was just not possible while at sea. Being a coal-burner, and the coal being dumped on deck before being shovelled down into the bunkers, we went out covered in coal-dust, which adhered to every surface, due to the permanent coating of sticky salt. You got used to it.
At sea, we seldom wore regulation uniforms, the crew sporting a wonderful assortment of coloured and decorated jerseys, made by - or 'borrowed' from - wives, girl-friends and mothers. The seamen, lining up fore and aft as we entered harbour, hastily pulled blue jumpers and square collars over whatever they happened to be wearing, and so looked "pusser" - from a distance.
Of course this meant that our issued uniforms lasted well - and the 6d. per day "kit upkeep allowance" could be used for other things. I've still got the
"tiddley suit" with gold wire badges which cost me £3 in Aberdeen. (3½ weeks' pay !) Sea-boots, though, were issued to the ship, not the individual sailor, and "Sparkers" were considered as below-deck ratings and therefore not eligible. Perhaps they were so in a big ship, but certainly not in a trawler, and I was forced to acquire a pair of my father's old rubber gardening-boots.
The Admiralty did, in fact, recognize the problems of life in such ships, and we were paid extra "hard-lying money" - but only when actually at sea. This was ninepence a day - with an Ordinary Telegraphist' s standard pay at only 2/6d per day though, it was a valuable addition.
Our crew - well, I've got to be a bit careful here, as there's a reunion every year. This is held at Padiham in Lancashire, the town which raised an incredible amount of money in a "Ship Adoption Week" in 1942, and 'adopted' us. Of course, all that sort of thing was soon forgotten after the war was over - until a reporter on a local newspaper came across a reference to it in the records. He wondered if any of the crew could be brought together, and as a result we found ourselves meeting old shipmates again after 45 years and more, and since then it's been a yearly affair.
In general terms then, it was composed mostly of Londoners, Scotsmen, and Geordie fishermen, with a sprinkling of Liverpool-Irish and a number of unlikely characters - "hostilities only" ratings, such as myself. We had a University graduate "Bunts", a Scottish Bank Manager seaman, an enormous stoker from the Western Isles who hardly spoke any English, and Dick Scott, the senior "Sparks" was an ex-postman.The Skipper was a former Merchant Navy officer from Yorkshire, No.1 had been a clerk, while the Sub-Lieutenant was director of a woollen mill. In fact we were the sort of men so perfectly brought to life in Kipling's poem "The Changelings" .
There were some real characters, of course, such as the already-mentioned cook, Fred, and, in direct contrast, the huge Hebridean stoker, Malcolm, the mildest of men. At depth-charge practice he gave the Stokers' team a distinct advantage over the Cooks and Stewards, since he could lift a depth-charge onto their thrower single-handed, but - fortunately - he never lifted a hand to anyone else. This then, was HMS Pearl, my home and my life for the next two years and more - and I had made the right decision."
LT/JX358728 A.J.Yeatman O/Tel.
If you would like to read more accounts from those who served in the RPNS, on the Harry Tate's Navy website there are a number of stories from ex RNPS servicemen, all worth a read. Some of them are from the archive of Navy stories on the BBC website, the People's War.
The Silver Badge
The most important distinction given to the Royal Naval Patrol Service was an exclusive silver badge. Officers and men of the Patrol Service were awarded this badge after a total of six months service at sea. It could also be awarded beforehand to those showing worthy conduct while engaged in action. Winston Churchill, First Lord of the Admiralty, in 1939 wrote in the following minute:
"FIRST LORD to FORTH SEA LORD 12.X.1939
I am told that the Minesweepers men have no badge. If this is so it must be remedied at once. I am asking Mr. Bracken to call for designs from Sir Kenneth Clark within one week, after which production must begin with the greatest speed, and distribution as the deliveries come to hand."
The design of the badge, measuring roughly 2cm in diameter, was created by Kruger Gray a well known artist and medal designer. The badge had to symbolize the work of both the minesweeping and the anti-submarine personnel.
The finished design took the form of a shield upon which a sinking shark, speared by a marline spike, was set against a background made up of a fishing net with two trapped enemy mines. This was flanked by two examples of a fisherman's bend knot and, at the top, the naval crown. Beneath the badge was a scroll bearing the letters M/S-A/S (Minesweeping- Anti-Submarine).
The shark symbolized a U-boat having been killed by an Anti-Submarine ship, symbolised by the marline spike. The net and the mines symbolised the minesweepers, many formerly fishing boats, seeking a new deadly catch. Never before had one section of the Royal Navy been similarly honoured. The badge was worn 4in above the cuff of the left sleeve and applied to both officers and men.
Fishing boat registration codes
Many of the boats in the RNPS were fishing boats. The fishing boat registration codes show where the boat was registered. To start with, the first letter of the port of registration were used. For example, A for Aberdeen. If there was already a code using that system, then the first and last letters were used as in AA for Alloa. Then usually the first and second letters were used. For example, AB for Aberystwyth.
The Harvest Reaper was registered in Buckie on the Moray Firth in Scotland. However, Buckie couldn't use BE as that was Barnstaple, nor BU, as that was Burntisland, So Buckie became BCK, and Harvest Reaper was BCK128
The list of codes is printed below.
The finished design took the form of a shield upon which a sinking shark, speared by a marline spike, was set against a background made up of a fishing net with two trapped enemy mines. This was flanked by two examples of a fisherman's bend knot and, at the top, the naval crown. Beneath the badge was a scroll bearing the letters M/S-A/S (Minesweeping- Anti-Submarine).
The shark symbolized a U-boat having been killed by an Anti-Submarine ship, symbolised by the marline spike. The net and the mines symbolised the minesweepers, many formerly fishing boats, seeking a new deadly catch. Never before had one section of the Royal Navy been similarly honoured. The badge was worn 4in above the cuff of the left sleeve and applied to both officers and men.
Fishing boat registration codes
Many of the boats in the RNPS were fishing boats. The fishing boat registration codes show where the boat was registered. To start with, the first letter of the port of registration were used. For example, A for Aberdeen. If there was already a code using that system, then the first and last letters were used as in AA for Alloa. Then usually the first and second letters were used. For example, AB for Aberystwyth.
The Harvest Reaper was registered in Buckie on the Moray Firth in Scotland. However, Buckie couldn't use BE as that was Barnstaple, nor BU, as that was Burntisland, So Buckie became BCK, and Harvest Reaper was BCK128
The list of codes is printed below.
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