Technical

Official Number: 109027
Yard Number: 188
Completed: 1898
Gross Tonnage: 172
Net Tonnage: 67
Length: 110.2 ft
Breadth: 21.0
Depth: 10.9 ft
Engine: T.3-cyl and boiler by Muir & Houston Ltd, Glasgow
Built: Mackie & Thomson, Govan

History

CAMEO (H394/FD38) (1935-1954)

A design submitted by Mackie & Thomson, Govan was approved by the Kingston board and four vessels were ordered. Contracts were signed with the shipyard to build the vessels, and supply engines and boilers. The names chosen were AMBER, AMETHYST, BERYL and CAMEO. Total cost with amendments, fees, classification, fishing gear, stores and coal £5,208.9s.6d.

5.3.1898: Launched by Mackie & Thomson, Govan (Yd.No.188) for The Kingston Steam Trawling Co Ltd, Hull as CAMEO.
5.1898: Completed trials and accepted (Lawrence Spring, manager).
12.5.1898: Registered at Hull (H394).
5.9.1914: On a North Sea trip (Sk. Frederick W. Wollaston). Picked up several crew members and passengers from the Hull steamer RUNO (1654grt/1902) which was mined after entering a known minefield off the East Coast whilst on passage, Hull-Archangel with Russian reservist and their families. Sk. Wollaston awarded BoT Silver Medal for Gallantry at Sea for his part in the rescue of survivors.
2.1915: Requisitioned for war service as a minesweeper (1-3pdr later 1-12pdr) (Ad.No.1216). Based Peterhead Unit 42.
16.7.1915: Unit 42, at 0830 am. in position 57.20N 0.40E patrolling in a rough line to the NW in the following order SEA RANGER (Ad.No.1219) (H188) (Lieut. H. J. Bray RNR), EASTWARD HO (Ad.No.1217)(H415) and CAMEO (Sk. Albert Sayer RNR) approximately 2 miles apart. SEA RANGER observed a steamer steering erratically and detached to close her to investigate. Found Norwegian steamer VAAGEN picking up lumber lost from her deck cargo. At the same time Sk. Sayer turned southwards to examine a boat that had passed and sighted a surfaced submarine to the SW steaming towards him. Action Stations, hoisted signal and turned towards submarine which fired a shot at him falling short followed by at least four other shots that also fell short. At 2000yds submarine opened fire with two guns, returned fire but hit three times in fore part of wheelhouse, smashing wheel and wounding Sk. Sayer on right side and eye by splinters. Second shot hit starboard quarter while the third shot exploded in the galley. Believed that submarine was hit two or three times at the fore end in all 11 rounds fired. EASTWARD HO becoming aware of the action steered towards them and submarine ceased firing and headed away to the westward on the surface. SEA RANGER sighted the submarine 4 to 5 miles to the southwestwards and gave chase trying to cut her off with EASTWARD HO also in pursuit but due to superior speed the submarine escaped (See Note).
10.10.1917: Arthur Taylor appointed manager.
22.9.1918: Arrived at Hull for reconditioning at a price of £1,350 agreed with The Admiralty this included 3 weeks hire during reconditioning.
26.9.1918: Returned off charter.
7.10.1918: Slipped.
17.10.1918: Off hire.
5.11.1918: Sailed in convoy for the North Sea fishing grounds.
8.3.1919: Sold to Henry Lackie, Bradford (East Hull Steam Fishing Co Ltd Hull) through Knowles & W. A. Massey & Sons Ltd, Hull, deposit £1,150, shipbrokers commission £400. 19.03.1919: Balance paid £10,350; total £11,500 including fishing gear.
20.3.1919: Benjamin Knowles appointed manager.
8.9.1919: Sold to Hollinwood Steam Trawling Fishing Co Ltd, Hull (Benjamin Knowles, manager).
12.4.1927: Sold to Thomas & Charles Hudson, Hull (Charles Hudson, manager).
21.4.1927: Sold to Ocean Steam Fishing Co Ltd, Hull (George Altoft, manager).
31.5.1928: Sold to Kenneth Pocklington, Hull.
7.7.1928: Sold to Holderness Steam Trawling Co Ltd, Hull (Kenneth Pocklington, manager).
1930: K. Pocklington & J. C. Wood appointed managers.
21.5.1935: Sold to Richard Bettess, Fleetwood (The Sun Steam Trawling Co Ltd, managers).
21.5.1935: Hull registry closed.
19.6.1935: Registered at Fleetwood (FD38).
12.1.1938: Outward on evening tide for fishing grounds (Sk. J. Ainsworth) in collision with a yacht in Wyre Channel. Yacht on an angling trip sank and four men rescued but two drowned.
30.11.1938: Off Llandudno fire in forecastle. Proceeded to Llandudno pier escorted by the Caernarvon mfv VIDA (BS110); fire extinguished by fire brigade.
10.1953: Sold to BISCO and allocated to Thos. W. Ward Ltd, Sheffield for breaking up.
5.11.1953: Delivered Barrow-in-Furness from Fleetwood under own power.
1.1954: Fleetwood registry closed. (Note: Electric lighting never installed; oil and carbide lighting only.)

(Note. Research by Peter Bell and Michael Lowery has identified the submarine as U19. In her KTB she claimed two hits on CAMEO and accurate firing from CAMEO’s 3-pdr. Sk. Sayer was awarded DSC and gunner the DSM.)

Click to enlarge image

S.T. Cameo H394
Picture courtesy of David Slinger

S.T. Cameo FD38
Picture courtesy of Peter Brady

S.T. Cameo FD38
Picture courtesy of David Slinger

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Additional information courtesy of John Wilson

Technical

Official Number: 132407
Yard Number: 471
Completed: 1911
Gross Tonnage: 299
Net Tonnage: 121
Length: 130.5 ft
Breadth: 23.0 ft
Depth: 13.2 ft
Engine: T.3-cyl by Shields Engineering Co Ltd, North Shields
Built: Smith’s Dock Co Ltd, South Bank-on-Tees, Middlesbrough

History

11.5.1911: Launched by Smith’s Dock Co Ltd, South Bank-on-Tees, Middlesbrough (Yd.No.471) for The New Docks Steam Trawling Co (Fleetwood) Ltd, Fleetwood (Ernest Tomlinson, manager) as CLARA BELLA.
15.6.1911: Registered at Fleetwood (FD138).
6.1911: Completed.
26.1.1914: Sailed Fleetwood for Icelandic grounds (Sk. Robert Gawne); thirteen crew.
14.2.1914: Possibly sighted off Onundafjord, Iceland.
1.3.1914: Missing from this date.
3.3.1914: Supposed lost with all hands off Iceland.
8.5.1914: Fleetwood registry closed.
(Lost – Sk. Robert Gawne, Thomas Newby, William Braham, James Patterson, Patrick Gregan Jnr, James Maker, Oliver Crosswell, J. Blackwood, William Stone, Archibald McLean, Richard Tomlinson, Martin Burnett, Harry Kluver).

The CLARA BELLA belonged to the New Dock Steam Fishing Company LTD and was three years old when she left Fleetwood on the 26th of January 1914 for her ill-fated trip. This was the first time this vessel had gone to Iceland and crew members included Robert Gawne, Thomas Newby, Wliiliam Braham, James Patterson, Patrick Gregan jnr, James Maker or Maher, Oliver Cranwell or Crosswell, J. Blackwood, William Stone, Archibald Mclean, Richard Tomlinson, (son of the New Docks Managing Director), Martin Burnett and Harry kluver. James Patterson (spare hand) was my grandfather. He was 25 yrs of age.

The last sightings of the CLARA BELLA were by the Grimsby trawlers (INA WILLIAM, the SWEEPER, and the CHALCEDONY). The INA WILLIAM put in for shelter in an Onunderfjord off the west coast of Iceland on February the 10th 1914. There were many trawlers sheltering there due to the extreme weather conditions at the time and most of the vessels were encased in ice.

The Skipper, Henry Steel, recalls seeing a Fleetwood vessel anchored near the entrance of the Fjord. He remembered it because at the time, he had thought it was a bit of a novelty to see a Fleetwood trawler at the Icelandic fishing grounds. Skipper Steel went on to say that two hours later there were slight breaks in the snow storms and that is when he noticed that the Fleetwood trawler had disappeared. He concluded that they had possibly ‘Slipped out to try for fish’. He told the Board of Trade enquiry, ‘The weather thickened again almost immediately and continued with heavy easterly gales and continuous snow storms for the next ten days’.

James Westerby, Skipper of the Grimsby trawler SWEEPER, said he saw the Fleetwood trawler in early February off Csar Bay, five or six miles South-West of Rykgaves on the South-West coast of Iceland. Why the CLARA BELLA had left was not known, but no trace of her had been found since, nor had any wreckage been found. The presumption was that either she had gone down in the blizzard or she might have struck a rock or floating ice.

Board of Trade Enquiry

The Secretary of the New Dock Steam Fishing Company – Joseph Allen Taylor, said he was satisfied that the vessel sighted by the Grimsby trawler SWEEPER must have been the CLARA BELLA. The conclusion he came to was that the skipper of the CLARA BELLA tried to resume his fishing during an interval in the rough weather and had probably struck a rock or some floating ice during the blizzard which had continued for sometime after he left.

In another write up of the Fleetwood Chronicle dated March 24th 1914, the President of Hull Fishing Vessel Owners Association states, ‘that the trawler CHALCEDONY saw a Fleetwood trawler in Fara Bay on Sunday, March 1st. Later the skipper of the steam trawler, SWEEPER, which arrived in Grimsby on the 9th of March, reported having seen a Fleetwood trawler. And his description of the vessel he saw corresponds with that of the CLARA BELLA seen on Saturday the 28th of February. If the CLARA BELLA was sighted on March 1st she would have been at sea for thirty four days at that point.

The CLARA BELLA came to Fleetwood brand new. She was built in 1911 so was only three years old when she went missing. She was built at Middlesborough at the cost of £7881 and was insured for £7000. Her gross tonnage was about 299, and her speed ten knots. The CLARA BELLA was of standard design. The only difference from other trawlers being that she had an extra fish room aft and an extra bulk head forward. Her bunkers would take from 165 to 170 tons of coal and her ice capacity was about 35 tons. Her capacity for fish would be about 100 tons maximum. Dead weight calculated on freeboard would be about 279 tons.

The Crew

Bosun – Herbert or Robert Henry Gawne – twenty years of age, resided in Addison Road, Fleetwood. He left a wife and one child ages four months old.
Mate – Thomas Newby – thirty four years of age, resided at 53 Carr Road, Fleetwood. He left a wife and one child aged seven years.
Deck Hand – William Braham – nineteen years old, single. He lived in Milton Street, Fleetwood.
Spare Hand – James Patterson- twenty five years, resided 55 Mount Street, Fleetwood. He left a wife and two children aged two years and one ten months.
Spare Hand – Patrick Gregan jnr – twenty years of age – single. Resided at Preston Street, Fleetwood.
Fireman – James Maher (or Maker) – age and address unknown.
Second Engineer – Oliver Cranwell (or Crosswell) single, a native of Melbourne Australia, lodging in Adelaide Street, Fleetwood.
Spare Hand – J. Blackwood – age and address unknown.
Fireman – William Stone – twenty nine years, single, resided at 5 Garfield Street, (off Victoria Street) Fleetwood.
Cook – Archibald Mclean – sixty six years, widower, and has a daughter in the Post Office at Birkenhead. He is a native of Glasgow and resided at the Imperial Cafe Fleetwood.
Deckhand – Richard Tomlinson – seventeen, single, the son of Captain Ernest Tomlinson, the Managing Director of the New Dock Trawling Company – resided Poulton Road, Fleetwood.
Chief Engineer – Martin Burnett, age and address unknown, from Kintore Aberdeen.
Skipper – Harry Kluver – married man. This was his first sailing out of Fleetwood.

Click to enlarge image

S.T. Clara Bella FD138
Picture courtesy of John Wilson

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Technical

Official Number: 105912
Yard Number: 506
Completed: 1895
Gross Tonnage: 153
Net Tonnage: 33
Length: 105.8 ft
Breadth: 20.6 ft
Depth: 11.0 ft
Engine: T.3-cyl by N. E. Marine Engineering Co Ltd, Sunderland
Built: Edwards Bros Ltd, North Shields

History

3.10.1895: Launched by Edwards Bros Ltd, North Shields (Yd.No.506) for George Beeching & Co, Hull & Fleetwood as BASSEIN
24.10.1895: Registered at Fleetwood (FD138).
10.1895: Completed.
1897: Transferred to Kelsall Brothers & Beeching Ltd, Manchester (John E. A. Kelsall, Fleetwood, manager).
30.3.1899: Registered at Hull (H68).
12.5.1899: Fleetwood registry closed.
Pre 1908: George Beeching, Hull & John E. A. Kelsall, London designated managers.
7.11.1911: Foundered in North Sea in severe weather conditions.
1.12.1911: Hull registry closed.

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Technical

Admiralty Number: 4488
Official Number: 144651
Yard Number: 318
Completed: 1920
Gross Tonnage: 276
Net Tonnage: 107
Length: 125.4 ft
Breadth: 23.4 ft
Depth: 12.6 ft
Engine: T.3-cyl and boiler by J. P. Rennoldson & Sons Ltd, South Shields
Built: J. P. Rennoldson & Sons Ltd, South Shields

History

17.5.1920: Launched by J. P. Rennoldson & Sons Ltd, South Shields (Yd.No.318) (“Castle” class) for The Admiralty as DANIEL DICK.
24.8.1920: Registered by The Admiralty as a fishing vessel at London (LO410).
25.8.1920: Completed as a fishing vessel. Laid up at Brightlingsea.
31.10.1921: Sold to Kingston Steam Trawling Co Ltd, Hull (Walter Scott manager) after inspection at Brightlingsea by Capt. William John Lown & Lawrence Spring (directors). Purchased at asking price £7250 (Others inspected and purchased were GEORGE CORTON, ISAAC ITHAN, JOHN BROOKER, JOHN GRAHAM & THOMAS BOUDIGE ).
20.11.1921: Arrived Hull from Brightlingsea for fitting out.
3.12.1921: London registry closed.
8.12.1921: Sailed Hull on first trip.
21.12.1921: Registered at Hull (H338). Total cost including fit out and classification £8734.3.10d.
21.1.1922: Registered at Hull as AGATE (H338).
24.4.3.1925: John William Lown appointed manager.
30.10.1934: Sold to Trident Steam Fishing Co Ltd, Hull (George Arthur Ledger, manager) (£4000).
15.11.1934: Registered at Hull as CLYTH NESS (H338).
26.8.1939: Requisitioned for war service and fitted out at Gt. Yarmouth as a minesweeper (magnetic) (P.No. FY.1596) (Hire rate £89.14.0d/month).
9.1943: Fitted out to a water carrier.
1944: Fitted out as a fuelling trawler (33ton tank for refuelling diesel landing craft) (P.No.Y7.16). Assigned to Operation Neptune – Normandy landings.
23.5.1944: Assigned as a fuelling trawler to Force O.
3.7.1944: Operation Neptune ended.
25.10.1944: Sold to The Dinas Steam Trawling Co Ltd, Fleetwood (David Marr, manager).
12.7.1945: Laid up.
13.11.1945: Registered at Fleetwood (FD131).
1.3.1946: Hull registry closed.
1.3.1946: Re-registered at Fleetwood (FD131).
2.3.1946: Returned to owner.
13.2.1952: Sold to Wood & Bruce Ltd, Aberdeen (David Wood, manager).
13.2.1952: Fleetwood registry closed.
2.1952: Registered at Aberdeen (A702).
5.1955: Sold to Belgium for breaking up.
8.5.1955: Arrived Boom. Aberdeen registry closed.
(Daniel Dick, AB, age 27, b. Glasgow, Scotland – ROYAL SOVEREIGN (SB202))

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S.T. Clyth Ness A702
Picture courtesy of Grimsby Reference Library

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Technical

Official Number: 73748
Gross Tonnage: 40
Net Tonnage: 25
Length: 59.1 ft
Breadth: 16.7 ft
Depth: 8.6 ft
Built: Hugh Singleton, Fleetwood

History

Jigger smack – trawling

1875: Completed by Hugh Singleton, Fleetwood for William Sumner, Fleetwood & Others as LORD MARMION.
1876: Registered at Fleetwood (FD131).
1.1.1880: Owned by Mrs Tabitha Leadbetter, Fleetwood.
29.12.1883: Sold to John Johnson, Fleetwood (managing owner).
20.2.1905: Sold to James Johnson, 9 Wellington Terrace, Preston & Others.
22.11.1906: Sold to Henry Robert Moss, 22 Windsor Terrace, Fleetwood (managing owner).
9.5.1917: Sold to John Edward Singleton, 55 Pharos Street, Fleetwood.
6.5.1918: Sold to Alice Maud Stennitt, 11 Imperial Terrace, Blackpool.
11.10.1918: Sold to Thomas Bradshaw & Alfred Batchelor, 57 Warren Street, Fleetwood.
Pre 1924: Sold to George Ellis, 9 Balmoral Terrace, Fleetwood (managing owner).
1929: Same.
24.4.1935 (20.5.1935?): Fleetwood registry closed. Ceased fishing.

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