The Bosun's Watch

Technical

Official Number: 121030
Yard Number: 64
Completed: 1904
Gross Tonnage: 270
Net Tonnage: 94
Length: 130 ft
Breadth: 22 ft
Draught: 12.4 ft
Engine: 80 hp T.3-cyl by Amos & Smith Ltd, Hull
Speed: 10.5 ft
Armament: (WWI) 1 x 12 pdr : 1 x 7.5″ Bomb Thrower (A/S Howitzer)
Built: Cook Welton & Gemmell, Beverley, 1904

History

24.11.1904: Launched by Cook, Welton & Gemmell, Beverley (Yd.No.64) for The Imperial Steam Fishing Co Ltd, Hull (Frank O. Hellyer & Owen S. Hellyer, managers) as GAUL (H761).
30.1.1905: Registered at Hull (H761).
2.1905: Completed.
2.1915: Requisitioned for war service as a minesweeper (1-12pdr, 1-7.5” A/S Howitzer) (Ad.No.733).
3.11.1917: Sold to The New Docks Steam Trawling Co (Fleetwood) Ltd, Fleetwood (Taylor & Tomlinson Ltd, managers).
8.4.1919: Hull registry closed.
9.4.1919: Registered at Fleetwood (FD143).
1920: Returned to owner.
1925: Chartered by Hellyer Bros Ltd, Hull for use in reconnoitring for icefields, marking boundaries, fish carrying, etc in the halibut fishery in the Davis Strait, Greenland.
2.1926: Chartered by Andreas Goodmundsson, Leith to carry fish from Iceland to Grimsby.
27.3.1926: On completion of charter, sailed Grimsby for Fleetwood with a scratch crew (Sk. Karl Johnson).
30.3.1926: In heavy weather driven on submerged reef in Ballevullin Bay, NW Tiree while on passage Grimsby – Fleetwood; crew of nine took to boat which overturned;
seven men lost, two reached the shore. (Crew all Grimsby men. Survivors. G. Platt, deckhand and E. Thompson, trimmer. Lost. Sk. Karl Johnson; W. Robinson, Mate;
R. Dean, third hand; T. Moon deckhand; A. Keightley, Chief engineer, R. Kershaw, 2nd engineer and A. Beard, cook.
29.7.1926: Fleetwood registry closed on advice from owners.

Click to enlarge image

S.T. Gaul FD143
Picture courtesy of Alan Hirst