Wartime Visitor

Technical

Admiralty Number: 4417
Official Number: 144316
Yard Number: 644
Completed: 1918
Gross Tonnage: 203
Net Tonnage: 88
Length: 115.4 ft
Breadth: 22.1 ft
Depth: 12.1 ft
Engine: 430ihp T.3-cyl by Hall, Russell & Co Ltd, Aberdeen
Built: Hall, Russell & Co Ltd, Aberdeen

History

9.10.1918: Launched by Hall, Russell & Co Ltd, Aberdeen (Yd.No.644) (“Strath” Class) for The Admiralty as THOMAS BARCLAY (Ad.No.4417).
31.10.1918: Completed unarmed.
7.1.1920: Registered by The Admiralty at London (Part I) as THOMAS BARCLAY O.N.144316.
1920: Allocated to the Minesweepers’ Cooperative Trawling Society Ltd, London.
13.8.1920: Minesweepers’ Cooperative Trawling Society Ltd, London registered.
8.1920: At Wivenoe completed fitting out for fishing under Special Survey of Lloyd’s Register and classed 100A1 Stm Trawler at Wivenhoe.
24.08.1920: Registered by The Admiralty at London (Part IV) (LO444). Laid up.
11.1921: Sold to Harry Alexander Holmes, Aberdeen.
7.11.1921: London registry closed.
22.11.1921: Registered at Aberdeen (A786).
30.12.1921: Registered at Aberdeen as JOHN MORRICE (A786) (BoT Minute No.36595 dated 23.12.1921).
30.1.1929: Sold to George Dow Taylor, Alexander Malcolm Morrice, Margaret Morrice, John Morrice & Mary Morrice, Aberdeen (Alexander M. Morrice, managing owner).
28.5.1937: Landed at Fleetwood 240 boxes ‘rock lined’, £345 gross.
27.6.1938: Sold to George D. Taylor, Alexander Malcolm Morrice, John Morrice, Mary Jane Hardie Morrice, James Johnstone & William Davidson, Aberdeen (H. A. Holmes, manager).
28.3.1940: Sold to North Star Steam Fishing Co Ltd, Aberdeen (John A. Harrow, manager).
1940: Fishing from Fleetwood.
9.3.1940: Fishing 12 miles NW of Tory Island, Co. Donegal in company with ALVIS (H52); FLYING ADMIRAL (H66); PELAGOS (GN55) and SEDOCK (SN12) and reported with the Irish trawler LEUKOS (D86) also in the vicinity. Group approached by U-boat (U.38) which fired a single round at a trawler, hitting her in the engineroom and sinking her. Although no conclusive evidence confirms, the trawler probably was the LEUKOS; all eleven crew lost*.
6.1940: Slipped at Fleetwood.
1942: Returned to Aberdeen.
9.2.1946: Sold to The River Ness Fishing Co Ltd, Aberdeen (George Craig, manager).
7.9.1955: Company re-styled River Ness Fishing Co (1955) Ltd.
23.2.1959: Sold to John Lewis & Sons Ltd, Aberdeen for breaking up at Montrose.
9.1959: Sold to Atlantic Rhederei F. & W. Joch, Hamburg.
4.10.1959: Delivered Hamburg for breaking up.
8.10.1959: Aberdeen registry closed “ Vessel sold to foreigners (German subjects)”.

Lost* – Sk. James P. Thomason (28), Fleetwood & Dublin; William Donnelly, Blackpool, Mate; P. J. Scanlon, Cleethorpes, Bosun; Alexander McLeod, Stornoway, Ch Eng; Bernard Smith (23), Dublin, 2nd Eng; Thomas Mulligan, Fleetwood & Dublin & Anthony Pill, Fleetwood & Dublin, deckhands; Michael Cullen (17), Dublin, fireman; Patricio McCarthy (42) Dublin, cook; James Hawkins (17) Fleetwood & Dublin & Robert Sumler (16), Fleetwood & Dublin, apprentices

Click to enlarge image

S.T. John Morrice A786
Picture courtesy of The Tony Frith Collection

S.T. John Morrice A786
Picture courtesy of The JJ Collection

S.T John Morrice A786 at the breakers.
Picture courtesy the Walter L Hume Collection

Changelog

12/08/2010: Page published. 8 updates since then.
11/09/2018: Removed FMHT watermarks from images.
27/02/2021: Updated history and technical details.