S.T. Withernsea H263

Note: Wartime visitor. This entry forms part of a deeper look into the Hull Steam Fishing & Ice Co Ltd and Kelsall Bros. & Beeching Ltd and the effect that they had on the fishing industry at Fleetwood.

Technical

Official Number: 144072.
Yard Number: ??
Completed: 1918
Gross Tonnage: 261
Net Tonnage: 116
Length: 132.6 ft
Breadth: 23.3 ft
Depth: 12.4 ft
Built: Flensburger Schiffsbau-Gesellschaft, Flensburg
Engine: T.3-cyl and boiler by Flensburger Schiffsbau-Gesellschaft, Flensburg

History

1918: Completed by Flensburger Schiffsbau-Gesellschaft, Flensburg (Yd.No.Not recorded) for Norddeutsche Hochseefischerei Act. Ges., Wesermünde-G as APENRADE. Registered at Wesrmünde-G. Requisitioned for war service in Kaiserliche Marine (Imperial German Navy) as a naval escort and assigned to 8 Geleitflotille (Escort Flotilla).
1920: Taken in reparation and assigned to Great Britain.
3.1921: Sold to Hull Steam Fishing & Ice Co Ltd (64/64), Hull.
19.4.1921: Registered at Hull as APENRADE (H263).
22.4.1021: Registered at Hull (Part I & VI) as WITHERNSEA O.N.144072 (H263).(BoT Minute M.4695 dated 4 March 1921) O.N.144072.
8.6.1921: Vessel mortgaged (64/64) to The London County Westminster & Parr’s Bank Ltd, London (A).
22.4.1921: Joseph Vivian appointed manager.
6.3.1923: Mortgagee re-styled as Westminster Bank Ltd, London.
1925: New boiler.
22.10.1925: Robert Burton appointed manager.
14.10.1927: Mortgage (A) transferred to William Augustus Hayward, Eastbourne.
14.10.1927: Mortgage (A) transferred to Mercantile Marine Finance Corporation Ltd, London.
22.10.1928: Robert Burton appointed manager.
27.12.1930: Capsized against dock wall, St. Andrew’s Dock, Hull. Pulled upright by fish dock tug and pumped out.
16.9.1932: Charles Hugh Emerson appointed manager.
10.1932: Mercantile Marine Finance Corporation Ltd in liquidation.
1.11.1932: Mortgage (A) transferred to Harold Frank Hayward, London; Maud Florence Katherine Rogers, Chelsea and Ernest Norton, London (Joint mortgagees). 1935: Insured value £4,375.
25.2.1936: Sailed Hull for Faroes grounds (Sk. Gough).
10.3.1936: At Hull landed 350 kits (14 days) grossed £561. Laid up.
3.1936: Combined boxing and trawling fleet of Kelsall Bros. & Beeching Ltd and the Hull Steam Fishing & Ice Co Ltd consisting of 59 vessels laid up at Hull (declining catches, coal bill and increased maintenance costs had made the venture uneconomical).
6.3.1936: At Extraordinary General Meeting at Hull, Hull Steam Fishing & Ice Co Ltd placed in Creditors’ Voluntary Winding-up (Richard Field Helm of Messrs Hodgson Harris & Co, London appointed liquidators).
8.6.1936: Sold by mortgagee under mortgage (A) to David Pearson, Hull (managing owner).
14.1.1937: Vessel (64/64) mortgage for £750 with interest at 5% with Harry Markham Cook, Grimsby (B).
31.3.1937: Mortgage (B) discharged.
31.3.1937: Vessel (64/64) mortgage for £1,000 with interest at 5% with Harry Markham Cook, Grimsby (C).
1.1938: Sold by mortgagee under mortgage (C) to A/S Shetland (F. N. Nordbö A/S), Haugesund.
25.1.1938: Hull registry closed “Sold to foreigners (Norwegian subjects) for trading”. To be renamed SHETLAND but remained at Haugesund laid up still under old name.
14.4.1939: Sold to “Lawica” Rybolowstwo Dalekomorskiie i Zegluga Sp.z.o.o., Gdynia (“Lawica” Deep-Sea Fishing & Shipping Ltd)(Kazimierza Orthweina, Wincenty Bartosiak & others) through Gdynia shipbrokers Rummel & Burton for £2,550.
18.5.1939: Registered at Polish Consulate in Oslo at Gdynia as LAWICA I(GDY141).
19.5.1939: Polish crew took over ship and sailed for Gdynia.
15.7.1939: Repairs completed. Being ready for sea before the start of the North Sea herring season it was decided to fish the Icelandic grounds and Sk. Stanislaw Ploszko was appointed*. A good landing was made at Gdynia, then employed on North Sea herring.
31.8.1939: Arrived Hull under orders of Polish authorities. Laid over.
9.9.1939: Moved to St. Andrews Dock and painted Admiralty Grey, it was believed that the ship was being prepared for Admiralty service, but later instructions cancelled and ship returned to lay up.
5.10.1939: Bare boat chartered to Hellyer Brothers Ltd, Hull and transferred to British flag.
26.10.1939: Transferred to Fleetwood (Sk. Stanislaw Ploszko).
16.11.1939: After an unsuccessful trip in heavy weather on the West of Scotland grounds in which she sustained severe damage, Hellyer Bros wished to end the charter.
7.12.1939: Repaired and placed on sales list at £8,000.
27.12.1939: After difficult negotiations sold for £7,270 to Hellyer Brothers Ltd, Hull with clause to buy back after war. Placed in registered ownership of Loch Fishing Co of Hull Ltd (64/64), Hull.
12.1939: Requisitioned for war service as auxiliary patrol vessel, based at Fleetwood on shipping control.
4.3.1940: Registered at Hull as WITHERNSEA (H??). Harry Wright appointed manager.
8.4.1940: Sold to The Admiralty (Minute S.F.4974/40) aware of terms of previous sale contract.
4.6.1940: Ty/Sk. Arthur Garforth RNR appointed CO.
7.1940: Commissioned as a minesweeper (P.No.FY1637).
1942: Based Grimsby with M/S Group 21.
18.8.1945: Ty/Sk. William John Henry Smith RNR appointed CO.
11.1945: Paid off. Laid up at Methil.
3.1946: Returned to Hellyer Brothers Ltd, Hull and under terms of previous sales, sold to “Lawica” Rybolowstwo Dalekomorskiie i Zegluga Sp.z.o.o., London. Registered at Gdynia as LAWICA (GDY83).
9.4.1946: Sailed Methil for Gdynia (Sk. Victor Gorzadek).
18.4.1946: Arrived Gdynia. Renovated and rebuilt by Shipyard No.13 and re entered service (Sk. Victor Gorzadek).
5.7.1946: Company registered in the Polish commercial register after office moved from England back to Poland.
1947: Took part in North Sea herring fishery (Sk. Victor Gorzadek). Out of season attempted to fish Baltic grounds but still heavily mined. Engaged in chilled/frozen transport Gdynia – Hull.
16.12.1949: By Order of the Ministry of Navigation the holding company and assets to be placed under control of the Polish People’s Republic. Zbigniew Kollesinskiego appointed manager.
1950: Company and assets transferred to “Dalmor” Przedsiobiorstwo Polowow Dalekomorskich Sp.z.ogr.odp, Gdynia (Polish Government).
10.1950: Fishing English Channel and Sandettie ground for herring (Sk. Wladyslaw Dettlaff), had record landing.
4.1957: Withdrawn and laid up.
12.1957: Towed to Gdynia Shipyard Repair for breaking up.
1958: Gdynia registry closed broken up.

Note* LAWICA I was the first Polish deep sea trawler to fish the Icelandic grounds with only a Polish crew.

Click to enlarge images

Skipper

Wladyslaw Dettlaff
Picture from the Internet

Lawica GDY 83

Lawica GDY 83
Picture from the Internet

Lawica GDY 83

Lawica GDY 83
Picture from the Internet

S.T. Lawica GDY83

S.T. Lawica GDY83
Picture from the Internet

Lawica GDY 83

Lawica GDY 83
Picture from the Internet

Withernsea H253

Withernsea H253
Picture from the Internet

Withernsea H253

Withernsea H253
Picture from the Internet

Changelog
26/06/2012: Page published. 9 updates since then.
04/04/2021: Updated history.
07/05/2021: Added an image.