BEN GULVAIN

Shipbuildervessel built by Hall, Russell & Company, Limited (Aberdeen, Scotland, 1864 - 1992)

Shipownervessel built for Richard Irvin & Sons Ltd

Date30 September 1914

Object NameFISHING VESSEL

ClassificationsShip

Dimensionslength 115 3/12' x breadth 22 1/12' x depth 12 9/12'
Gross Tonnage: 197 ton

Object numberABDSHIP002253

Keywords

Aberdeen Built Ships

About MeYard: Hall, Russell & Co.
Yard Number: 557.

Fate: Broken up 1961.

Propulsion: Steam
Description: Trawler

Owners:
1914: Richard Irvin and Sons Limited, fishing number A118.
03/1915: Requisitioned and converted to a minesweeper, armament 1 x 6 pdr AA. Admiralty no. 1344.
1919: Returned to owners.
08/1939: Requisitioned and converted to a minesweeper. Pennant no. FY.1680.
08/1946: Returned to owners.

General History:
The crew of the BEN GULVAIN saved 4 members of the crew of FRASER when it struck a mine off Boulogne, 17 June 1917. McLeod was the skipper during this time, and awarded the Distinguished Service Cross. The 4 rescued crewmen were handed over to French vessel MARGUARETE for immediate landing. James Weedon, engineman on the FRASER and killed in the explosion was the eldest child of a tailor who had a small, bespoke gentlemen's outfitters in Aberdeen.
(Source: Shipping Today and Yesterday; Scottish Trawlermen at war...The Loss of HMT 'Fraser')
27/12/1940: Reported as hit a mine.

Engines 78 HP
(Gerald Toghill (2004), "Royal Navy Trawlers, Part Two: Requisitioned Trawlers" (Maritime Books, Liskeard), p. 44)