STRATHLOCHY
Shipbuildervessel built by
Hall, Russell & Company, Limited
(Aberdeen, Scotland, 1864 - 1992)
Date7 December 1916
Object NameFISHING VESSEL
ClassificationsShip
Dimensionslength 115 3/12' x breadth 22 1/12' x depth 13'
Gross Tonnage: 212 ton
Gross Tonnage: 212 ton
Object numberABDSHIP002273
Keywords
Yard Number: 576.
Official Number (IMO): 137184.
Fate: Bombed and sunk by German enemy aircraft 180 miles NW of Rora Head on 28 July 1941.
Propulsion: Steam
Description: Trawler
Owners:
1915: Aberdeen Steam Trawling and Fishing Company, fishing number, A596.
11/1915: Requisitioned and converted into a minesweeper, armament 1 x 6 pdrAA. Admiralty no. 3249.
1919: Returned to owners.
(Gerald Toghill (2004), "Royal Navy Trawlers, Part Two: Requisitioned Trawlers" (Maritime Books, Liskeard), p. 466).
General History:
07/12/1915: Launched. Named by Miss Patterson, Ballater.
29/05/1928: Grounded on the rocks at Scotstoun Point. Refloated under her own power without damage.
12/05/1929: Second Fisherman Wilson Summers lost overboard.
08/06/1936: Mate, George Randall, lost overboard.
03/08/1936: Towed the DANDINI, disabled with boiler failure, from Faroe to Aberdeen.
STRATHLOCHY, the prototype 'strath' Admiralty trawler:
The 'Strath' was the smallest of the three designs of auxiliary warship built during World War One and owed its design to the 'STRATHLOCHY', a fishing vessel completed in 1916 by the Hall, Russell shipyard in Aberdeen for the Aberdeen Steam Trawling and Fishing Co. Ltd., the Strath line of Aberdeen. All this company's vessell names had the prefix 'Strath'.
The shipyard had been associated with the Strath company since building the company's first vessel in 1891. Over the succeeding years, this association had developed a vessel adapted to the needs of trawling operations from Aberdeen, going as far as the Icelandic and Faroes fishing grounds. The Strathlochy was the 56th vessel which Hall, Russell had built for these owners in 25 years.
Technically, the STRATHLOCHY had a single deck, two masts and was ketch rigged. The rivetted steel, clencher built hull had a straight stem and an elliptical stern.
Hall, Russell built and installed a single 'Scotch' boiler with 3 furnaces, fitted with Sturrock's patent bridges and coal fired from the fore end. It supplied steam to a triple expansion steam engine, which had also been manufactured by the shipbuilders. At full power, the installation produced 430 indicated horse power, giving the vessel a speed of 10.5 knots.
There was an enclosed wheelhouse, a galley (with a coal stove), a master's cabin and a crew cabin. The vessel was not fitted with electrics, but had a acetylene gas installation to provide lighting in the accomodation and on deck. A single 7" x 12" steam trawl winch, with twin rope barrels, was fitted on deck, immediately forward of the wheelhouse. Both the gas system and winch were supplied by the owners and fitted by the shipbuilder. Completed, but without fishing gear, the trawler cost £6,100.
The STRATHLOCHY went down the ways on 7 December 1915 in a twin launch with her sister ship STRATHRYE and was named by Miss Paterson of Kyle View, Ballater. It was not however destined for fishing, as in January 1916, the admiralty requisitioned the vessels. Strathlochy was armed with a 6" gun and became a minesweeper, His Majesty's Trawler STRATHLOCHY, with Admiralty Number 3249.
Notes:
Triple expansion steam engine by Hall, Russell. Cylinders 12" x 20" x 34" with 23 stroke, 439 i.h.p.
One 'Scotch' boiler, 12'6" diameter x 10' long, 1347 ft sq heating area, 3 furnaces, 180 p.s.i pressure.
Single screw, 8' 4" diameter, solid, cast iron, 4 bladed propellor.
4 February 1920
