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RICHARD BENNETT

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

Owner Admiralty

Date17 May 1917

Object NameADMIRALTY TRAWLER

MediumSTEEL

ClassificationsShip

Dimensionslength 122 1/3' x breadth 22 1/12' x depth 13 3/12'
Gross Tonnage: 237 ton

Object numberABDSHIP002305

Keywords

Aberdeen Built Ships

About MeYard: Hall, Russell & Co.
Yard Number: 609.

Fate: Sunk as a target, Robben Island, South Africa, 26 October 1954 .

Propulsion: Steam
Description: Strath Class admiralty trawler, screw, steel, armament 1 x 12 pdr, fitted witrh listening hydrophones. Later a side trawler.

Owners:
1917: Completed for the Lord Commissioners for the Admiralty. Admiralty no. 3649.
1921: Sold to Mercantile to Ivey Fishing Co. Ltd, London, LO439.
1926: Irvin & Johnson, Cape Town CT741.
09/1939: Requisitioned and converted to a minesweeper for the South Africa Defence Force as HMSAS RICHARD BENNETT (T.15).
05/1940: returned to owners for use as a trawler.
(Gerald Toghill (2003), "Royal Navy Trawlers, Part One: Admiralty Trawlers" (Maritime Books, Liskeard), p. 184)

General History:
following information from the Memorable Order of Tin Hats:

The Richard Bennett, the oldest trawler to be requisitioned for naval service in South Africa and had also served as a naval vessel in World War One, the only one in the SDF to have done so, apart from the Stork – an examination vessel that served at East London and later Durban.

Sunk as a target, 26 October 1954.
'...as part of the general disposal of old vessels she was taken out of service in 1954 and on 26 October was towed out to sea to serve as a target for the three 9.2-inch guns of the De Waal Battery (previously Robben Island Battery). She seemed somehow forlorn as the tug GS Stephens, “…left her wallowing in the strong south-west swell.” She finally went to the bottom after 23 rounds had been fired at her.'

Note:
Triple expansion engine, 3 cylinders (12", 20" and 34") 24" stroke, 57 RHP