Isles class trawler
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The RN used many Trawler type vessels in both world wars, requisitioned civilian ones and specially built.
Warlord offers the WW I Strath class type, many coming back from fishery industry to RN service in 1939.But I wanted another trawler for my planned small coastal convoy. An Isles class one.
197 vessels are built between 1939 and 1945 in the nearly identical Isles, Dance, Tree and Shakespearian classes, 145 of them Isles.
The Isles had a 12 pdr / 76 mm gun and three 2 cm. 30 depth charges are carried for ASW work and some gear for minesweeping. A crew of 4 officers and 36 men served them under all conditions. With 12 kts the trawler was no runner but fast enough. They could operate in stormy conditions that made destroyers useless.
They arrived at the front in 1942, serving in all areas.One Isles, HMS Wallasea ,T/Lt. Edward James Hill, RNVR, was sunk in a 7 S-Boote (5. Flottille) attack on convoy WP.457 (Wales to Portmouth) off Mounts Bay, Cornwall on 6 January 1944, hit by S 138.
In that action S84 and S 136 sank the armed Swedish steamer Polperro, S 141 the steamer Underwood and S 143 the Dutch steamer Solstad . S 142 reported another steamer sunk. (?) S 100 hit nothing.
The escorting DD Mackay and Glaisdale could not stop the S-Boote, all escaped.Another Cruel sea action style victim was Gairsay, sunk by an explosive motor boat at Normandy .
Colsay was sunk at Ostend by Neger human torpedo.
Three are sunk by submarines, Jura in western Mediterranean, Orfasy near Monrovia and Ganilly, first reported mined , by U 390 at Utah beach.
Stronsay was mined and sunk in the Western Mediterranean off Philippeville on 5 February 1943. (Also claimed for Italian sub Avorio) Rysa was mined and sunk off Maddallena, Italy on 8 December 1943.The list of those lost to accidents shows how hard the work was. Brora (wrecked at Hebrides), Canna (burnt out at Lagos, Nigeria), Flotta (foundered on 6 November 1941 after being grounded on the east coast of Scotland), Hildasay (Wrecked near Kilindili on 21 June 1945 ). Campobello on passage to the UK with convoy SC-122 suffered from severe leaks from a collision with ice and had to be abandoned and sunk by an escort with DC.
Two Isles became German naval vessels. Dochet and Flint became Eider and Trave. 1956 bought for the new Bundesmarine. Both served as fishery protection vessels and for training with light guns for some 20 years. Trave became 1977 a Turkish naval vessel.
More went to the Italian navy in 1946.
Most of the surviving Royal Navy ones were discarded early but a few remained until the 1960s.And the usual pic showing the unpainted hull
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Yes, I’m used 600 x 400 Pixels, thats the biggest size some Websites accept.
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