British Naval Trawlers and Drifters in Two World Wars

This unusually titled book masks the fact that you get two for the price of one! Firstly, there is a comprehensive history of the immense contribution made to the war effort during World Wars I and II by the British fishing industry and many of its crews, boats and equipment. Secondly, there is a set of detailed scale plans of these trawlers and drifters by the celebrated draughtsman and author John Lambert who died six years ago. Seaforth Publishing acquired his archive of drawings and this book is one of a series featuring his work which forms a unique contribution to naval history. The historian Julian Corbett wrote soon after World War I, ‘In all tradition it had been a constant duty of the Grand Fleet to protect our fishing fleets; now it was the fishing fleets who must protect our Grand Fleet’. Steve Dunn describes how this was true across both world wars when the immediate threat, from the sea mine and the submarine in particular, demanded that Royal Navy ships and personnel had to be urgently augmented by the very vessels the Fishery Protection Squadron had sought to guard hitherto. This was indeed a role reversal. It is a story full of ironies. Before WW1, the RN had the foresight to recognise that fishing trawlers could be quite easily converted to minesweepers. But in the event, in terms of losses, the mine proved to be the greatest menace for both the crews and their boats. There were few counters to the U-Boat during the early years of the Great War but by World War II the trawler had become an integral part of the convoy screen, its superb seakeeping qualities also proving a match for the rigours of the North Atlantic and Arctic Oceans. In World War 1, the aerial threat had been practically non-existent; during the 1939-45 conflict it was the complete opposite. Dunn accounts for the whole gamut of contributions made both by requisitioned boats and those specifically designed and built for the Navy. He describes their widespread use in home waters and also abroad as far apart as the Mediterranean and the Far East. Diverse duties for these versatile craft included boom-defence and even acting as ‘doodle-bug’ traps. There is also a mention of the small but vital role played by STUFT trawlers during the Falklands War. The author skilfully blends his narrative with a mixture of technical information, statistics and particularly anecdotal tales of individual boats and their crews. There is much heroism and humour as well as the danger and drudgery associated with these often unglamorous tasks. The text is supported by a large number of superb black and white photographs, the vast majority of which will be totally unfamiliar to the reader. John Lambert’s portfolio of plans, which occupy nearly 60 pages of this large format book, is a treat and will be greatly valued by naval enthusiasts and model-makers alike. Seaforth have managed to print the drawings across a double page by digitally separating the two halves so no detail is lost. The accompanying text also provides a wealth of additional information. This book serves as a tribute not only to Lambert’s technical skill and knowledge but also constitutes a rare and authoritative account of the nation’s fishing fleet and its crews in time of war.

This unusually titled book masks the fact that you get two for the price of one! Firstly, there is a comprehensive history of the immense contribution made to the war effort during World Wars I and II by the British fishing industry and many of its crews, boats and equipment. Secondly, there is a set of detailed scale plans of these trawlers and drifters by the celebrated draughtsman and author John Lambert who died six years ago. Seaforth Publishing acquired his archive of drawings and this book is one of a series featuring his work which forms a unique contribution to naval history. The historian Julian Corbett wrote soon after World War I, ‘In all tradition it had been a constant duty of the Grand Fleet to protect our fishing fleets; now it was the fishing fleets who must protect our Grand Fleet’. Steve Dunn describes how this was true across both world wars when the immediate threat, from the sea mine and the submarine in particular, demanded that Royal Navy ships and personnel had to be urgently augmented by the very vessels the Fishery Protection Squadron had sought to guard hitherto. This was indeed a role reversal. It is a story full of ironies. Before WW1, the RN had the foresight to recognise that fishing trawlers could be quite easily converted to minesweepers. But in the event, in terms of losses, the mine proved to be the greatest menace for both the crews and their boats. There were few counters to the U-Boat during the early years of the Great War but by World War II the trawler had become an integral part of the convoy screen, its superb seakeeping qualities also proving a match for the rigours of the North Atlantic and Arctic Oceans. In World War 1, the aerial threat had been practically non-existent; during the 1939-45 conflict it was the complete opposite. Dunn accounts for the whole gamut of contributions made both by requisitioned boats and those specifically designed and built for the Navy. He describes their widespread use in home waters and also abroad as far apart as the Mediterranean and the Far East. Diverse duties for these versatile craft included boom-defence and even acting as ‘doodle-bug’ traps. There is also a mention of the small but vital role played by STUFT trawlers during the Falklands War. The author skilfully blends his narrative with a mixture of technical information, statistics and particularly anecdotal tales of individual boats and their crews. There is much heroism and humour as well as the danger and drudgery associated with these often unglamorous tasks. The text is supported by a large number of superb black and white photographs, the vast majority of which will be totally unfamiliar to the reader. John Lambert’s portfolio of plans, which occupy nearly 60 pages of this large format book, is a treat and will be greatly valued by naval enthusiasts and model-makers alike. Seaforth have managed to print the drawings across a double page by digitally separating the two halves so no detail is lost. The accompanying text also provides a wealth of additional information. This book serves as a tribute not only to Lambert’s technical skill and knowledge but also constitutes a rare and authoritative account of the nation’s fishing fleet and its crews in time of war.