CALLIOPSIS KY223

Official No: 144788    Port and Year:  Aberdeen?, 1920 (A ? )                                                              Kirkaldy, ? (KY223)

Description: Admiralty Steel Drifter / side trawler; steam screw, coal burning.  Ketch rigged

Crew:  10

Built: Rose Street Foundry, Inverness, 1918.

Tonnage: 94 grt  38 net

Length / breadth / depth (feet): 93.3 / 18.5  / 9.3

Engine: 207 ihp = 9 kts.

Owners:   As NEBULA 20 Aug 1920: Fisheries Board of Scotland   Renamed NACRE A ? 1920: J. Gore, Aberdeen? Manager: B. Allenby   Renamed CALLIOPSIS KY223 By 1937: A. May and others, Buckie   29 Feb 1944: Yolland & Llewellin, Docks, Milford   1946: Yolland Bros., Docks, Milford   Not in Olsen's 1949 under this name.

Landed at Milford:  Under Milford ownership, but does not appear to have landed fish at the port.

Notes: 6 Dec 1918: Launched as minesweeper NEBULA (Admy.no. 3934). 1 x 6pdr. 12 Oct 1920: Ministry of Agriculture & Fisheries. 1922: Sold to mercantile Aug 1939: Requisitioned as CALLIOPSIS by Admiralty and converted for harbour service 1945: Returned to owners.

 Accidents and Incidents

From the West Wales Guardian of Friday 4th January 1946:

 

    Messrs. Yolland & Llewellin, joint owners of the biggest trawling fleet sailing out of Milford, have dissolved the partnership after ten years of highly successful working, during which time the fleet has increased from one to twenty-two trawlers.  The dissolution took effect from January 1st, and in future Messrs. Yolland will trade under the name Messrs. Yolland Brothers, while Mr. J. C. Llewellin takes a number of trawlers under his own name.

 

    Yolland Bros.:

Castle Class:  Tenedos, Mikasa, Lorraine, William Mannell, Montano and George Adgell.

Strath Class: Craigmillar and Anne Melville.

Drifters: Allochy, Overfall, Poseidon, Invercairn, Primevere, Mint, Furze, Lichen, Calliopsis and Cassiopeia.

    The Montano left Milford on Thursday (yesterday) for Fleetwood, while the George Adgell arrives in Milford within the next fortnight from Aberdeen.  Both Strath boats are at Milford, but the drifters will fish from Lowestoft during the North Sea season, and will come round to Milford for the summer season.

 

John Charles Llewellin:

Castle trawlers: Cotsmuir, Lady Stanley, T.R. Ferens and Harry Melling.

    All the trawlers are away at the moment, the Lady Stanley at Hull and the others at Fleetwood, but they are expected to sail out of Milford in the near future.

 

    The fish merchants' business belonging to the firm in Fleetwood, Swansea and Milford will now be carried on by Yolland Brothers, while the merchants' business at Aberdeen has been taken over by Mr. Llewellin.

    Naturally interested to ascertain why such a profitable partnership should be dissolved, the "Guardian" made enquiries on Thursday.  We learned that Mr. Llewellin has suffered ill health for a number of years and wishes to cut down on his responsibilities.

    The sensational rise of Messrs. Yolland & Llewellin has provided one of the romances of the fishing Industry of Milford, starting as fish exporters in 1935, with Mr. J. C. Llewellin as their representative in Paris.  The firm had to turn their attention in 1937 to building up their fish merchants business in England because of the devaluation of the franc. 

    In 1936 Messrs. Yolland & Llewellin purchased their first trawler and not long afterwards embarked on an experiment which at the time was considered more than daring - "foolhardy", said the old hands.  They fitted out two trawlers to fish as a pair - the pareja - a Spanish method of fishing.  The earliest voyages, doubtless due to the inexperience of the crews in this type of netting, brought thin returns, but by-and-by these pairs began to make news, big news, for they started to smash fishing records.  What was then the youngest firm of owners had scored a big success, and confounded their critics.  Before the war started, the company had five pairs operating on the Irish grounds.  During the war the company worked with two old ships, the Gozo and Cairo, but disposed of these when their fleet of twenty-two trawlers were de-requisitioned in their turn after Government service.

    The partners in the firm of Yolland Brothers are Messrs. John J. Leslie and T. Stuart Yolland.

 

 

 

 

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