LORRAINE M79
John Stevenson Collection
Official No: 143938 Port Number and Year: - in London, 1919 (LO520)
- in Ostende, 1922 (O-76)
8th in Grimsby, 1939 (GY43)
8th in Milford, 1945
Description: Castle Class steel side trawler; steam screw, coal burning. Ketch rigged: foresail and mizzen
Crew: 11 men (1945).
Registered at Milford: 26 Nov 1945
Built: 1917, by Bow McLachlan & Co., Paisley. (Yard no. 350)
Tonnage: 277.15 grt 107.47 net.
Length / breadth / depth (feet): 125.7 / 23.45 / 12.85
Engine: T 3-Cyl. 60.7 nhp. 10.5 kts. Engine and boiler by builders.
Owners:
As THOMAS CHAMBERS LO520
21 Jul 1921: The Secretary of the Admiralty, Whitehall, London S.W.1.
As PROSPER O.76
18 Nov 1924: Soc. Anon. Pêcheries à Vapeur, Ostend, Belgium.
Manager: John Bauwens, Ave. du Vindictive 5, Ostend.
[ See photograph below. ]
As LORRAINE GY43
6 Feb 1939: Rhondda Steam Fishing Co. Ltd., Auckland Rd., Grimsby.
Manager: Sir John D. Marsden. (Consolidated Fisheries.)
Mar 1942: Walbro Fishing Co. Ltd., Aberdeen.
Manager: Thomas Walker.
As M79
26 Nov 1945: Joseph Leslie Yolland, 'Trevigan', Croesgoch, Letterston. (32/64)
Managing owner: John Charles Llewellin, 'Fenton', Crundale, Haverfordwest. (32/64)
15 Jan 1946: John Yolland (Jnr.) )
Joseph Leslie Yolland ) The Docks, Milford
Thomas Steward Yolland )
Managing owner: John Yolland (Jnr.)
11 Jul 1946: Yolland Bros. Ltd., The Docks, Milford.
Manager: John Yolland (Jnr.)
25 Jan 1955: Milford Fisheries Ltd., The Docks, Milford.
Manager: Owen Willie Limbrick, The Rath, Milford.
[ Thanks to Maurice Voss and Gino Provost for information on her Belgian owners. ]
Landed at Milford: As GY43: 8 Oct - 13 Nov 1945.
As M79: 29 Nov 1945 - 21 Jan 1959
Skippers: Jack Bean (jnr.) (1954-58); Grenville Beckett (Jan 1959)
Notes:
Two seamen and two marines named Thomas Chambers were present at the Battle of Trafalgar.
Prosper is to succeed in business.
Lorraine is a north-east region in France.
1918: Completed for the Admiralty as THOMAS CHAMBERS, a minesweeper (Admy.no. 3670) 1x12 pdr. 1x3.5" bomb thrower.
1922: Sold to mercantile.
11 Jan 1935: In fine weather, PROSPER stranded on the NW part of Scroby Sand. Caistor lifeboat standing by until tugs refloat her on the 12th. [The Times, Saturday, 12th Jan 1935.]
Jun 1940: Requisitioned as LORRAINE and converted to Auxiliary Patrol Vessel. (P.No. 4.170). 1x12 pdr. 1xMG.
Feb 1941: Converted to minesweeper.
Oct 1945: Returned to owners.
6 Mar 1959: Laid up.
Cert. Cancelled & Milford Registry Closed: 3 Sep 1959. Vessel sold for breaking up.
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.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
L to R, back row: Deckhand Gene Bakunowicz, Bosun M.J. McNeil, 3rd Hand Ernie Hover, Deckhands W.H.('Flops') Phillips and John Zielinski
Front row: Fireman Jim John, 2nd Eng. Jack Dwyer, Mate Jimmy Manson, Skipper Jack Bean, Cook Jack Dunkerley, Ch.Eng. Ralph Potter
From the West Wales Guardian of Friday 15th April 1955
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
From the West Wales Guardian of Friday 6th March 1959:
With the Merchants Ltd. trawler Merchant Valour being tied up this week, the number of trawler skippers now unemployed at Milford has risen to a score. In recent months the trawlers Merchant Victor and Merchant Valour, the Lorraine, Peter Carey, Night Hawk and One Accord have all gone to the wall.
As PROSPER O.76
Kindly supplied by Maurice Voss
Back to Trawlers 1940-88
