SS Ben Dearg

HMT Ben Dearg during World War II
History
United Kingdom & Australia
NameBen Dearg
OwnerAnglo-Australian Fishing Company
BuilderCook, Wellington and Gemmell Ltd
Laid downBeverley
Launched18 July 1919
StrickenScuttled 1956
FateScuttled
General characteristics
Class & typeCastle-class trawler
Tonnage280 tons
Length38.3 metres (126 ft)
Beam7.2 m (24 ft)
Draught3.9 m (13 ft)
Propulsiontriple expansion steam engine
Notes

SS Ben Dearg was ordered by The Admiralty as the Castle-class trawler Thomas Alexander, she was launched 18 July, 1919 well after WWI ended. In January 1920 she was allocated to the National Fishery Scheme for setting up the "Minesweeper's Cooperative Trawling Society, Ltd." of London. She was completed as a fishing trawler 4 June, 1920. In August, 1921 she was sold to "Remy & Huret", Boulogne and renamed Etoile Polaire II, Sold to Fred Parkes of Blackpool and renamed Daily Express in February, 1930. She was sold again in December, 1933 and renamed Turcoman. After being sold again she was renamed Ben Dearg in October, 1936 and was requisitioned as a minesweeper in World War II in 1939 by the British Admiralty. She was returned to her owner in 1946.

1 July, 1949 she was sold to Anglo-Australian Fisheries Limited, Perth Australia. She departed Fleetwood 16 July with a 15 man English crew who all volunteered to settle in Australia. She arrived in Freemantle, Western Australia, on 16 September, 1949.

The single-screw steamer was coal burning, with a single-ended boiler that generated 180 lb per square inch of pressure of steam. Both Ben Dearg and the sister vessel Commiles were considered to be obsolete and unsuitable for fishing in the Great Australian Bight by 1951, and were looking for fishing grounds closer to Albany which they could trawl safely.

An attempt was made to sell the vessel by Anglo-Australian Fisheries Limited in February 1954.

Following the liquidation of Anglo-Australian Fisheries Limited, the trawler was sold to Krasnostein and Company, a company based in Perth, in June 1954. It was advertised later in the year for £8000.

The single-screw steamer was scuttled on 14 April 1956 off Ben Dearg Beach near Swarbricks Beach, between Herald Point and Islet Point along the coast to the east of Albany in the Great Southern region of Western Australia, very close to the coal hulk Margaret.

The ship's propeller is on display outside the Western Australian Museum, Albany.

See also

References

  1. ↑ "S. T. Daily Express FD286". fleetwood-trawlers. 28 August 2026.
  2. 1 2 "Ben Dearg (19097) Ben Dearg Beach, Swarbricks Beach (Herald Pt and Islet Pt)". Western Australian Shipwrecks. Western Australian Museum. Retrieved 10 February 2018.
  3. ↑ "S. T. Daily Express FD286". fleetwood-trawlers. 28 August 2026.
  4. 1 2 3 "Shipwrecks of the Southern Coast" (PDF). Western Australian Museum. Retrieved 14 February 2018.
  5. ↑ "S. T. Daily Express FD286". fleetwood-trawlers. 28 August 2026.
  6. 1 2 "View Shipwreck - Ben Dearg". Australian National Shipwreck Database. Department of the Environment and Energy. Retrieved 13 February 2018.
  7. 1 2 "Advertising". The West Australian. Vol. 70, no. 21, 083. Western Australia. 16 February 1954. p. 20. Retrieved 13 February 2018 – via National Library of Australia.
  8. ↑ "Two Trawlers "Unfit" For Fishing In The Bight". The West Australian. Vol. 67, no. 20, 255. Western Australia. 20 June 1951. p. 2. Retrieved 13 February 2018 – via National Library of Australia.
  9. ↑ "An Idle Albany Trawler Sold To Perth Firm". The West Australian. Vol. 70, no. 21, 173. Western Australia. 2 June 1954. p. 4. Retrieved 13 February 2018 – via National Library of Australia.
  10. ↑ "Advertising". The Courier-mail. Queensland, Australia. 11 October 1954. p. 4. Retrieved 13 February 2018 – via National Library of Australia.

35°00′38″S 118°03′06″E / 35.01044196°S 118.05166556°E / -35.01044196; 118.05166556