THE ROYAL NAVAL RESERVE
SERVICE RECORD
OF
JOHN WILSON
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23rd A/S TRAWLER
GROUP
 

H.M.T. Rutlandshire

H.M.T. Hertfordshire
Regrettably not the Rutlandshire, but her sister trawler HMT Hertfordshire built from the same Smiths Dock plan No. 1007-8.
If anyone can supply a photograph of the Rutlandshire, please get in touch.

My grandfather served on the Rutlandshire from 6 December 1939 to 20 April 1940. As part of the 23rd A/S trawler group, she was mentioned in the Admiralty reports dated 19 April 1940 and 26 April 1940.

Reg.
Number

Built &
Registered

Builders

Gross
Tons

Nett
Tons

Length
(feet)

Breadth
(feet)

Depth
(feet)

Official
Number

Call
sign

GY335

Sept. 1936

Smiths Dock,
M'brough

458

164

164.6

27.1

15.1

164417

GYWX

Brief History:

·

Built for the Rutlandshire Fishing Company, Fish Dock Road, Grimsby

·

Hired by the Admiralty in October 1939 as an (A/S) anti-submarine trawler

·

Sold to Shire Trawlers, Grimsby, April 1940

·

Bombed and run aground on the 20 April 1940

Naval Officers and respective appointment dates to the Rutlandshire as at April 1940: 

Ch. Skipper, R.N.R.

J. Wilson

6 Dec. 1939

Tempy. Sub-Lieut., R.N.V.R.

D.S. McKenzie (proby)

5 Mar. 1940

Tempy. Sub-Lieut., R.N.V.R.

W.G. Phillimore (proby)

5 Mar. 1940

According to the official records held by the Imperial War Museum, numerous web sites and books regarding trawlers in World War 2, the Rutlandshire was salvaged by the Germans in August 1941 and renamed Ubier NM21, the “N” denoting Norwegian, the “M” denoting Molde, the Norwegian port, approximately 115 miles South West of Trondheim where she was subsequently based and operated from. The records further state that she was sunk by a Russian mine at 2020hrs on the 6 December 1942, at 70o 56' 30'' north, 26o  2' 0'' east in the bay of Porsangen, off Honningsvåg in the far North of Norway.

However, several Norwegian sources have advised me that whilst the Rutlandshire was raised, probably by the salvage company Norsk Bjergningskompani, she was transported by barge in three sections to Stavanger for scrap and there broken up by the largest ship breakers in Norway, Brothers Anda. After the war, the Brothers Anda sold one of the ships bell to a person in the Stavanger area. The bell was marked with the engraving ‘Build No. 1007’. The shipyard plan number against which the Rutlandshire was built was Smiths Dock Plan number 1007-8.

On the 16th November 2004, large pieces of wreckage were located by the company Namsos Dykkerselskap and filmed at a depth of 300 metres in the exact position where the Rutlandshire sunk off Ardennes. It is my conclusion that the Germans did attempt to salvage parts of the Rutlandshire -  perhaps the Asdic - however the vast majority of the shattered remains of the Rutlandshire still lie in the Namsen Fjord.

Please contact f.wilson@royal-naval-reserve.co.uk for further information regarding this site.

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