HMT Arab
| History | |
|---|---|
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| Name: | Arab (H293) |
| Owner: | Hellyer Brothers Ltd., Hull |
| Builder: | Smiths Dock Company, South Bank, Middlesbrough |
| Yard number: | 1006 |
| Launched: | 19 June 1936 |
| Completed: | August 1936 |
| Fate: | To the Admiralty, 12 September 1939 |
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| Name: | HMT Arab (FY202) |
| Acquired: | 12 September 1939 |
| Commissioned: | 23 October 1939 |
| Fate: | Returned to owners, 17 November 1945 |
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| Name: | Arab |
| Owner: |
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| Renamed: | Loch Seaforth (1947) |
| Fate: | Scrapped, 1963 |
| General characteristics | |
| Type: | Naval trawler |
| Tonnage: | |
| Length: | 170.7 ft (52.0 m) |
| Beam: | 28.1 ft (8.6 m) |
| Draught: | 14.8 ft (4.5 m) |
| Propulsion: | Compound engine, 99 hp (74 kW) |
HM Trawler Arab was a trawler launched in 1936. At the outbreak of World War II, she became a naval trawler serving in the Royal Naval Patrol Service (RNPS; aka "Harry Tate's Navy" or "Churchill's Pirates"). Lieutenant Richard Been Stannard won the Victoria Cross (VC) while serving as her commander during the Namsos campaign in 1940. The Admiralty returned her to her owners in 1945 and she remained in commercial service until she was scrapped at Ghent in 1963.
Arab was built by Smith's Dock Co. of South Bank-on-Tees, Middlesbrough, with hull name Arab H293. (Smith's Dock Company also built a number of other trawlers that would serve in the RNPS such as Phyllis Rosalie, which became HMT Amethyst.) Arab had a displacement of 531 tons. She was launched 19 June 1936 and worked as a trawler for her owners, Hellyer Brothers Ltd., of Hull.
The Admiralty commissioned her in September 1939 with the pennant number FY202, equipping and arming her for anti-submarine warfare. Lieutenant Richard Been Stannard Royal Navy Reserve became her captain.
On 12 March 1940, Arab was escorting a convoy during which the German air force bombed SS Statira. For his actions, Stannard received a mention in despatches.
In late April 1940, the Admiralty sent the 15th Anti-Submarine Striking Force, under Commander Sir Geoffrey Congreve, to Namsos, Norway, about 100 miles north of Trondheim. The task force was to evacuate troops that had landed there on 14 April as part of the unsuccessful Namsos Campaign.
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Wikipedia