Lot Essay
It is understood that the clock was removed from the wheelhouse, together with the flags, prior to the ship being requisitoned by the Royal Navy.
The Hull steam trawler Neptunian (port number H626), 315 tons, was built by Cochrane in 1913 and, like so many others of her breed, was requisitioned for duty with the Royal Navy during the Great War. The German policy of mining British coastal waters created a severe shortage of small ancillary craft suitable for mine-sweeping and clearance with the result that many trawlers and other fishing boats were pressed into service. Hired in May 1915 and allocated the Admiralty number 1563, Neptunian was armed with a single 6-pounder cannon and operated successfully as a minesweeper for almost the entire duration of the War until sunk following a collision off the Albacarry Lighthouse on 27 October 1918, only two weeks before the Armastice would have released her.
The Hull steam trawler Neptunian (port number H626), 315 tons, was built by Cochrane in 1913 and, like so many others of her breed, was requisitioned for duty with the Royal Navy during the Great War. The German policy of mining British coastal waters created a severe shortage of small ancillary craft suitable for mine-sweeping and clearance with the result that many trawlers and other fishing boats were pressed into service. Hired in May 1915 and allocated the Admiralty number 1563, Neptunian was armed with a single 6-pounder cannon and operated successfully as a minesweeper for almost the entire duration of the War until sunk following a collision off the Albacarry Lighthouse on 27 October 1918, only two weeks before the Armastice would have released her.