HM Trawler ''Agate'' was purchased by the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against F ...

in 1935. She was modified from a trawler to be used to carry out anti-

submarine A submarine (or sub) is a watercraft capable of independent operation underwater. It differs from a submersible, which has more limited underwater capability. The term is also sometimes used historically or colloquially to refer to remotely op ...

work. In 1941 she was with the maintenance reserve at Rosyth, but in August was part of the Royal Navy's escort flotilla with convoy FS559 when she ran aground, becoming a total loss, on Haisborough Sands on 6 August with a loss of sixteen crewmen.

History

''HM Trawler Agate'' was built in 1934 at Smiths Dock in

Middlesbrough Middlesbrough ( ) is a town on the southern bank of the River Tees in North Yorkshire, England. It is near the North York Moors national park. It is the namesake and main town of its local borough council area. Until the early 1800s, the a ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. She had been ordered by the Boston Deep Sea Fishing and Ice Company (B. A. Parkes) of Fleetwood,

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a historic county, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significantly. The non-metropolitan county of Lancashi ...

. The trawler was originally called ''Mavis Rose''. She was and long, with a beam of .

Final voyage

On 5 August Convoy FS 559 was proceeding down the East coast of Britain to

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

from Newcastle. The convoy was being escorted by two

destroyers of the Rosyth escort-force. was an old V-class destroyer built in 1917,The Ship-Wrecks off North East Norfolk by Ayer Tikus: Published by Ayer Tikus Publications; ASIN B0032Z2NU0 whilst HMS ''Wolsey'' was a Thorneycroft W-class built a year later in 1918. Also helping with the escort duties were HM Trawler ''Agate'' and HM Trawler ''Arkwright''. The night was drawing in as the convoy made its way down the coast and the weather was poor. There was a north-north-west gale in full blow with rain. It was cold and visibility was poor. By the early hours and daylight of 6 August, the convoy was enveloped in a thick sea mist, making visibility very poor. There are two accounts of what happened to HM ''Agate'', but the most likely cause of event are as follows.

Run aground

The convoy had been unable to see the Haisborough light vessel due to the bad visibility, and in any case, due to wartime restrictions, the light was only illuminated for ten minutes when a convoy was due in the area. It is thought that due to the combination of the bad weather conditions, the strong westerly drift, and the fact that the exact position of the convoy was unavailable, HM ''Agate'' led seven of the convoy's ships onto the sands, where they ran aground. A further report from SS ''Oxshott'' describes ''HM Agate'' bearing down on her. The ''Oxshott'' was the first of the seven to run aground. The other vessels were the SS ''Afon Towy'', SS ''Deerwood'', SS ''Betty Hindley'', SS ''Aberhill'', and the SS ''Taara''. Although the lifeboats from Cromer and Great Yarmouth and Gorleston rescued 137 men from the wrecked ships, 37 men perished, including 16 men from HM Trawler ''Agate''. All three officers of ''Agate'' were lost; eight men survived, five of them picked up from a Carley raft by HM Trawler ''Basset''.The disaster on Haisborough Sands, 6 August 1941
/ref>

Position of the wreck of HM Trawler ''Agate'' today

* at a depth of . on Haisborough Sands.
North of Hemsby
East-north east of North Walsham
North of Caister on Sea
East of Cromer

Footnotes

References

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Agate Hm Trawler Shipwrecks of Norfolk Steamships Shipwrecks in the North Sea Maritime incidents in August 1941 World War II naval ships of the United Kingdom World War II merchant ships of the United Kingdom Naval trawlers of the United Kingdom Anti-submarine trawlers of the Royal Navy 1933 ships Ice trade